Photography preparation for portrait photography

Although general cameras can be used for portrait photography, their performance and features vary due to different models and structures. How to choose a camera for portrait photography can usually be considered from three aspects: photography purpose, personal hobbies and economic conditions.

1. Photography purposes

This refers to the scope of use of the camera. If beginners only want to take family group photos, personal souvenir photos of the whole body and most of the body, they can easily handle it by purchasing an ordinary small 135 camera. This type of camera is usually equipped with a standard lens and can take both black and white portraits and portraits. Take color portraits. Or you can choose to buy a "point-and-shoot" camera; it is small in size, simple in structure, and comes with a flash device. It is not only easy to use, but you can take pictures when you pick it up, and there is no need to purchase a separate flash. If you plan to use the camera for character-themed artistic creation, you should consider purchasing a single-lens reflex camera; this type of camera can generally be replaced with lenses of different focal lengths, has a high degree of automation, and can be used to shoot various genres such as full body, half body, and head portraits. Photos of people.

2. Personal hobbies

Each photographer has different hobbies. Some like 135 cameras, some like 120 cameras; these two cameras have their own strengths and characteristics. It's hard to say which one is better and which one is worse. Generally speaking, 135 cameras are small and exquisite, easy to carry, easy to use, and the cost of each film is relatively cheap. 120 cameras, some with interchangeable cassettes, can take pictures in a variety of formats. At the same time, due to the large format of the film, the grains of the photos are relatively fine and soft, making it easy for the characters' faces to show rich layers and realistic textures.

3. Economic conditions

On the market, there are many camera models with different functions and different structures. Although the basic performance is generally similar, the prices are very different from each other. When purchasing a camera, you must consider its price to suit your financial conditions. Under normal circumstances, purchasing a mid-range or upper-range camera can be used for various types of portrait photography. It must be realized that the quality of the camera is not necessarily related to the quality of the photos of people. Using a high-end camera does not guarantee that every photo will be of good quality; using an ordinary camera can also take high-quality photos of people. The important issue is that you must be familiar with the structural performance of the camera and be proficient in operating techniques. Although various lenses of the camera can be used for portrait photography, strictly speaking, the lens for portrait photography should have the following selectivity: 1. Imaging

The imaging quality of the lens for portrait photography must combine both The image must be clear but also have a certain softness effect. Because portrait photography generally focuses on showing faces, the image quality of the lens should be able to meet the requirements of rich layers, realistic texture, exposed details, and moist skin. 2. Focal length

Generally, cameras are equipped with standard lenses, that is, the focal length is approximately the length of the diagonal of the film frame being photographed. This kind of lens is only suitable for taking photos of the whole body or most of the body. If used to take pictures of half-length figures or close-ups of heads, the distance is too close, which often causes perspective distortion of the characters' images. Moreover, some lenses cannot achieve a clear focus if they are taken at a distance closer to the specified photography distance. Therefore, when taking portraits or close-ups of people, you need to use a medium focal length or telephoto lens. The focal length generally needs to be 1-2 times longer than the standard lens. Taking the 135 camera as an example, the focal length of the lens needs to be more than 105 millimeters. In this way, the camera and The distance between characters can be maintained at more than 1.5 meters, which can not only make the focus clear, but also avoid deformations such as big nose and small ears. When taking small group photos indoors, if you encounter a lack of regression, you need to use a short focal length lens (i.e. a wide-angle lens), but it is prone to defects such as large near distance and slight deformation of the characters on both sides.

3. Aperture

When shooting close-ups of half-length figures and heads, the effective aperture of the lens should be large so that the subject is clear and the background is slightly blurred, thereby enhancing the sense of perspective in far and near space. Highlight the subject. In addition, the effective aperture of the lens is large. When the light is slightly dark and there is no flash, you can still use a faster shutter speed to shoot dynamic people. Balance is a concept in mechanics. When applied to the composition of portrait photography, it means that the subjects in the picture are in a relatively balanced state, so that the portrait photos can create a sense of visual stability and comfort. In order to control the balance of the portrait photography, the following aspects should generally be paid attention to:

1. The head and face of the figure

When it comes to the head and face of portrait photography, visually, the face is the most important, and the back of the head is the most important. lighter. Therefore, when shooting a profile image, the image needs to be tilted further back, or even leave no space behind the back of the head, so that the space in front of the face is larger than the back of the head. In this way, it can not only give the line of sight of the face room to stretch, but also maintain the balance of light and weight in the picture. However, there are also some themes that express "impulse" plots. The space in front of the character's face is smaller than the back of the head, making the picture feel weightless. This is a special position arrangement based on the needs of the theme.

2. Subject aspect

In the inequality picture structure form of portrait photography (see the article "What are the picture structure forms of portrait photography?" in this book), the subject is tilted, tilted or tilted Waiting for a posture often leads to a feeling of weightlessness and instability. To this end, the subject's own shoulders or hands, as well as books, flowers, tea cups, fans and other supporting objects related to the theme can be used as "pads" to stabilize the weightless subject.

3. In terms of subject and foil

For photography of people with scenery as a foil, visually, the characters are more important and the scenery is lighter. For this reason, the space occupied by the characters can be arranged smaller, while the space occupied by the scenery can be arranged larger to achieve a balanced picture. For example, when shooting a half-length scene of characters writing, the larger characters can be placed on one side. Correspondingly, objects such as ink bottles or inkstones can be placed on the other side of the table to maintain balance in the picture.

4. In terms of light and shade,

In the composition of portrait photography, the visual weight of light and shade is also different. Generally, dark colors are heavier and light colors are lighter. Usually, a small area of ??dark color can be used to balance it with a large area of ??gray or light color. If a certain part is too deep or too shallow, and the weight is not coordinated enough, you can choose a light-colored scene as a "pad" for the part that is too dark; you can also choose a dark-colored scene as a "cushion" for the part that is too light. However, we must pay strict attention to the fact that there must be a certain contrast between the deep background and light scene and the light background and deep scene, so as to increase or decrease the weight and balance the picture.

5. Color

Different colors have different visual weights. Generally, warm and bright colors are the most important, while cool and dark colors are lighter. The law of balance also requires warm or bright colors in small areas to correspond to cool or dark colors in large areas. For example, around a small area of ??warm color on a person's face, a larger area of ??cool color can be placed; when taking photos of warm-toned people, the skin color of the face should be as bright as possible, and the surrounding warm colors should be made darker, which is convenient for convenience. Highlighting the subject can also make the picture balanced in color.