Techniques and methods of indoor photography

One disadvantage of indoor shooting is that the light is not ideal. In most cases, the indoor light will be too dim. At this time, the flash is obviously a very effective artificial light source, with powerful functions and diverse uses, but you can also use the existing on-site effective light when shooting.

The light of the built-in flash is often too weak and cold, and the images taken will destroy the atmosphere of the whole environment. When shooting at a distance of 3 meters, you must use an external flash with an exposure index of at least 36~40 ―― you can ask your friends who know flash or the dealer of photographic equipment about the flash device used in your camera and its performance. When soft lighting is needed, you can also put the flash on the top or side of the camera, and use the reflector and diffuser at the same time to obtain soft lighting, because this can enhance the effective lighting area and illuminate three-dimensional objects with side light.

When shooting a big room, you can use multiple flashlights or open a large aperture to release the shutter at different positions in the room-this method will be very difficult, especially if you don't have a photography assistant.

Continuous artificial light can also be used instead of flash. Halogen lamps and tungsten lamp are good choices. If the camera's automatic white balance setting doesn't give you satisfactory results, try to use several different white balance settings. If you can't use an additional artificial light source, you can only use the so-called "effective natural light", which may be the light that shines through the window or the artificial light that will not affect normal photography. The advantage of using effective natural light is natural indoor lighting.

Unless you buy a cheap camera, you'd better choose a camera whose exposure time (determined by shutter speed) is between 1/500 and 1 or 2 seconds, and you can choose as many different aperture values as possible. The condition of these cameras is that you can shoot in a dark room and take very good pictures.

However, it is worth noting that when shooting indoors, it is best to turn off the flash and put the camera on the tripod at the same time, otherwise the photo will become blurred. Without a tripod, you should try to find a stable support point. Although these methods are not as good as tripods, they can also reduce the photo blur caused by camera shake. When releasing the shutter, lean the camera against a hard object-stool, post or wall, as long as it is stable, then press the shutter very gently and release the button. If possible, you can also use a selfie to release the shutter.

When shooting in poor or unstable light (such as where flashing is prohibited), the only option is to improve the sensitivity. High-end cameras have the function of "forced sensitivity", and you can choose from a series of ISO values to double or quadruple the sensitivity. But this method will greatly affect the image quality. Of course, this is the only way to avoid image blurring caused by jitter, especially when taking pictures or shooting active subjects at will.

In addition, indoor photography should also pay attention to the rational use of window light.

The light coming in from the window facing north is a directional but still soft light. When you put a reflector on the opposite side of the window light to reduce the shadow generated by the light source, the effect is soft and elegant, which can play an understatement role in the face of the person. This kind of lighting is especially suitable for color film and is used by many portrait photographers.

P Peizor, a British photographer, pointed out that the lighting of window light is determined by many factors, and its intensity changes much more than what the eyes can see. The distance from the window to the main body determines the type of facial lighting. It also depends on the reflective ability of indoor walls and floors. When the subject enters the dead corner of the window light, the reflected light on the wall begins to play a greater role. At this time, the closer the subject is to the wall facing the window, the more light there is.

Indoor, as long as the subject moves a few steps, the contrast between strong light and bright shadow will change greatly. So adjusting the distance can solve the problem of uneven illumination. Pezor pointed out that if the subject is in the middle of the window, facing the window, his forehead, nose, cheekbones and chin are all in white light, which looks very prominent and can clearly set off the outline in any background. When the light shines from the side, the lines on the cheeks are obvious, and the cheeks and jaws can produce shadows. When the head is slightly away from the camera, the light energy on the side can produce the maximum stereoscopic effect. At this time, the best way to express a person's facial features is to move his face away from the window a little and turn to the shadow direction, so that only the side is fully illuminated. But at this time, we must also use reflectors or other aspects of indoor reflection. If the subject moves to one side of the window and faces the window, the side light and side light will be weakened and the face will appear round and symmetrical. When the face turns to the camera, a shadow will appear on the back window of the face, but the side of the face farthest from the window will be more or less illuminated by plane light. Away from the window, the whole face is in a dark plane light. The farther the main body is from the window, the duller the tone.

When using window light to shoot portraits, a small room with light walls reflects more light than a big, dark room, so the background is brighter. The intensity of reflected light and the tone of background can be adjusted by opening or closing curtains. But Peizor thinks that the most worth pursuing is the light efficiency of direct light. Photographers can use blinds or thick curtains to simulate the effect of hard direct light according to their own wishes. You can also use thin curtains to turn oblique light into scattered light or make it have a certain color. Light-colored window screens can be used as softeners to soften light. The effect of sunlight on colored curtains is the same as that of floodlights with color filters.

The intensity and distribution of reflected light can be controlled by making a reflector with white cardboard and adjusting the position of the reflector. But if this technique is used too much, it will lose the characteristics of natural window light. The color difference caused by indoor light changes during the day is the same as that caused by outdoor color photos. However, some problems that do not need attention in outdoor photography have an impact on indoor window light. For example, the place near the window is a red brick wall, and where the sun shines, the light in the indoor window will be red; There are gardens and tall trees outside the window, and the light will be green; If the window faces the blue sky, it may be blue. This effect may be more obvious indoors than outdoors, because windows are more selective, unlike outdoor, which has generally balanced colors.

If there are windows on both walls and the main body is between the two windows, the cross lighting at this time will cause various interesting changes in light efficiency. When shooting, as long as the subject turns his body, a series of different changes will occur. At this time, we should pay attention to make the light of one window slightly brighter than that of the other window by adjusting, and it is the worst that the light of the two windows is equal.

Ronald Spearman, a British photographer, believes that the light can also be used as auxiliary light when shooting portraits with window light. He pointed out that the subject is irradiated by sunlight and tungsten light at the same time, which can produce very satisfactory results on the daylight slide show, which beginners generally can't understand. At this time, the only requirement is that the two light sources must come from different directions, so that they can shine on different planes of the subject. In other words, you can't let the subject get sunlight and light from the front at the same time.

According to Spearman, the best effect can be achieved in the following ways: window light enters a room usually illuminated by tungsten lamp, thus forming a cold beam in one case. If you use a lamp with a reflector to illuminate, because it is different from the light in a general room, it is best to scatter this light, which can be directed at the ceiling or wall and then reflected back.

Of course, if the flash is used as the auxiliary light, there will be no difference in the color quality between the strong light part and the shadow part of the subject. However, it should be remembered that the bright part may receive the actual exposure of about 1/30 seconds, and the shadow part may be supplemented by a flash, which may be l/ 1000 seconds or faster. In this way, you may get a photo, half of which is very soft and the other half is very clear in spots and other flaws. Therefore, in this case, it is best to use umbrella-shaped reflector or reflective flash as auxiliary light. In addition, the proportion of light must be carefully calculated or photographed.