Application Skills of Shadow Tone in Portrait Photography

Lead: Tone is a concept existing in traditional photography. A photo with a large area of dark parts and black parts in the picture is called a low-key photo, while a photo with a large area of white parts and light colors in the picture is called a high-key photo. Let's look at the application skills.

Exaggerated words

In portrait photography, high-profile techniques are often used to express female roles. The secret of creating high-value portrait photos is to choose a white or bright background, and at the same time, use exposure technology to drown the characters in the bright background. At the same time, the model had better wear white or bright clothes, which is consistent with the main color of the picture.

High-profile portrait photos give people elegant and pure visual feelings, which are mostly used to show the holiness and purity of women.

The contrast of high-profile photos is small, and there are few dark elements in the picture except the hair of the person. In terms of exposure skills, exposure compensation can be adopted, and exposure can be appropriately increased to make the tone tendency of photos more obvious.

When creating high-profile portrait photos outdoors, you can easily create a bright background by backlighting, and at the same time, you can fill your face with reflectors. At this time, the model's hair is often brightened by the light, forming a beautiful halo. It should be noted that the ability of digital cameras to record bright details is limited, and the exposure control should be as accurate as possible.

When creating high-profile portrait photos in the studio, it is necessary to choose a white background cloth, create a high-profile atmosphere for the picture by using the collocation of costumes and the design of lighting, and set up auxiliary lighting to further brighten the background. During exposure, on the basis of normal exposure of the model's skin, appropriately increase one or half exposure, and then adjust the intensity and position of the light according to the shooting effect to obtain the best shooting effect.

low key

A low-key picture is a picture tone formed by contrasting a large area of dark color with a small area of bright color, and it is an artistic expression that highlights the main characters by using a dark background.

Low-key expression corresponds to high-key. In portrait photography, low-key performance is easier to highlight the characters in the picture, and the characters are often in the bright area of the whole picture, and the visual effect is more prominent. Compared with high-profile, low-key images have deeper, more melancholy and stronger visual significance. It can focus the viewer's attention on the characters in the picture well. In low-key portrait photos, dark tones account for the vast majority of the picture, and a small number of bright areas are often the skin color and clothing of the characters.

Under the natural light condition, the strong contrast between the characters and the background, the limited tolerance of the camera and the accurate exposure of the characters can often darken the background in the shadow and create a low-key picture atmosphere.

When metering, low-key portrait photography should adopt spot metering mode to measure people's faces.

In studio photography, low-key creation is mainly achieved through the setting of background and lighting. In order to create a low-key picture effect, the main light that irradiates people often chooses hard light instead of soft light, and at the same time, the background is darkened by controlling exposure and illumination.

Low-key portrait photos have a great contrast, and the face and body of the model often have uneven illumination. It is necessary to carefully control the light to avoid the deviation of the angle and position of the person's light, otherwise it will affect the overall effect of the photo.