How to shoot human hair?

The lighting scheme of the studio can include two, three, four or even more lights, but the lack of hair lighting is part of the lighting settings of many studio portraits. However, how to add a separate light to the studio settings? Photographers specializing in wedding and portrait photography introduce how to set appropriate lighting schemes in confident portrait photography hair.

What is personal hair lighting?

Head lighting is a kind of lighting that visually separates hair from the background. The light should be placed behind the model and aimed at the hair, thus creating a halo effect. Hair lighting is particularly important when the color of the subject's hair matches the background color (for example, black hair on a black background).

Polishing hair is usually a problem that cannot be ignored. When comparing portraits with and without individual lighting hair, the difference in shooting is easy to notice.

Hair illumination can be continuous or flashing.

Place the light source behind the model and 60-90 cm above the model-the two most important positions (top and back). You can change the appearance of hair by placing lights behind the main body in different ways, and use the studio stand so that you can point the light source in the desired direction.

In both cases, the light must be directed at the hair, and the light cannot fall on other parts of the portrait.

Head lighting is usually called edge lighting because it comes from the back of the object. Although they are very similar, the head lighting is still set in such a way that only the hair is illuminated. Background light creates a halo or edge around the whole object, and this illumination is placed behind the object or behind the side.

Use in combination with hair lighting to create visual separation and highlights.

It may be desirable to form a subtle separation between the light of the hair and the background, rather than a stronger halo-like effect, to ensure the use of low-power lamps. The stronger the light, the stronger the "highlight" effect of the head. However, if you want to get "angelic light".

Check the lens before continuing to make sure that all the hair stands out. If the optical fiber covers all the hair and illuminates the main body too much, it is wrong, and the hair details should not be overexposed.

For this kind of light source, a light reflector is usually used to prevent light from spreading to other parts of the image, and the modifier only allows light to affect the hair.

This has become a special problem when shooting blondes, because their hair is already very light, and the lights are used for lighting, not exposure. In other words, instead of attracting all the audience's attention to themselves, we should only emphasize the beauty of the model. If the light is too bright, you will only get a lot of highlights, but there is no hair effect of highlights.

Set the light source to a exposure value that is roughly the same as (or slightly smaller than) the main light source. Different hair colors will absorb more or less light, so you can't use the same setting.

What is the purpose of filling light?

Fill light will remove shadows, so the details will not darken, and it can be used with other light sources in the studio.

When shooting outdoors, the fill light is also very useful, which can resist the falling shadow brought by the sun, prevent the outline and shadow from appearing under the eyes, and the fill light will also glare at the eyes.

What kind of light visually distinguishes the subject from the background?

Background light is light that points to the background. By lighting, you can highlight the theme or provide a clean white background.

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Hair lighting is an interesting effect, which can help hair stand out in the background. If you want to shoot a brunette model with a dark background, please pay special attention to this, or you can create a halo around the model.