Experience of portrait shooting in rainy days

Lead: I believe many people hate taking portraits on rainy or cloudy days. Not only does the weather make it more difficult to take pictures, but the light is not particularly sufficient. So today I will talk about how these disadvantages turn into advantages.

The experience of portrait shooting on cloudy or rainy days may always feel that the photos taken are gray and dark, and there is no such brilliance as those taken on sunny days.

But in fact, photos taken on cloudy or rainy days also have different unique feelings from those taken on sunny days.

Of course, compared with sunny days, many characteristics of light cannot be shown, but as long as we know the characteristics of light on cloudy days or rainy days, we can take some photos that only have different feelings on cloudy days or rainy days.

Matters needing attention in shooting on cloudy or rainy days

Because many light characteristics can't be displayed on cloudy days or rainy days, we should try our best to make use of lens characteristics to highlight the theme when taking pictures.

One of the most commonly used methods is to create a shallow depth of field with a large aperture lens to highlight the subject, and the other is to find some distinctive backgrounds according to the weather at that time to make the whole photo interesting.

Use a large aperture lens to turn the azaleas in the background into a dreamy and interesting background.

Make use of scattered scenes to make the main floret in front become a unique element in the photo.

When the sky is overcast, the shadow of the leaves on the upper right adds a faint gradient to the red wall, making the overall background more flavorful.

Find some places where the directivity of light can be exerted.

When I take pictures on sunny days, I always try to find out the directionality of positive or negative light, because taking pictures under different light will have a very different feeling. For example, a stereoscopic impression taken in sidelight or a prominent figure outline in backlight.

But on cloudy or rainy days, light belongs to soft light scattered by clouds.

Because sunlight has almost lost its directionality in outdoor environment, it is difficult to display the characteristics of shooting under different directionality.

In this case, I will look for some places where a lot of sunlight enters indoors, such as windows or coffee rooms or restaurants with floor-to-ceiling glass.

There are two biggest advantages to choosing these places. First, the light passing through a window or floor-to-ceiling glass will change from top to bottom to horizontal light from left to right or from right to left. Horizontal light is very suitable for portrait shooting, and the brightness and darkness of the face will become very natural and comfortable.

The second is that the light passing through the window or under the floor-to-ceiling glass will become directional light, so the front light and backlight can be used to play the characteristics in different directions. Although it is sunny, you can also shoot through the window or under the French window glass. But compared with sunny days, the light is softer, which is especially suitable for taking some portrait photos with natural soft and comfortable feeling.

I like to shoot portraits with positive light in this situation.

The model feels very comfortable under the soft positive light on a cloudy day.

The three-dimensional effect taken by side light is also quite comfortable.

The main entrance of some shops or restaurants is in a concave position.

Because the light above is blocked, only horizontal light enters, so that the directivity of light can be exerted.

The side lights as shown in the above picture give a good stereoscopic effect.

Turn the umbrella into a very useful prop.

A transparent umbrella with Japanese feeling is my favorite prop.

Because when using a large aperture lens, the raindrops attached to the umbrella can become many characteristic scattered waves, adding another level and atmosphere to the whole picture.

Above: The raindrops on the umbrella become distinctive points in the view of scattered points.

Make good use of the background in rainy days.

In fact, some of them only appear when it rains now.

If you make good use of it, you can shoot special scenes.

Above: When it rains, the hazy background sometimes creates a very special atmosphere and can also highlight the main body.

Use a high-speed shutter to freeze raindrops to create a unique background to shoot a walk in the rain, which can only be photographed on rainy days.

In fact, I like to take portraits on cloudy days or rainy days, because only in this case can I take photos with some feelings.

Try taking pictures on cloudy or rainy days next time to see if you can get a different taste from that when shooting on sunny days.