Character Photography Tips and Composition

Character photography, book title, author (American) Capto, translated by Zhao Yonghua, publisher is Liaoning Education Press. People photography is photography with human themes, such as children, artists, etc. Concept introduction With the invention and popularization of cameras, this article is my carefully edited composition of portrait photography techniques. I hope it can help you! Part 1 about composition of portrait photography skills

1. Use a simple background to highlight the characters

The choice of background is very important when taking portraits. If used properly, it can well set off the atmosphere of the picture. Complex backgrounds can easily distract the viewer, so when shooting, you should try to choose a simple and coordinated background, which can better highlight the subject. If you are shooting indoors, you can give priority to using a wall or background cloth from a head-on perspective, and you can consider using bed sheets or the floor from a top-down perspective. If you are shooting outdoors, you can consider using a large aperture to blur the background, or look for beautiful building exteriors or dense flowers. You can also use the blue sky as the background by looking up, or the grass as the background by looking down. In short, as long as the background selection is concise, you can always find a suitable shooting scene and angle.

2. Use an appealing background to create an aesthetic picture

A simple background can make the portrait more prominent in the picture, but the picture lacks storytelling and cannot be explained well. The environment of the characters in the picture is therefore only suitable for shooting portraits. If you want the picture to be more readable, you should choose the background based on the shooting intention or the characteristics of the subject. You can try to choose a more aesthetically pleasing scenery or an environment with content as the background to enrich and enrich the picture. This is especially important when using a wide-angle lens to shoot portraits. Therefore, the wide-angle lens will incorporate more of the environment in the picture, so the choice of background becomes even more important. In addition, you need to pay attention to the reasonable arrangement of the characters' positions in the picture to obtain photos that are aesthetic and highlight the characteristics of the characters.

3. Choose a large aperture to obtain a shallow depth of field

As mentioned before, the larger the aperture (such as f/1.8, f/2.4), the smaller the aperture value, and the smaller the depth of field; The smaller the aperture (such as f/18, f/22), the larger the aperture value and the greater the depth of field. To get photos with a shallow depth of field, you should first consider shooting with a wide aperture. Large aperture plays a very important role in portrait photography, which can produce beautiful blur effects with shallow depth of field. At the same time, it can also help us ensure a higher shutter speed when the ambient light is poor.

IV. Get a shallow depth of field by getting close to the subject

If you want to get a shallow depth of field and blur the background, the easiest way is to keep the distance between the model and the background constant. Next, let the camera be close to the model, so that you can easily achieve the effect of shallow depth of field, the characters will be more prominent, and the background will be naturally blurred. When shooting, be careful that the foreground cannot be a cluttered scene, because when the camera is close to the model, the foreground will appear clearer in the picture.

5. Keep the background away from the subject to obtain a shallow depth of field

If you want to obtain a shallow depth of field and blur the background, the easiest way is to keep the distance between the model and the background constant. In this case, let the camera be close to the model, so that you can easily achieve the effect of shallow depth of field, the character will be more prominent, and the background will be naturally blurred. When shooting, be careful that the foreground cannot be a cluttered scene, because when the camera is close to the model, the foreground will appear clearer in the picture. Changing the distance between the model and the background is also one of the ways to obtain a shallow depth of field. Arranging the model to maintain a certain distance from the background (you don’t have to be close to the model) can also achieve a perfect shallow depth of field effect. Simply put, the farther the model is from the background, the easier it is to create a shallow depth of field, thereby achieving a greater blur effect.

6. The rule of thirds composition that makes the characters become the visual center

The rule of thirds composition can be divided into two types: horizontal rule of thirds and vertical rule of thirds. When shooting a portrait, divide the picture into three equal parts horizontally and vertically. The torso of the character can be placed on each dividing line, and the face or eyes of the character are placed at one of the four intersection points. It can highlight the main character more clearly.

7. Curve composition method to express the softness of female figure

Curve composition is divided into S-shaped composition and C-shaped composition. When shooting female portraits, S-shaped or C-shaped compositions are often used to express the softness and sexiness of their bodies. The most commonly used one is the S-shaped composition. The C-shaped composition also has a good performance in expressing the soft figure of women, but it is weaker than the S-shaped composition. Usually, when a woman with a good figure stands naturally, she can capture a beautiful S-shaped curve from the side. However, if the camera is shot from the front, the model needs to tilt her body slightly. In addition to these two angles, you can also form a more sexy S-shaped curve by lying down.

8. Diagonal composition method that stretches the beauty of the figure’s figure

Diagonal composition is often used in portrait photography. When the figure's posture or body movements appear in the picture in a diagonal manner and occupy a large enough space, a diagonal composition is formed.

The stretching effect produced by the diagonal composition is very effective in showing the slender figure of a woman or beautifying the body defects of the subject. When taking portraits using this composition method, the instep of at least one of the model's feet must be straight, so that the body lines extend from the legs to the instep to lengthen the body lines.

9. Triangular composition method to express a sense of stability in the picture

Triangular composition is a typical composition form in portrait photography, which is divided into three types: equilateral triangle, inverted triangle and oblique triangle. When shooting, the body or movement posture of the human subject is used to combine to form a triangle. This composition has a strong sense of stability and upward impact. The face of the character is usually located at the top of the triangle as the visual center.

10. Shooting portraits with horizontal frame

Horizontal frame composition is widely used by people mainly because horizontal frame conforms to people’s visual habits and physiological characteristics, because human eyes are horizontal. Many objects also extend in the horizontal direction. It is more suitable for portrait photography of people and environments, and can also be used for shooting group portraits, etc.

11. Shooting portraits in horizontal format

Vertical format is a vertical rectangular composition that stretches up and down. This frame mode is also a commonly used composition method for shooting portraits. The vertical format puts more emphasis on the vertical elements of the image and the depth of the image. This format can be used whether you are shooting a full-length portrait or a half-length portrait.

12. Shooting portraits from above

Shooting from a bird’s-eye view means that the camera lens is above the normal eye level and the subject is photographed from a high place downwards. When shooting people from this angle, the body of the person will be compressed, resulting in a deformation effect, the head will be exaggerated, and the body parts will be reduced, making the person appear more cute and playful. If the angle between the face and the camera is less than 90° when shooting, you can easily take photos of beauties with small faces, and the eyes will appear larger than usual.

Looking down is also a common "Sleeping Beauty" shooting angle. When shooting, be careful to keep the picture close to a high profile.

13. Looking up to shoot portraits

Looking up to shoot means that the camera is below the person being photographed, shooting from bottom to top. The picture effect has the effect of exaggerating the height, and the spatial perspective effect is more intense. When shooting a portrait, the lower body part closer to the lens will be enlarged, while the face further away from the lens will be smaller in comparison. Portraits shot at this angle usually look taller, straighter, and slender than usual. Therefore, if you want to show the strong temperament of a man or the slender figure of a woman, you can use this angle.

14. Use environmental white space to render the atmosphere of the picture

White space is actually a concept that is easy to understand. White refers to blank space. White space is obviously to give the picture something to do when composing the picture. Leave some white space. Figuratively speaking, the white space in the picture plays a similar role to the punctuation marks in the article. But white space in photography is not necessarily a blank space in the actual sense. It can be a large area of ??the same color or the same type of scenery, such as the sky, sea, mountain peaks, grassland, land...

White space can be It makes the picture more comfortable and natural in the eyes. The photographer can use the white space to better control the rhythm and emotion of the picture, highlight the artistic conception, and leave more room for imagination for the viewer, so that the viewer's point of view can stay within the picture without emotion. But it is filled with its extension.

In portrait photography, the portrait as the subject should be arranged in the most attention-grabbing position in the picture, such as near the golden section. When composing a picture, leave appropriate white space to give the viewer room for imagination.

15. Leave blank space in the direction of the character’s line of sight to extend the sense of space in the picture.

As mentioned before, in a photographic work, the real image of the subject and the blank part are interdependent. The blank part can not only set off and explain the main body, but also supplement and strengthen the main image. Leaving blank space in front of the character's sight can supplement the sight space of the main character and seek balance in the picture.

16. Use accompaniments to help express the character's temperament

Appropriate and skillful use of accompaniments can better express the artistic conception or storyline in the picture, and strengthen the theme to be expressed. Topics etc. These props can be a bunch of flowers, a guitar, a toy, a pair of shoes or an umbrella, etc. However, the props used must conform to the gender, age, personality, preferences and other characteristics of the subject. Only suitable props can assist the subject's performance.

Seventeen. The distant scene expresses the characters and the environment

The characteristics of the distant scene are large space, many levels of scenery, short main image, many background scenes, and the ability to cover a wide range of scenes. Comprehensive representation of the environment. To a large extent, shooting distant views is to express the overall momentum of the picture, just as it is mentioned in painting theory to "take the momentum from a distance", so the photographer should look at the big picture and win with momentum. In portrait photography, the long shot covers the entire body including the feet of the subject, and the background environment is very large. When shooting, the character image is combined with the background environment, and both can be properly expressed. But special attention should be paid to the matching relationship between characters and background.

18. Mid-range shots show the expressions and postures of the characters.

Mid-range portraits are taken from above the knees. In addition to showing the facial expressions of the characters, they also pay more attention to the characters’ hands. When shooting, you should pay attention to the subject's posture, which can further reveal the inner state of the subject. Using mid-range shooting, the spatial area of ??the picture is further expanded, which is conducive to expressing the physical expressions of the characters, and the composition is more varied. When taking mid-range portraits, you should also pay attention to the subject’s expression.

19. Close-up shots show facial expressions of characters

Close-up portraits generally capture the image of the person above the waist, which can give readers a stronger impression of the person being photographed. It should be noted that it is best to use a medium-to-telephoto lens to avoid possible perspective distortion, and at the same time, it can also blur the background to beautify the picture. The close-up view is helpful to show the facial expressions of the characters. When shooting, the eyes of the subject can be highlighted. The eyes are the windows to the soul. Eye contact is a way of communication and expression. Drawing contagious eyes can enable the viewer to deeply understand the character's momentary expressions, emotions, etc., and better generate excitement.

20. Close-up scenes show parts of the human body

Close-ups are one of the favorite shooting methods of many portrait photographers. Although taking a close-up seems simple, the composition and selection of parts of the portrait are also diverse. For example, a common close-up shooting method is to shoot the face of the person, mainly showing the eyes and lips. In addition, you can also focus on other parts of the portrait, such as hands, feet, legs, buttocks, etc. Obviously, the close-up of the part will give the picture a different atmosphere. Nowadays, in commercial portrait advertisements, there are often hand models, foot models, leg models, and chest models. When shooting these models, the most commonly used scene is close-up. Part 2 on composition of portrait photography techniques

Portrait photos that are close-ups or partial close-ups will highlight certain details of the model, and the photos will give people a strong visual impact. However, some common techniques should be used when taking pictures to make the photos appear more in line with the public's aesthetics. These techniques will be explained below.

Open composition to shoot partial close-ups of people

When shooting partial close-ups, using open composition can make the photos more imaginative. Open composition has the following characteristics.

(1) The subject is incomplete. When arranging the subject of the picture, cut the subject appropriately so that part of the subject appears in the picture and the other part is outside the picture, thereby emphasizing the connection between the inside and outside of the picture through the incomplete subject.

(2) The picture has a stronger space for imagination. Because there is a strong echo between the inside and outside of the screen, viewers will often involuntarily think of images outside the screen when viewing photos.

(3) Relative integrity. Although the open composition will crop the subject, the part of the subject in the picture should be relatively complete and beautiful, and should not be too messy or without a theme.

Four photography tips for perfect composition of close-ups

Focal length: 18mm Aperture: f/11 ? Shutter speed: 1/200s Sensitivity iso100 ? In the center of the character’s face Cutting in the middle to take an open composition photo, the model's eyes are highlighted and give people a beautiful and grand feeling

The main body of the character's eyes completely appears in the picture. Although the photo is beautiful, it is not intense. The visual impact

The main body of the character’s eyes completely appears in the picture. Although the photo is beautiful, it does not have a strong visual impact