Tips for shooting night portraits

First of all, we should know that there are three important factors to produce large spots: distance, focal length and aperture.

That is to say: the shooting mode of large aperture+long focal length+close to the subject will make the blur effect beautiful, which creates conditions for fantastic beautiful spots.

In addition to high-sensitivity SLR cameras, the recommended lenses are: 50/ 1.2, 50/ 1.4, 50/ 1.8, 85/ 1.2 and other large aperture lenses.

Try to choose a place with convenient transportation and bright lights. For example, choose a place on the bridge with a very wide field of vision, with traffic lights and street lights in front. These shots are all colorful and beautiful scenic spots.

How to set the camera?

1. It is recommended to shoot in RAW format. The advantage is that it can correct the inaccuracy of white balance in the later period. If there is a problem, you can get the tone you want. Of course, students who are used to shooting with JPG can shoot a picture on a gray card or white paper with 18 degrees and set it as a custom white balance.

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2. Use the maximum aperture or reduce the aperture. For example, I shot with a lens of 85 1.2. Generally speaking, I will use the aperture of 1.6, which will achieve the balance between background blur and image sharpness.

3. Use M-block, standard mode or portrait mode for spot measurement or partial metering, and the shutter is generally within the safe shutter range of the lens.

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You can also choose the window side of a big shopping mall, and make full use of this ambient light source by using the light source slowly emitted by the window, which is equivalent to a huge soft box. If you especially like the charming atmosphere of the night scene, use as much ambient light as possible, and try to reduce or weaken the use of flash, or even not use it.

Try to choose a place with bright environment, and try to use a camera with high sensitivity to avoid noise, so that the picture looks fresh and clean and the picture quality is better.

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We can also take the night portrait as an environmental portrait, and use more environmental background to blend into the night portrait works, so as to avoid the suspicion that every picture has a big photo.

How to turn on the light and fill the light?

This depends on personal preference. For example, you can use external light+soft box or single light or one on the left and right, a side light at the back, or even a light on the top.

Relatively speaking, I personally prefer ambient light. I want a charming atmosphere at night to bring the charm of night portraits to the extreme. But the ambient light is limited by the venue, camera, lens quality and other factors. Therefore, if you have to, you can use LED lights or off-board flash lights to fill the light, which is a test of light ratio control, but it will be OK if you try more.

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My personal experience is that the light ratio should be as small as possible, so don't feel stiff when you hit the model's face. It is best to have a small soft box or cover it with white soft cloth in front of the LED light, and it is best to use a soft umbrella for flashing light.

Personally, I prefer to use the flash in manual mode to lower the index and master the light ratio.

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The distance between the flash and the main body is more important. If the light is too close, the light will be hard, and highlights such as skin or light-colored clothes will be easily overexposed. You must choose the right distance and adjust it to the best according to the environment. If there is no soft umbrella and soft box, you can shoot the flashing light into the sky and make up the light by corner light or reflection.

In addition, personally, it is not difficult to shoot a clear portrait at night and a beautiful big spot. In addition, it's easy to get tired if you keep shooting a big point. On this basis, give your own works more connotation, creativity and originality, and shoot more stories and emotional theme movies.