Introduction of Lighting Techniques in Landscape Photography

Introduction of Lighting Techniques in Landscape Photography

Light is the life of photography. Without light, there can be no photography. Photography is the art of light and shadow. As we all know, the scenery in the landscape, like other things, can only produce light and shade levels, lines and tones if it is illuminated by lines. Taking pictures of scenery, we mainly use ether sunlight as light source. Sunlight is varied. When they shine on the scenery, they can produce various effects. It is sometimes strong and sometimes weak, and it will change with different seasons and climates, and the scenery will be affected differently because of its different changes. Therefore, when shooting a scene, we must first understand the source of each kind of light and the influence of the intensity of light, so as to make good use of it and fully express the light effect of the scene. The success of scenery photos is closely related to the proper use of light. Therefore, it is a key problem to be familiar with all the changes of light in the scene.

1, the influence of frontal light on the scenery

Shooting a scene with positive light can make the scene clear and have a bright and vivid atmosphere. However, when the front light shines on the scene, it is necessary to divide the light and shade, which often confuses the tone of the main body and background of the scene and lacks the three-dimensional sense of the scene.

2. The influence of sidelight on scenery

When shooting a scene with sidelight, because the light shines obliquely on the scene, the scene will naturally produce shadows, showing alternating lines of light and dark, making the scene three-dimensional. When the scene is stereoscopic, the colors of the stereoscopic background are not easily confused with each other. However, when shooting a sidelight scene, we should pay attention to the depth of the dark color height and determine the bright time with the dark part. However, it is best to use neutral gray as photometric tone to fully show the level of the dark part of the scene and enrich the picture level. Side light is the light that can best express levels and lines among several basic lights, and it is also the most suitable light for taking landscape photos.

3. The influence of backlight on scenery

Backlight illuminates the scene, and the part of the scene illuminated by light will produce a bright outline, so that there is an obvious light boundary between objects, and the subject and background will not be mixed into dark black tones. Because the outline caused by backlight is bright, the subject and background are completely separated, which is the uniqueness of backlight.

Backlight comes from the back of the scene, and the object we shoot must be a dark part without direct light, so it is not easy to show the light and dark levels and lines of the scene. But the backlight shines on the back of all objects, and if the distance between objects is not too far, it has the function of reflecting light from each other. When shooting a backlit scene, the sharp outline and the illumination in front of the lens often affect the photographer's field of vision, which easily leads to underexposure. Therefore, the exposure time must be determined by the dark part of the scene or neutral gray, in order to fully display the level of the scene. In addition, all objects on the ground, water surface and back under the background light will naturally have strong white reflection. In order to avoid too much contrast between this part and other objects, it is more appropriate to shoot with soft light.

4. The influence of highlights on the landscape

This is a bright spot when the sun rises in the sky and shines vertically on the earth. Highlight is the strongest time of the day, so strong light will make the shadows darker. At the same time, the highlight is a beam of light that shines vertically from high altitude, and it can't show the texture of the object except the dark level from top to bottom. This kind of light is not an ideal light source for shooting scenery, so it should be avoided as much as possible when shooting scenery without necessity.

5. The influence of scattered light, weak light and reflection on the scene.

In addition to the four basic light types mentioned above, such as front light, side light, back light and high light, sometimes we have to shoot scenes under scattered light. Scattered light is not as direct as sunlight. When shooting in this light, all the objects to be photographed must have no light-dark boundary and cannot produce shadows. Therefore, we don't use light to change the depth and background tone of the scene subject. Shooting a scene under scattered light can only show a dull object image and a gloomy atmosphere, and cannot produce the beauty of light and shade levels and lines on the scene. So sometimes it is necessary to shoot a scene. In case of scattered light weather, only by narrowing the scope of the scene as much as possible and shooting a close-up middle scene or local scene can we get a slightly clear effect. The bigger the scene, the darker the atmosphere; The smaller the scene, the smaller the gray tone.

When the sun has just risen or is about to set, it is the softest weak light in a day. Because the light directly illuminates the scene from a low angle, it can also obtain the effects of front light, side light or backlight in different aspects. Therefore, taking landscape photos in low light can not only obtain extremely soft effects, but also be rich in changes. The weak light belongs to the red component of the spectrum, and its colors are yellow and orange, which will have a certain impact on the original color of the scene. Therefore, when shooting a scene in weak light, we should first pay attention to the influence of light on the tone of the scene, and then decide whether it is suitable to shoot with a color filter, so that the weak light of color will not affect the original tone of the scene.

Reflected light is indirect light, which is softer than direct low light, but it can only reflect the dark part of the object in the scene. Because of the limited reflection range, it does not play much role (polarization) except assisting the performance of the dark part of the object itself.

Light has a direct influence on the level, line, tone and atmosphere of the scene. Whether the scene can be well represented in the photo depends on the use of light. Therefore, we must understand the influence of each kind of light on the scenery in order to obtain the ideal effect. Only by observing the natural change and influence of this light in the scene regularly can we understand the light effect.

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