Three principles of portrait photography

Lead: Portrait photography is one of the most popular photography subjects. Portrait photography focuses on fully expressing people's posture and charm, which depends on soft defocusing imaging, accurate lighting and supplementary light, flexible and creative composition. Portrait photography skills can be applied not only to the subject of shooting beautiful girls outside, but also to the subject of humanistic photography. Let's look at three principles of portrait photography.

Lens recommendation

The demand for lens in portrait photography is mainly manifested in large aperture to obtain good shallow depth of field effect. In the choice of focal length, portrait photography also has its own uniqueness: 85 to 135mm is usually called portrait focal length, because when shooting a portrait in this focal length range, the distance between the photographer and the subject is moderate, and it is easy to obtain a more natural perspective effect. In contrast, wide-angle lenses tend to show exaggerated facial perspective, while telephoto lenses above 135mm tend to "flatten" the face, which is not stereoscopic.

But there are always exceptions. For a wide range of environmental portraits, a 35mm wide-angle lens can sometimes be used. The 50mm standard lens between 35mm and 85mm, because of its flat viewing angle, has become a special focal segment that can advance and retreat, and is also widely used.

Recommended lens (taking Canon as an example)

Recommended lens for portrait focal length: EF 85mm f/ 1.2L USM II.

Recommended lens for environmental portraits: EF 35mm f/ 1.4L USM.

Recommended lens for special focal length: EF 50mm f/ 1.2L USM.

Flexible telephoto zoom lens: EF 70-200mm f/2.8L is USM II.

Photography skill 0 1: the use of light

Front lighting

It is the most common way to use light and the easiest to master. There is no need to consider too many light control problems, which is helpful for beginners to master the pose of the model and obtain natural shooting effects. The disadvantage is that the sense of drama is weak, so more efforts should be made in the pose and composition of the model: first, the light should be staggered from the characters to strengthen the sense of hierarchy; Secondly, try to shoot at dusk and dawn to avoid too strong and stiff light.

Side lamp

Compared with streamer, sidelight shooting is more likely to form a strong contrast effect between light and dark, making the figure sharp and three-dimensional, which is very suitable for strengthening personality. Pay attention to the contrast when shooting sideways. If the contrast between light and shade is large, it is necessary to supplement the light on the other side appropriately to avoid causing too serious "yin and yang face".

Backlighting

Backlight is just the opposite of smooth light. The light shines from behind the model in the direction of the lens. This special light will produce a very unique effect. It is best to use M mode in backlight shooting to accurately control exposure. According to the different exposure parameters, there are three forms of backlight. One is to expose the subject, so that the background is overexposed, which can produce a strong sense of light and give people a warm and quiet feeling; The second is to expose the background, so that the subject is underexposed, forming a silhouette and expressing the sense of lines of characters; Thirdly, the background is still exposed, but the main body is supplemented with light, so that both the characters and the background can be fully exposed, and the characters also generate contour light due to backlight, creating a special light sense.

The smooth lighting effect in portrait shooting is relatively dull, so more efforts should be made in figure posture and composition. Canon EOS 5d Mark III+EF 85mm f/ 1.2l is USM II, f/1.2,11600, ISO 50. (Photography/Yao Pin)

Create light

Portrait photography is one of the photography fields that use artificial light the most. In actual shooting, natural light is inevitably limited, so it is very important to "create" controllable light. When shooting outside, bring one or two external flashlights that can be flexibly controlled, arrange the position according to the shooting intention, and set up wireless flashlights, which can bring unexpected surprises to the outside shooting.

The reflector is also a great weapon for portrait photography. Flash is easy to make people look blue when used outdoors, but there is no such concern when using reflector to fill the light; Moreover, due to the use of natural light, the effect is very soft and natural, which is very suitable for outdoor shooting. When shooting indoors, clever use of wall reflection (jumping lights) will also have a good effect.

Treatment of special light

Top light and bottom light are the most unsuitable light for characters. The light at the top will cast an ugly shadow on the model's nose, while the light at the bottom will cast a shadow on the eyes. If you have to shoot at noon when shooting outdoors, you can use reflectors, outdoor lights and other equipment to change the direction of light. In addition, you can also shoot under the shade of trees or the eaves of buildings, which not only softens the light, but also often produces dramatic lighting effects.

Photography tip 02: the application of composition

The main purpose of composition is to highlight the main body and weaken the content irrelevant to the theme. In portrait shooting, the subject is naturally a person: when the environment is messy, you can blur the background and highlight the subject; If you don't use shallow depth of field, you can also use the environment to make colors and lines suitable for setting off people, thus highlighting the subject more clearly.

Eternal golden section

Putting the characters in the golden section of the picture can achieve a harmonious picture effect. If you take a bust or close-up of your face, you usually put your face or eyes on the golden section, which is the best.

Point composition, portrait of distant environment

When shooting in an open scene, people can be put into the picture as a point, so that people and the environment can be skillfully combined and the overall effect is more harmonious. This way of shooting is different from the traditional portrait, which often gives people a refreshing feeling.

Diagonal composition

When shooting, let the camera tilt slightly and let the model cross the diagonal of the picture, which can break the sense of balance, give people freshness and make the picture more dynamic.

S-shaped composition makes the model's head, chest and buttocks not on the same plane, but presents an S-shaped curve, which can make the picture show movement.

Triangular composition

Triangular composition usually comes from sitting posture. For example, you can let the model sit on the side and bend one leg to form a triangle composition, which can give the picture an inner sense of stability.

Of course, these are not all composition methods in portrait photography. In fact, if you shoot too much, you can decide the composition by feeling. You only need to abstract the figure form into simple points, lines and surfaces, and then analyze its modeling characteristics, so that you can properly grasp the picture composition.

When shooting outdoors, it is easy to shoot a more ideal picture by using flash or reflector to make light for the characters. Canon EOS 5d Mark III+EF 85mm f/1.2l is USM II, f/2,11250, ISO 50. (Photography/Yao Pin)

Photography Tip 03: Portrait Posture Processing

standing position

Standing posture is the most common posture in portrait photography, which is more suitable for models with slender lower limbs and good figure proportion, and can show the whole body curves and movements. When using standing posture, avoid the stiff posture of the characters.

sitting position

Coordinate the movements and expressions of the characters' upper body, echoing the lower body. Should try to avoid the model's calf and hand echo is too symmetrical, otherwise it is easy to appear rigid.

prone position

It is also often used to express the relaxed and comfortable feeling of models. Lying on one's side is more common than lying on one's back. You must flexibly adjust the position of your hands according to the angle change to enrich the picture composition.

Squat posture

Squat posture is more suitable for cute but not tall models to highlight the pure and lovely effect. Compared with sitting posture, squatting posture can highlight the curve of the model's waist, but it will make the lower part of the picture appear heavier and the upper part slightly thinner; You can find some plants or props as the foreground, which often brings unexpected surprises.

Dynamic posture

Photographers mainly take snapshots, mainly running and jumping. Photographers must try their best to strengthen their sense of movement through various means; The side angle, the use of silhouette, the breaking of horizontal line and the exaggerated deformation of wide-angle lens may all be used.

Ef 85mm f/ 1.2l isumsii can create a beautiful blur effect, which is very pleasing in portrait shooting. Canon EOS 5d Mark III+EF 85mm f/ 1.2l is USM II, f/1.2, 1/2500, ISO 1250. (Photography/An Lingjun) Photography Course

Gesture processing

Models' hands are the finishing touch, which can balance the picture and shape the artistic conception. The hand can be said to be the most flexible and complex body element. Handling the posture of a good hand can successfully handle the posture of a model.

Communication between photographers and models

A photographer should give clear instructions to the model when shooting, such as whether the posture and expression are in place and which actions can be more powerful. Don't worry about adjusting the equipment, which will make it difficult for your model to keep the best condition. Of course, it is necessary to have a rest after work. At the end of each shooting stage, the model can look at the previous works, which can not only enliven the atmosphere, but also point out the shortcomings of the model and provide reference for the next stage of action.

Eyes are the bridge between people. Canon EOS 5D Mark III+EF 400mm f/4 DO is USM, f/4.5, 1/320, ISO 800. (Photography /Xi Supporting Agriculture)