Photometric skills in portrait photography

Lead: For portrait shooting, I believe this is a topic that everyone is very interested in and likes. But I believe that for most people, it is not easy to shoot it well! Therefore, it is intended to attract jade, and the so-called Eight Immortals show their magical powers when crossing the sea! There are many experts in portrait shooting. The following are some of my experiences in portrait shooting, hoping to help those who are interested.

Backlight is often used to shoot portraits. In order not to overexpose the highlights, spot metering is adopted, and the metering point is in the middle of the face. Because it is in the transition area between the brightest point and the darkest point (usually called the gray area), I always press the shutter half-way when focusing to ensure the clarity, and I never use the flash to fill the light when taking portraits, because I think that if I use the flash to fill the light under the backlight condition, the figure will be leveled and there will be no three-dimensional effect! When shooting, increase or decrease the exposure compensation according to the light condition to achieve the best shooting effect! Most digital cameras have a little metering mode, and the measuring range is small. It's not easy to master it directly, so I only use it for photometric operation.

Operation of photometric determination:

1. Starting the metering system is consistent with starting the viewfinder. Just press the shutter gently (that is, half of the shutter position, no need to hold it down. If you keep it, you will start the focusing system, and metering does not need to focus). At this time, the shutter, aperture and the number of photos that can be taken in the viewfinder appear, and the metering system has been started. By default, metering is turned off for 6 seconds (you can set me to 6 seconds). Similarly, we can judge whether the metering system is on or not from the instructions of the viewfinder.

2. When the metering system is turned on (a period of time after half pressing), the exposure can be locked at any time through ae; You can also directly perform other operations while the metering system is turned on (note that it is not necessary to press the shutter half-way before locking the exposure, as most people say). Does the "Lock Exposure" sign appear in the viewfinder? *? Sign. However, it should be noted that when the mode dial is in the gear position, all gears can be locked except B and X gears (guess what happens after M gears are locked? Hehe, the M file has become the P file. To put it bluntly, after you measure light, when the shooting mode is set to M file during the period when the metering system is turned on (6 seconds), the data of M file is only measured data (convenient). Then increase or decrease the exposure (moving the aperture value or moving the shutter value) within the range of m to change the EV value of the exposure. You can select multi-partition, central focus and spot metering modes through the metering mode lever, and any metering mode based on the central viewpoint.

3. Spot metering is a good way to ensure the correct exposure of the main part, such as portrait face exposure. To correct what a friend said, it is not necessary to be close to the face when measuring, only for machines without measuring mode. Just aim the center point at the portrait face and lock the exposure, which is the advantage of spot measurement. Of course, if the photometry target is too small, we can consider close lock exposure to obtain the correct exposure value.

4. Can I focus after locking the exposure (M file)? Composition? Take pictures. Usually I prefer to focus with the eyes of the characters (keep the shutter half pressed to ensure clarity)? Composition (keep pressing the shutter)? Shooting, because I often only use single-point central focus mode and multi-point focus mode, you can't know where it is right.

5. A careful friend can see that when you take a portrait, you seem to use the M file. By the way, the metering point for taking portraits must be the point you want. What I just introduced above is the method of measuring light (spot measuring) with digital camera, and how to switch to M quickly after measuring. It's much more convenient than described in the textbook (record the data after the exam, go to M and put the measured data ...)!

6. If you don't do this, shoot directly with spot metering and measure the spot (center) at the focus (center). It's dark to the eyes (Han people), and the exposure is about to pass! Now, let's turn the metering (surface) to the M file first. Photometry has been locked in M position, and it has nothing to do with photometry when focusing and recomposing. Therefore, we use the photometry of the face and the focusing of the eyes to get what we need, and it is easy to take good photos.

Note: The above methods are applicable to Nikon cameras. When the Canon camera switches to M gear, only the last manual gear setting data is kept. But Canon cameras have the function of locking exposure. Just press it? *? , exposure lock, can focus? Composition? Take pictures.