Basic portrait photography lighting skills

Lead: I believe everyone understands that light is a basic and necessary element for photography. Good lighting can significantly improve the quality of photos. For the most typical indoor portrait photography, appropriate lighting settings and lighting are the key. The following are shared by photographer Darlene Hildebrandt. They are the six most basic lighting courses. Let's have a look!

Before learning lighting, you should know what eye lighting is:

You can see that the light source is reflected in the baby's eyes. It seems that his eyes are very magical. If you look carefully, you will find that it is a hexagonal lamp. In fact, the photographer put a hexagonal soft mask on the flash and then hit the light source.

1. Separate lighting

Gu Ming is incredible, that is, dividing his face into two parts, one bright and the other dark, will create a strong sense of drama, which is suitable for people with strong personality or temperament, such as artists and musicians. Of course, it will be more masculine.

In order to create this effect, the light source is placed at 90 degrees on the left or right side of the object and can be moved forward or backward slightly to adapt to different shapes. Note that the light must change with the face of the object, and the light will change with the rotation of the head.

2. Ring lighting

This is to let the nose cast some shadows on the cheeks. To achieve this effect, the light source should be slightly higher than the eye level, 30-40 degrees inside the camera (according to the individual's face shape).

Pay attention to the effect of the above picture, the light source is slightly higher than the eye level, the projection of the nose is not connected with the shadow of the cheek, but slightly downward, and the light source should not be too high, so that the eye light is lost. The following picture shows the lighting schematic of the above photo. The black background represents the forest, and the photographer hits the sunlight on the object with a white mirror. This is a very common technique, but the common mistake is that the reflector is placed too low and the light hits the nostrils, which can not produce the ideal effect.

3. Rembrandt shines

The name comes from the lighting technique commonly used by the painter Rembrandt, and the triangular light level on his face is the mark. Different from circular lighting, the nose is connected with the shadow of the cheek, but more importantly, the eyes on the shadow side still have a bright face, and the photos are also dramatic.

When shooting, the subject should turn his back slightly to the light source, and of course the position of the light source should be higher than the head, so that the shadow of the nose is connected with the shadow of the cheek. However, not everyone is suitable for this kind of lighting. People with large cheekbones will be ideal, while people with low noses will be more difficult. Therefore, lighting should choose the right object and cannot be generalized.