How to capture skills quickly in documentary photography

Lead: The most commonly mentioned concept is shooting with wide-angle lens and small aperture hyperfocal distance. There are many concepts involved, but they are not so complicated and profound. I basically take SLR as an example here. Because the small digital camera has a deep depth of field, you can play as you want.

Snapshot, the main recommendation, is also my personal or most commonly used method at present. There are several kinds:

Guo Yanan's street photography works

1, manual focus estimation shooting. Put the focus in manual mode, and then adjust the focus to an appropriate distance, such as 2 meters or 3 meters. The next thing you have to do is walk the streets, wait for the subject to enter your focus distance, and just press the shutter. Sounds like the focus of a trap.

Guo Yanan's photographic works

This method requires some practice, that is to say, your visual distance can be consistent with the focal length actually set by the lens. Proficiency determines the maximum aperture you can use. The more skilled you are, the more you can use a large aperture like f 1.4, and the success rate is also very good. That sounds a little difficult. In fact, practice a few times more, and you will find that it is not as profound as you think. I don't know about female compatriots, but men usually have a sense of space and distance.

Moreover, I think the capture speed is the fastest of all methods. The camera doesn't need to do anything except shutter. You don't need to do anything except press the shutter. As quick and refreshing as blinking. This method must be mastered.

2. focus manually. In the digital age, this method requires a powerful focusing system. Because a machine like D90 is not sensitive enough to focus prompts, in fact, the indicator light will always be on in a range before and after the focal plane. This will cause some troubles to everyone more or less. Models like D7000 and above do not have this problem.

Documentary photography

In my personal experience, manual is not worse than automatic in speed. The only thing is to change the focus frequently, which is a bit troublesome. Unlike focus estimation, the target enters the alert area and is ready to shoot at any time. Digital SLR, some people choose to modify it into a screen, in order to better use the manual lens. I think if your camera has a D7000 focusing system, it is really unnecessary, because it is much easier to confirm whether this small green light is on or off with your eyes than to observe the split screen. Skilled people can fine-tune the focus by tilting back and forth, which is not only easy to use, but also very interesting. It is very suitable for use with coke estimation and has excellent effect.

3. Auto focus, using area focus mode blind shot. This shooting method has certain requirements for the focusing function of the camera. Taking Nikon as an example, I personally think that at least the focusing ability of D7000 can play a good role. According to my own experience, D90' s 1 1 focus can't accomplish this task well.

Auto focus uses the area focus mode blind shot.

Blind shooting with area focusing method is very simple. In general, the camera will choose the point closest to the photographer from a pile of focus points to focus and shoot. A better machine with face recognition will choose the focus point close to the face, which will be more intimate to use. After all, it is the machine that helps you choose the focus, so there will be a chance of making mistakes. Fortunately, the probability is not great. However, the most serious problem of this focusing method is that the amount of calculation is large and the focusing speed is not ideal. Press the shutter and the camera will think, there is a delay.

4, autofocus, single focus mode. It's not good to focus on single-point blind shot. Obviously, it is better to adopt the first method ... This method is suitable for those machines with poor focus, such as the D90. To capture the subject quickly, you need to observe carefully and have the ability of pre-composition. Before shooting, set the focus at a suitable point, then fine-tune the focus to the subject in the viewfinder while lifting the camera, and then press the shutter. This method is better for people who make good use of fixed-focus lenses, but if the focal length is changed from time to time, it is more difficult to have a pre-composition.

Finally, I would like to make two points:

One is to use automatic ISO, and set the highest ISO as the default maximum of the machine. For example, if D7000 is 6400, set it to 6400. Many people may worry about image quality and noise. To tell the truth, compare the effects of ISO400 and D7000 ISO6400, which are almost the same, and even D7000 performs better. So, feel free to use automatic ISO boldly.

Second, about hyperfocal distance, that is, using a small aperture to obtain as large a depth of field as possible. In my opinion, this is not an important issue. I have mastered the skill of snapshot and can use all kinds of apertures at will.