Teach you how to use flash to take dazzling portraits at night

Introduction: For photographers who are not familiar with flash, night photography is a big problem. They often look for places with strong scene light, and then rely on large apertures, high ISOs and slow shutter speeds, and then add noise and filters in post-processing to imitate the filmy feel. If you know how to use flash, night photography can actually be more relaxing and enjoyable than daytime photography. It won't be as hot as during the day, the shooting scene will not be affected by sunlight, it will be easier to control the flash, and it will not be affected by other factors. So this article will share with you some simple ways to take night photos. Teach you how to use flash to take dazzling portraits at night

Usually this is the formation I will set up at the beginning of the night shoot, that is, I will put a light with an umbrella-type shadowless cover diagonally in front of the model. , usually set the output to 1/16. Because the scene light is not strong during night photography, in order to balance the flash light and scene light, the output does not need to be too large.

Focal length 135mm_1/20s_aperture f/2.8_ISO400_manual mode_5100K This is the result of the shot. Usually at this stage, the main purpose is to familiarize the model with the feeling of night and warm up to adapt. Then I light a naked light diagonally behind the model, set the output to manual 1/8, and then light a naked light in front of the model. The output of a flash equipped with an umbrella-type shadowless cover is set to 1/8, but after using a soft light device, it is usually not even 1/16, so the light at the back will still be brighter. Then I put an orange filter on the flash in the back.

Focal length 135mm_1/30s_aperture f/4.5_ISO400_manual mode_5000K

This is the effect of the shot. Because the light bulb at the back is orange, I used a flash filter to cast orange light. On the one hand, it echoed the scene light, and on the other hand, it also made the model look more three-dimensional.

Of course, you can also do the opposite, install the orange filter at the back into a flash equipped with an umbrella-type shadowless cover, so that the front flash emits orange light and the rear flash Glow white. But in this case, the white balance correction must be performed on the skin color of the front portrait, so the white balance is manually set to 3100K, so that normal skin color can be obtained. But at this time, the light from the back is bluish, and there is a naked light behind it. The flash with an umbrella-type shadowless cover in the front is equipped with an extra filter, so the output gap between the front and rear flashes will be wider. You can It's easy to see the difference in the photos.

Focal length 135mm_1/50s_Aperture f/2.5_I S O400_Manual mode_3100K

Focal length 135mm_1/80s_Aperture f/1.8_ISO1600_Manual mode_5000K

Of course, it is also possible to shoot hard with a large aperture, high I S O and slow shutter speed, but the success rate will be lower, and the skin color of the model is easily affected by the color of the ambient light. When shooting with the aperture at its maximum, the dots in the background usually look a bit like the shape of a rugby ball, which does not look beautiful and often makes the background look messy.

The above is the result of shooting with the same set of flashes and changing the viewing height and position. Don't let the flash appear in the picture, the shooting result will be like Figure 1. Let the flash appear on the edge of the screen, and the shooting result will be as shown in Figure 2. Generally speaking, you won’t take pictures like this during the day, but you can consider taking pictures like this at night, because the position of the artificial light source can be set casually at night, and there is no need to consider the position of the sun like during the day. Figure 3 is to let the flash cut to the edge of the picture to create some glare. I have included 3 photos here in the hope that everyone can understand that after fixing the position of the flash, the photographer can also use the terrain and composition to control the impact of the flash on the shooting results.

Focal length 60mm_1/50s_aperture f/4.0_ISO800_manual mode_3030K

This is another set of examples. I installed an umbrella-type shadowless mask on the left front of the model. flash, with a naked light behind it. The friend in the front left of the screen is holding an outdoor light, but since such a strong output is not needed here, I just use the outdoor light to help the camera focus. At this time, the output of the flash behind the model is manual 1/4, while the output of the flash in front is manual 1/8.

Focal length 135mm_1/50s_aperture f/2.5_ISO400_manual mode_3100K