How to capture people?

Generally, it is easier to control the depth of field in the A position (aperture priority). The camera's built-in automatic metering, ISO, aperture and speed are used for metering. The main thing is to ensure that the handheld camera is stable enough and the shots are clear. Commonly used capture methods include the following:

①Ambush method. Anyone with practical experience in capturing photos has this experience. People who are sensitive to the activities of people in a generally excited state and are sensitive to photography will be discovered immediately as soon as they appear on camera. Once discovered, the original plot and atmosphere will suddenly change or even disappear. The key at this time is: How can we not be discovered? At this time, we remembered the stories of Barrett and Salomon hiding their cameras in hats and purses to capture photos. Practice has proven that it is entirely possible to find a place to hide oneself at the capture scene. This invisible location can, on the one hand, hide oneself and not be easily noticed by the subject; on the other hand, it can observe the other person more calmly and take photos. The other party and the shooting angle are also suitable. For example, in a room, behind a big tree, in a crowd, in a car, deep in a doorway... they may all become ideal hiding spots. In this way, a situation is formed in which the photographer is in the dark and the subject is in the light. It is like an "ambush" to capture the photo. This is a common method.

②Sudden attack method. If you find the shooting target but are unable to find a suitable hiding spot, you can use a sudden attack to capture the photo.

The key to this shooting method is: before shooting, adjust the focus according to visual inspection, and at the same time adjust the aperture and shutter. Special attention should be paid to never looking at the subject for a long time. Eyes are a message, a language. Carrying a camera and staring at a person for a long time will make people feel: Is he trying to take a photo of me? So be on guard. The photographer should pay attention to every move of the subject while pretending to be aimlessly looking around. Once the plot, action, or expression that suits his pursuit appears, he should immediately take the shot with lightning speed. By the time the other party notices and reacts, the shooting is complete.

③ Blind method. Disturbing the subject's line of sight so that they cannot clearly see the subject that the photographer intends to capture is called blinding. The characteristic of this capture method is that your eyes do not come into contact with the camera when shooting, and you do not use your eyes to look through the camera's viewfinder. Furthermore, the orientation of the photographer's face is inconsistent with the orientation of the camera lens.

Specifically, the eyes are looking forward, but the camera lens is pointed to the left or right. Or play with the camera with your hands (press the shutter when appropriate). In short, it gives the impression that the photographer is not taking a picture of "me", and there is no usual photographic posture at all, as if the camera has broken down and is being checked... Often the photographer is close at hand, but the subject is not at all No awareness. This method makes it easy to capture hard-to-photograph objects. Compared with the "surprise attack" method, this is a method of winning by cleverness. The "blind eye method" is used to capture photos without fear of crowds or chaos. The more people there are and the noisy environment, the easier it is to cast a "smoke screen" to paralyze the opponent. The "blind eye method" is used to capture photos. When taking pictures, the line of sight does not pass through the viewfinder. It relies on estimation, and errors are inevitable. Therefore, when capturing photos, you should be careful to leave enough room on the film. In addition, since you are not allowed to stare directly at the subject for a long time, it is difficult to grasp the momentary expression just right. Practice makes perfect, as long as you practice more every day, you will get closer to the state of mastery step by step.

④ Feint attack method. Sometimes, when faced with the activities of people in an excited state, if the photographer has been "exposed" and "ambush" or "attack" is not possible, then you can consider going to the other extreme: you might as well just talk and chat with the person being photographed, so that The tense air softened. At the same time, he constantly makes framing and shooting postures in front of the subject. In fact, it is a false pretense and does not really take the picture, so it is called "feint." At first, the other party may continue to dodge and feel embarrassed (note, this "sorry" is also A specific emotion from the heart, if captured well, can also be interesting). However, long-lasting and frequent stimulation (meaning the camera "aiming" at the subject) sometimes makes the other person relax and their demeanor and mood gradually return to normal. . At this time, you can take advantage of it and take pictures. This time it is a "real attack". Obviously, the "feint attack" method requires time and patience.

The Torch Festival is a grand festival for the Yi people. During the festival, men, women and children travel across the mountains and ridges to attend gatherings. During the gathering, the Yi girls like to hold a yellow umbrella to protect themselves from the sun and to beautify their activities while walking or dancing. This umbrella is also very useful for photographers. As long as she holds the umbrella horizontally in front of her, the photographer will be unable to capture anything. However, the "feint" method can help overcome this umbrella and capture the simple and beautiful "Amiko". "(Yi language, meaning girl) natural look.

⑤Sounding in the east and attacking in the west. This is also a capture method to confuse and divert the other person's attention. Different from the "blind eye" method, "making false appearances in the east and attacking in the west" "The method gives people the feeling that the photographer is indeed taking pictures, but the target is someone else or something other than himself. If the photographer discovers the target, he can approach him with a camera in his hand, but he will The camera is pointed at another target, and 99% of the time it is pointed at this "other" target. At this time, the person you really want to capture will feel that the person taking the photo is taking pictures of pigeons flying in the sky or running on the road. The car has nothing to do with it, thus relaxing the photographer's attention. When it returns to normal, it can quickly focus on the target.

Above, we contacted different shooting subjects and combined with the specific shooting process, briefly introduced five commonly used capture methods. These capture methods are all explored and summarized in practice, and they are derived from practice. In a broad sense, practice is infinitely rich, and its experience should be correct. And the practice of certain people in a specific period is limited. So, of course, the capturing methods, methods and means summarized in these limited practices also have limitations. Therefore, every photographer must not be bound by the above capture methods in his future practice. Instead, he should treat them as dogma and face the subject according to the actual situation he encounters, according to the time, place, event, and situation. Take advantage of the situation, use it flexibly, make discoveries and innovate.

Be proficient in capturing technology

Capturing not only requires flexible and diverse methods, but also requires corresponding capturing technology. The organic combination of the two can effectively improve the quality of captures. With the rapid development and progress of photographic equipment and people's extensive use of snapshots, snapshot technology has also obviously developed into diversification.

Commonly used capture techniques include the following:

①High-speed capture. Capture pictures with fast film speed and high shutter speed. For example, some difficult movements in sports, dancing, wrestling, racing, horse racing, etc. in folk activities are ever-changing and fleeting, and must be caught at high speed.

②Catch at low speed. It is mostly used when shooting people with small movements, such as indoor human activities or on-site portraits. In order to make them natural and vivid and properly express spatial relationships, you must use ambient light, a small camera, fast film, slow shutter speed, and a large aperture. If you use F2.8 as the aperture of a small camera, you can have a better depth of field; if you use F1.4 or F2 to shoot people in the scene, as long as there is side backlighting that can be used, you can also have a certain degree of three-dimensionality. In addition to a large aperture, indoor capture often requires a slow shutter speed, usually 1/30─1/15─1/8─1/4, or even longer. It would be better if you have a tripod at this time. If you don’t use a tripod, you need to practice the hard skills of shooting with a slow shutter: hold the camera steady, hold your breath, and press the shutter lightly. In order to keep the camera stable, you can place the camera against a wall or the back of a chair to provide a base for shooting.

③Catch at close range. Shooting very close to the subject. At this time, a standard lens or a wide-angle lens can be used to capture a close-up of a subject or a group activity of the subject, and capture the subject's activity environment into the frame. If the lighting is good and the subject is not very active, you can use a small aperture and hyperfocal distance. When the light is weak, you can use a large aperture or slow speed.

When taking close-up shots, you can take pictures through the viewfinder, or you can raise the camera without looking at the viewfinder frame; in special circumstances, when you need to take candid photos, hang the camera on your chest or hold it in your hand without looking at it. The shutter can also be pressed in the viewfinder, but the distance and the size of the image on the film must be estimated in advance.

④Grab from afar. Use a telephoto or zoom lens to shoot from a distance. Using this capture technique, the subject will not feel restrained. A telephoto lens can highlight the subject's expression and take close-ups of the subject. The disadvantage is that the environment in which the object moves cannot be fully represented. Because the depth of field is small,

it is necessary to adjust the focus carefully. It’s not easy to take clear photos when the light is low.

⑤Catch head on. That is, a capture of the subject coming towards you. In the case of strong light or mainly relying on flash, you can use a standard or wide-angle lens, a small aperture, and a hyperfocal distance to shoot; you can also keep a certain distance from the subject, predetermine a focus position, and press the shutter when the subject reaches this position.

⑥Follow and catch. Capture photos of lateral moving objects. At this time, you need to estimate the distance in advance. When the object passes in front of the lens, follow the object while pressing the shutter. Following includes horizontal following, vertical following, arc following, vertical following, etc. The key points of shooting horizontally are: first, the shutter speed cannot be faster than 1/30 second. The slower the shutter, the longer the lines "pulled" out of the background, and the stronger the movement of the subject; second, the background must have light spots or depth Spots composed of contrasting tones. If the background is a tone without any changes in light and shade or depth, the photos taken will not be very dynamic; thirdly, the camera should rotate synchronously with the subject when shooting, that is, the photographer should stand in place and rotate around the waist. Note that during rotation, try to keep the object in the predetermined relative position in the viewfinder. Press the shutter when the angle and movement are suitable. Also note that the rotation cannot stop the moment you press the shutter. In the photos taken in this way, the main image in motion is basically clear, while the background can show "pulled" horizontal lines, making the characters seem to be moving rapidly. Horizontal following is the most commonly used and basic following method. The key points of other following methods are similar and can be applied flexibly in practice.

With the advent of zoom lenses, the shooting technology of zoom following appeared: when the subject is approaching, the lens is stretched and retracted while pressing the shutter, causing the background of the subject's environment to be a radioactive ghost. When shooting, the camera should move stably in parallel without being subject to vibration; the shutter speed should be adapted to the amount of movement of the subject and the degree of back phantom required in the picture. A slow shutter speed may blur the subject itself.

⑦Grab from the side. Shoot from the side of your subject without blurring the background.

At this time, select the shutter according to the amount of time the image moves and the speed of travel, and then determine the aperture. A faster shutter speed is usually required to ensure image clarity. The method of fixing focus is either to predetermine the focus position, or to visually inspect and focus quickly.

When the subject has little activity or is basically motionless, you can use a telephoto lens to take a close-up of its side. Under normal circumstances, it is better to shoot people’s activities from the side with standard and wide-angle lenses.

⑧Grab from behind. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of works capturing people's activities from behind, and some of them have even become masterpieces and won awards. The work "Test of Strength" reflects the scene of farmers in a certain place renovating a mountain temple tourist spot and carrying stones. Captured from the back at a low angle, it fully demonstrates the difficulty and human strength of lifting rocks up the mountain. Such a lens, if shot from another angle, would not have such a good effect.