How to easily take artistic portraits under natural light?
Direct sunlight
Direct sunlight is generally considered unsuitable for shooting portraits. Such light is too strong, which will bring dazzling highlights and thick black shadows, and will also make the subject unable to open his or her eyes. Taking pictures under such light is not only a torture, but the effect is also unsatisfactory. In general, especially for travel photos of female characters, try to avoid taking them under direct sunlight at noon. If there is already direct light during travel time, we can solve the problem by softening the light.
1 Softening of direct light
The easiest way to deal with sunlight is to avoid it. We cannot make the sun change its speed, but we can hide under buildings, trees, and some other man-made or natural objects. When traveling and shooting at noon, try to avoid shooting in the shadow of a building to avoid direct sunlight. Remember that the shadow does not mean there is no light, otherwise you will not be able to shoot anything. In contrast, shadows are the softening of light that hits the subject through other media.
As shown in the picture: It was shot at noon on a sunny day. In order to avoid direct sunlight, the model went to the door of the store to shoot without any direct sunlight highlights on her face.
2 Diffusion panels soften the light
Diffusion panels are placed between the model and the sun to soften the light. Use a soft light board to block the sun from in front of the model to obtain a similar or identical exposure value to the background. The same effect can be obtained by placing the model at a 90-degree angle to the sun and placing the diffuser between the sun and the model. If the budget is insufficient or you cannot bring a large reflector when traveling. Diffuses can be made from anything translucent - just make sure they are white or you will cast other colors onto the model. When I was traveling and shooting, I used to use sheets as soft boards for my friends to hold.
As shown in the picture, the light on a sunny day is relatively hard, and two soft light plates were used to block it during the shooting. The light on the model is much softer, and there is no obvious contrast between light and dark.
Clothing samples taken during a trip to Switzerland, as shown in the picture: The shooting time is direct sunlight. Generally speaking, such light should be avoided as much as possible, but to express the scene of the bright sunshine atmosphere in summer, direct sunlight is the best Appropriate, with a high-gloss white hull, a high-profile white dress, and the high-gloss light spots on the lake in the background blurred into dots, the atmosphere of the picture is high-key and pure white, with a strong summer feel. The boat was parked on the shore during the shooting, and the staff held a soft light board in front of the model to soften the light on the model.
3 Direct light expresses male masculinity
The problem of shooting portraits with direct light is often not absolute. Sometimes, instead of avoiding direct sunlight, we must use such strong direct light to serve our pictures, especially when shooting men. When it comes to travel photos. As shown in the picture on the right, the midday sun and the scene on the coast, the clothing matching is very coordinated. The midday light was chosen for this shooting.
If you plan to shoot in an environment with direct sunlight, you have to observe the light and analyze the impact of the light on the model's facial lines or the shooting environment. Make the lighting in your photos look more like the result of careful planning rather than a forced choice.
4 Clever use of light and shadow
The picture below shows a photo taken under a tree in direct sunlight. Although we rarely use direct sunlight as a light source because they are too strong, the sunlight does enrich the atmosphere of this work and brings a lot of highlights to the picture, allowing the light on the model to complement the light and shadow in the background. Effect. In addition, the sunlight also enriches the layering and three-dimensionality of this work.
Under direct sunlight, the shadows of vegetation are irregularly distributed on the model, and the light and shadow are mottled, which very well reflects the characteristics of natural sunlight in summer clothes. This kind of light and shadow can only be best reflected when it is exposed to direct sunlight, so we It is said that the rules of shooting can be flexibly controlled.
Therefore, we must make good use of light and shadow to enrich the content of the picture. When I take business portraits indoors, I will also deliberately use some branches and windows in front of the flash to create the feeling of being outdoors in the sun, as shown in the picture: In this way, when shooting on location, you must express the feeling of sunshine and nature, and you can make full use of the projection of natural objects on people.
Three small methods for backlight focusing:
1. Please use a lens hood.
2. When focusing, place your hand above the lens to block direct light. After focusing on the face, remove your hand and press the shutter again (this will test you holding the phone with one hand)
3. Move slightly (or squat down or stand tall) Check your position, use the subject to block direct light, focus and then recompose the shot. As shown in the picture, first let the model's body or face block the sun, first "hide" the light source behind the model, focus on the face without strong light interference, then lock the focus, and then recompose the picture to put the sun. Going in, we can clearly see the backlit sun's highlight on the edge of the model's hat, which is very warm and adds to the atmosphere. However, when focusing, this part of the highlight seriously affects the focus, so the model should be used to block the light source first, and then the light source can enter the frame well.
Pictures | Text by Chen Fan
The above excerpts are from the May 2022 issue of Travel World Magazine
