Portraits have always seemed somewhat misleading and disappointing to me, basically because they seem so much easier than they really are, because we have them on hand, because we hunt our children, nephews, partners, mothers and friends to make us role models and a suction. The cup falls and lets us practice, because we don’t even need to leave the house, nor do we have great means to do so, but the truth is, once we look at them, we tend to have some pretty disappointing results, or at least not as good as we would like. We have too much background, or we lack the precise moment, but above all, we lack the magic of good lighting. Because lighting in photography is everything, and in portraits, everything x2.
While it’s true that to be an expert in portrait lighting, you’ll need many gadgets, hours of careful reading, and a few hours of practice to exponentially enhance your images, a few basic tricks will be enough to make your portraits. stop being the only one, enough to deserve at least one corner on your living room wall. Shall we see them?
- Just as a Formula One driver has an in-depth knowledge of the mechanics.
- Or kinetics.
- And knowing the engine of his car helps him perfectly in his career.
- Helps a photographer to know everything that influences the final quality of the image.
- I do not mean to know all the nuts that make up your camera.
- But the behavior of the elements that help us in the photographic process; sensor.
- Lens.
- Flash or unit.
The photometer is responsible for measuring light at the scene and telling you if you need more or less light depending on where you’re exposing. There are two types of photometers, the one that you have incorporated into your camera that is characterized by being a photometer of reflected light, and the external portable photometer that normally has the ability to be used in both mirrored mode and light mode.
If the portrait is your thing, I’m sorry to tell you that you’ll have to get a photometer of ;-), since it’s the one that gives us the most correct exposure values, because it is not influenced by the colors of the scene that could lead us to misleading readings and therefore to incorrect exposures, remember that there are tones that reflect much more light than others , and that, for example, your protagonist’s clothing or background can confuse the photometer and make you think there’s a lot more or less light than there really is.
Although we have already pointed out that incident light photometers are the ones that provide us with the most correct measurement values, the truth is that the integrated photometers are the ones that have the deadly ordinary, and although they are not perfect, knowing them we can work perfectly with As a general rule, the built-in photometers have several measurement modes that you should know because they provide very different scene readings from each other :
Natural light is the most appreciated, especially if you dare to practice your portraits in the hours of the day called “hot” (the hours of sunrise and sunset), when the sun’s rays are still dim, provide a diffuse light of soft orange tones and affect the person represented laterally. These are precious moments to practice your portraits, test the backlight, play with the brightness of the scene and the softness of the light, and inspire tenderness and beauty.
On the contrary, the worst hours of the day to film are usually the central hours, when the lights are harder and create very marked shadows on the face and a strong contrast, in these cases it is interesting to use reflectors, diffusers and / or a flash key. If none of the above is possible, then it is a good option to take refuge under a tree (i. e. , look for a good shade outside?)
Oh, and if you run out of natural light but you’re inside, approach a window, if the incoming light is too bright you can mount a diffuser with a simple light-colored curtain that lets in some light.
Indiscriminate use of flash is one of the most common errors when we start to take an interest in photography and this little machine called camera dominates us and decides completely for us ?. That’s when the flash shoots apparently randomly, ruins our photos and we end up practically hating it. Well, this phase is normal. But you have to get over it and try again, because flash is as essential in portrait photography as your model.
The flash will help you achieve homogeneous facial lighting by removing unwanted shadows, or creating artistic effects such as high contrast (above or behind), diffuse and soft light, etc.
Don’t be afraid to make a mistake and don’t settle for the results, do several tests and vary the angles and intensity until you find the desired result. Especially training and winning, as usual? And if you’re thinking of launching your first photo studio, check out this article.
It depends on how the angle of light affects your portrait, you will have effects or others.
Each light source has its own dominant color temperature, the hue of the images of its tone (hot, cold or neutral). To avoid splashing cold or heat, remember to adjust your camera’s white balance correctly.
I hope you liked it, but above all it helped. If so, please share it with someone else who thinks you’re interested. Thanks a lot?