Photography itself is an art of light and shadow, which is highly professional, and in the past, practitioners need to go through special training. But with the development and progress of science and technology, the photography function of mobile phones is becoming more and more powerful, in this era of national photography, each of us may become a photographer, but also can shoot blockbusters. However, because most people have not undergone special training, and are affected by the automatic mode of mobile phone photography, it is inevitable to encounter some problems when using mobile phones to take photos, and I will briefly explain some common problems in order to improve with everyone. The shortcomings are also discussed.
First, the basic knowledge that needs to be understood
1. Exposure: refers to the amount of light that enters the lens and shines on the photosensitive element during the photography process, which needs to be controlled by the combination of aperture, shutter and sensitivity. You can simply understand that exposure control can change the light and shade of a photo. Of the three photos below, the first is underexposed, the second is normal, and the last is overexposed.
underexposure
Exposure is normal
Overexposure
Special note: Exposure is not absolute, and sometimes a photo with a normal exposure is not necessarily a correctly exposed photo, which needs to be based on the creator's intentions.
2. Golden Section: When using mobile phone photography, the screen can bring up a nine-square grid as shown below. Each line of the nine-square grid is roughly equivalent to the golden section line, and the intersection of each line is equivalent to the golden section point. When we arrange the subject in the golden section line or golden section, the photos taken tend to look more coordinated and comfortable. For example, here are a few photos:
This painting places the most prominent city tower in the position of the golden section, making the whole picture look more coordinated and more visually impactful.
This picture of a large area of rape flowers, the tricycle is placed in the golden section of the picture, so that the picture content is richer,
3. Photo ratio: refers to the proportional relationship between the length and width of the photo. The ratio of 6:4 and 4:3 is common on professional cameras, while the shooting ratio of HD video is mostly 16:9. The comparison relationship of common proportions is as follows, you can feel it:
Since the horizontal version of the picture is mostly selected in the WeChat public account or the daily posting of the network, it is recommended that if it is not to deliberately highlight the sky, try to use the horizontal mobile phone to shoot the horizontal picture when shooting, so as to reduce the adverse impact of the post-cropping on the picture quality, and increase the environmental scene that the photo accommodates. Important thing to say three times: take a side-scroll photo! Take a side-scrolling photo! Take a side-scrolling photo!
4. Common composition forms: Photographic composition refers to the layout and structure of photos on the screen. There are many opinions about the classification of photographic composition, and it is not possible to generalize. I think we are more commonly used in center composition, C-shaped composition, diagonal composition, rule of thirds composition, etc. Here are some examples:
(1) Centered composition: that is, the subject that needs to be photographed is placed in the center position, and most of them are mainly based on shooting some close-ups or group photos. The photos taken by this composition method are often flat and stable, and are mostly used in more formal occasions.
Tulips of Zhongshan Park
(2) C-shaped composition
C-shaped composition is a variation derived from the center composition, which is related to the C position when standing. That is, the photographed people are distributed in a lonely shape, and the main characters are placed in the middle of the circle. Because this kind of composition is affected by the perspective relationship between near and far and small when the number of people is small, it will make the main character of the subject not prominent enough, so it is not recommended to use it when there are few people. However, when taking a large group photo of dozens or hundreds of people, it can effectively reduce the edge distortion. You can take a look at the following example diagram:
(3) Diagonal composition: The main practice of this kind of composition is to let the main body on the screen be distributed along the diagonal line, or use the existing lines to play a guiding role.
(4) Bracketing composition, some are also called frame composition. This type of composition uses the existing environment to frame and surround the subject (building or person) being photographed. For example, here are two pictures:
(4) Cubic composition: This composition is the practical application of the golden section method in photographic composition, and is more used when shooting landscapes or large scenes. When some photographers take large-scale landscape photos, they will use the method of one-third of the sky, the ground, and the water surface to shoot. This composition mainly uses the aesthetic effect of the golden section to highlight the subject that needs to be expressed, so that the overall appearance of the photo is more coordinated and more comfortable.
Shoot from above
Shoot low on your back
I also want to use the last two photos to convey two aspects of information, one is what you want to express the subject, you want to make it occupy a larger proportion in the picture. If you want to show the door, the proportion of the door is larger, and if you want to show the sky, the sky will stay more. The second is to let everyone experience the shooting effect at different angles, the blue sky and white clouds are shot low, while the other one is shot from a high place. Different heights. The shooting angle is different, and the visual effect is also different. But I want to emphasize that the rules are dead, people are alive, there is no need to follow the rules when taking pictures, you can not take the usual road, provided that as long as the photos taken look comfortable and beautiful.
Second, ordinary people are prone to problems when photographing
1, do not pay attention to the use of light
Photography is divided into smooth light, side light, backlight, side backlight, top light, bottom light and so on. Among them, the first two are more suitable for ordinary people to use under outdoor conditions, but many novices often ignore the direction of light when shooting, use backlight shooting, and do not take the corresponding light filling means, so that the face of the person on the final photo, or the subject you want to show is black. For example, the following figure:
Ask colleague Kai to do less model shooting, the shooting time is not large enough, and the contrast between the background and the characters is not large enough, just to illustrate this phenomenon.
This problem is not caused by the camera technology, but by the metering mode of the phone camera. When the camera encounters this scene, it can be improved by using flash fill light or changing the metering method. For example, the photos taken by the two cameras below reduce the contrast by filling the light with a flash, so that the model's facial exposure remains normal.
Underexposed faces
By hitting the flash, increase the amount of exposure, the face is normal
The flash brightens the person's face so that the front and back exposures are basically normal
What should I do if I encounter this situation when using my phone? The first method can be to turn on the phone flash, shoot closer to the subject being photographed, or find a reflective object to reflect the light on the person's face to brighten the brightness of the face. The second is to sacrifice the background and brighten the main body, the specific operation is as follows:
On the mobile phone screen, tap the subject's face with your finger, and after the small yellow circle in the picture comes out, swipe up to increase the exposure, and adjust it to the person's face. At this point, because the background is a highlight area, overexposure may occur.
It is recommended to turn on the camera's HDR function in backlit conditions, and the photo can be improved to a certain extent.
2. The tree, pole or other shelter above the person's head, as shown below
Such photos are often caused by not looking closely at the background. The basic principle that should be mastered when shooting people, when there are trees, telephone poles and other columns that are easy to divide the picture, adjust the angle as much as possible to avoid it. If you really can't hide from it, you should also try to make more than two columns appear in the picture, and avoid more obtrusive things such as columns or eaves from appearing above the head of the character. You can take a look at the contrasting effect:
3, can not maintain the level of the photo well, such as the following example diagram:
The above two photos are the effect of not paying attention to the level, which makes people look very uncomfortable. And while maintaining the level, everyone should also pay attention to the height of the shooting, and the visual effects taken at different heights are not the same. Shooting up from a low camera can make people and buildings tall; a high camera is the opposite. You can take a look at the following two photos, due to the different shooting angles, the visual feeling is also different:
The height of this photograph is about the middle of the three buildings in the picture, and the shooting is relatively regular.
This is shot from the ground up, making the building look tall,
4, do not pay attention to the cutting position, lack of arms and legs.
The cropping of photos, especially portrait photos, should try to avoid knee joints, elbow joints and other parts. When we take pictures, we should observe more and try to avoid the lack of arms and legs. The specific crop position is schematically as follows:
The image comes from the Internet
The position of the green line in the figure is where it can be cropped, and the position of the red line is where cropping should be avoided. You can take a photo and compare the effects of the different positions.
5. There are too many elements in the picture that have nothing to do with the expression subject. Photography is subtraction, and extraneous elements should be avoided as much as possible when shooting. For example, some people like to use vertical shooting, and there are often large areas of sky on the photo, and sometimes the sky is not good. Thus affecting the expression of the subject. For example, the following two pictures, one is the original picture, one is cropped, let's compare and feel the visual effects:
6. Use wide angle to shoot the character, causing serious deformation of the face
Now the camera that comes with the mobile phone generally has a wide-angle function, and some people often like to use the wide angle to shoot when shooting people. However, I personally believe that if it is not necessary or necessary, you should try to avoid using a wide-angle lens when taking portrait photos, and if you really want to use it, you should also put the person in a central position to avoid facial distortion. The studio mostly uses 50mm/85mm lenses to shoot portraits, which is equivalent to 1X or 2X zoom on mobile phones. Of course, everything is not absolute, and the rational use of the wide-angle stretching function can indeed shoot the character out of the big long legs and appear to be taller. For documentary photojournalism, in order to maintain the necessary information, it is not recommended to use portrait mode on mobile phones.
The image comes from the Internet
3. Advanced training
1. Use the foreground or background to add elements such as time and place
The photos we take every day are collectively called documentary photography, but while we do a good job of subtraction, we should try to add more news elements such as time, place, and events to the photos. For example, here are a few diagrams:
The begonia flowers in the foreground reflect the time factor, and the background reflects the location.
The sprouts in the foreground tell what is in the plastic basket.
The eight words on the foreground lantern explain what products these people are looking at
The three words "Xinfadi" on the background tricycle explain the location of the shooting
2, to boldly choose the angle to increase the visual impact of the photo, produce different effects.
Shoot low and look up, so that the visual effect is different from what you usually see
Shoot from a high place to make the picture contain more content
Personally, I think that when shooting a full-body portrait normally, the height of the camera (mobile phone) is more appropriate at the same height as the chest of the subject. However, in order to shoot the subject higher, you can reduce the shooting height appropriately.
3. The "white plus black minus" of photography: it is to increase the exposure when shooting the overall bright (white) scene, and reduce the exposure when shooting the overall dark (black) scene. We usually have two kinds of scenes, one is that the land is white after the snow, then if you do not increase the exposure, it will make the photos you take underexposed, and the snow taken will be gray. The other is that there is a large area of green plants in the picture when shooting. At this time, if the exposure is not reduced, it will make the person who shoots overexposed. Take a look at the comparison chart
4, to learn to use the guidance function of the line, the use of the line to guide the person's line of sight to the scene that can express the main body of the picture.
Above, i.e. some of the suggestions that individuals have for ordinary people to use mobile phone photography. There will be time for further updates. Here, I would also like to thank my colleague Xiao Kai for helping to take a few schematic diagrams. Please also correct the deficiencies.
(Attached are a few photos taken by the individual before for everyone to enjoy)
Special note: The above content is a personal understanding, if there are different views, please discuss and exchange. Except for some of the pictures in the text that come from the Internet, the rest need to be taken personally. If you need to reprint, please contact.