Spring in the camera | the wonderful Journey of a pot of daffodils

Take a breath on the camera, the fog produces an uneven sense of obscurity and light leakage.

The black-and-white picture is shot under the bright background, the picture is simple and beautiful.

The backlight and dark background make the flowers and leaves feel transparent.

Under the bright background, the backlight is used to make the edge virtual and the sense of painting stronger.

Pre-shoot preparation

Potted flowers are generally small, so it is more appropriate to use telephoto lenses, which can make the picture have a certain sense of compression visually, narrow perspective and convenient light distribution. In order to observe the light effect, you can use a LED supplementary lamp that can adjust the brightness and color temperature.

The use of lower sensitivity can better show the delicate texture of flowers. Although shooting flowers often uses a large aperture to make the background virtual, but at a very close distance, the large aperture will make the depth of field extremely shallow. If you want to balance the clarity of the subject and companion, it is recommended to use an aperture of about F8. If the shutter speed is slow, it is best for SLR cameras to use the "mirror pre-rise" function to reduce vibration. After the composition is determined and the focus is completed, the autofocus can be changed to manual focus in order to avoid changing the focus.

The atmosphere of a bright and dark background

Compared with outdoor shooting of flowers, indoor shooting is easier to use different backgrounds to create different visual effects and atmosphere, especially to choose a simple background to set off the shape and color of flowers, such as high-profile or low-key effects. High-profile flowers give people a light, noble visual impression. When using a light background, you need to use 1 or 2 additional lamps to illuminate the background evenly. Low-key flowers give people a sense of elegance and implication. When using a dark background, avoid the light shining on the background. You can also choose different colors of paper jam as the background to form a strong color contrast.

Select the form of flowers, need to meet the requirements of creation, if the shape is slender, it is appropriate to use vertical composition, such as daffodils; if in order to show the effect of multiple flowers, it is appropriate to use banner composition. In addition, you need to pay attention to details, such as whether the branches and leaves are damaged or dusty; if there happen to be some branches and leaves whose shape does not match the overall composition trend, you can gently stroke it to make adjustments.

The shape of a variety of lighting

Whether shooting with single light or multiple lights, you need to determine the position of the main light first, and you must have a picture of the expected light effect in your mind. Although it is photographed indoors, it still needs to follow the natural effects of solar projection, so light distribution does not need to be too complex, otherwise it is easy to produce a sense of chaos.

Backlight, side light is conducive to highlight the texture and three-dimensional sense of flowers, and backlight can make petals more glittering and translucent visual effect. In the shooting of flowers, generally less use of smooth light and top light as the main light, but can be used as auxiliary light. If you want to slightly improve the details of the shadow, you can use a reflector or place a piece of A4 white paper next to the flowers.

When backlighting is used in different shades, it will also produce different shapes. For example, the backlight in a dark background can appear silhouetted and graceful, while the backlight in a bright background will blur the edges of flowers and branches and leaves, making it more picturesque. Use "white plus black subtraction" to control exposure according to the tone of the picture.

The effect of different techniques

Facing the same bouquet of flowers, we can try different techniques to show different picture effects. In addition to using the above different backgrounds and light distribution, you can also use black and white to show the freehand brushwork picture of blue and blue ink, multiple exposures to produce the effect of virtual and real combination or overlap, and you can also use soft light mirrors to produce hazy beauty.

In addition, you can also install a UV mirror in front of the lens and smear Vaseline. Uneven smear will produce varying degrees of obscurity, and under the backlight, the corner position will also produce light leakage lighting effect, as if bathed in the morning light, the picture is unpredictable.

Another advantage of shooting flowers indoors is that they can calmly observe and explore the possibilities of expressing flowers under different conditions. while shooting beautiful things, they are also constantly improving their aesthetic, creativity and patience. When it comes to situations that require quick judgment, such as using light, background, or skill choices, you can capture wonderful moments in a more orderly manner.

The article was published on page 7 of the 16th issue of China Photography News in 2022.

Picture and text: Li Jingfeng

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