I would like to give you a detailed analysis of the techniques and experiences of shooting portraits with a Canon 50D camera.
Sharing experiences:
<Shooting data>
Camera: EOS 50D
Lens: EF 50mm f/1.2L USM
Automatic aperture first exposure (F1.6, 1/320 seconds)
White balance: Automatic
ISO 200
Photo Style: Standard
Step 1: place the camera on a tripod to better use bright lenses
When shooting portraits by the window, it is suitable for the use of the maximum aperture Bright Fixed focal lens. Although the light passing into the window through the curtain looks very strong, the amount of light is actually relatively small. In addition, the indoor background is often complicated. To blur the background to simplify the diagram, you should also use a soft, virtualized, Bright Fixed focus lens. However, in order to use a bright fixed focal lens to reach the maximum aperture, you need to focus more accurately. The camera must be firmly fixed on a tripod for real-time display shooting.
Step 2: Turn Off the indoor lighting to prevent partial colors
When the light from the window is used as the main light source, you must turn off all the lighting in the room to prevent the partial color of the shadow. The portion exposed to outdoor light is brighter than the indoor lighting, so it is not easy to see partial colors. Although the light passing through the curtain is very gentle and easy to use, it also has the disadvantage of a small absolute light volume. The Shadow part is easily affected by indoor lighting, which must be noted. It is difficult for human eyes to distinguish between outstanding adjustments, but digital cameras faithfully reproduce the color differences, so they must be very careful.
Step 3: Let the person stand out the window to maximize the use of light
The best way to stand is to be as close as possible to the window. In addition, people should face to the outside to ensure that the light shines, this is the trick to shooting such scenes. In this way, the soft light can be smoothly shining on the face of the character, ensuring that the skin of the character is delicate. In addition, standing in this position allows the light to enter the eyes of a person and get a more vivid expression. The main point is to regard the entire window as a large light source, so that you can naturally determine the position of the character and face orientation. Depending on your preferences, you can select the intensity of light that shines on the face of a person. It is best to make the light shine through the white curtains of semi-transparent fabric such as lace to perfectly illuminate the person's skin. However, it should be noted that the light passing through the colored curtain will lead to partial color, which is not recommended.
Step 4: adjust the ISO sensitivity based on the light intensity
After determining the position of a person, check the camera's exposure. To increase the shutter speed to avoid body jitter, the ISO sensitivity should be increased. Set the aperture value of the lens to F1.6. Considering the subtle movements of the characters and eye movements in the blink of an eye, select ISO 200. The shutter speed is 1/320 seconds. The optimal shutter speed varies depending on the focal length of the used lens. Due to the differences between portrait photography and static photography, you need to consider the movements of the characters. Even if the camera has been fixed, regardless of the focal length, at least 1/125 seconds of shutter speed should be adopted to ensure peace of mind.
Step 5: focus on the eyes with manual focus
Move the zoom box in the enabled real-time display shot screen. Make the zoom-in box consistent with the Eye Center of the person, press the automatic focus selection/zoom-in button, and use the zoom-in 10 times to display the precise focus of the person's pupil. If the character does not have a large movement, you can also keep the zoom in and directly release the shutter. Instead of returning the usual display at each shot. Because the depth of the aperture near the maximum aperture is light, you can require the characters to stay static, maintain the rhythm, and cooperate with each other for shooting.
Key points:
To maximize the features of the bright fixed focus lens, you should carefully photograph each image and avoid continuous shooting.
So far, it is not as easy as the language described to be proficient in using bright fixed-focus lenses to take ideal portraits. The reason is that the focus is very difficult. Even a very good difference detection autofocus sensor cannot ensure that each time the focus is in the same position. If you are not very proficient in manual focus using an optical viewfinder, the number of failed photos will increase significantly. However, this situation has been improved with the appearance of real-time video display. The focus operation has become extremely simple when you use a bright fixed focus lens, and anyone can focus easily. In order to avoid the impact of focusing deviation, in the past, we often used the method of downgrading the aperture for shooting, but now we do not need to adopt this method to complete precision focus, during shooting, the imaging features of bright fixed focus lenses are even more available. In terms of shooting rhythm, although it is slightly inferior to the automatic focus of phase difference detection, the method of real-time display shooting and manual focus is better in focus accuracy. You can select an appropriate focus method based on the aperture of the lens in use and the shooting purpose.
Advanced Skills
The reflector, which is often used when shooting portraits outdoors, should also be used actively during indoor shooting. The light injected from the window is reflected, and the shadow part is compensated to achieve a more beautiful effect. The legend picture is taken as close as possible to the left of the model. Because the field rate of the captured image is 100% of the actual image, it is very convenient to check whether the reflector enters the image.
All right, the above information is the detailed analysis and sharing of Canon 50D's portrait shooting skills for photography enthusiasts, I believe that you are very clear about the portrait shooting skills of this camera. I hope that the shooting skills provided above will help you.
