Producing amazing photos is within everyone's reach. There are many people who still don't believe it, but learning photography is one of the easiest things in this world, you just have to know where to go. There are methods, techniques available to anyone and extremely easy tricks that help you produce great photos. You just have to know them. It's not magic. It's Photography. Tricks that all photography professionals know and use, but that the novice user gets lost, sometimes due to lack of knowledge, or because there is too much confusing information at other times.
Today I bring you one of those tricks. On this occasion, it is an extremely small detail, but one that is capable of leaving you AMAZED by the portraits that you produce yourself.
Before I continue, let me recommend the mega guide on portrait photography that I have prepared for you with many more tricks, tips and inspiration (more than you can imagine).
Continuous. The trick I'm talking about today has nothing to do with the technicalities of photography, nor with the manual mode settings. You do not need to take measurements or apply complex calculation formulas. Oh really. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is a trick within the reach of absolutely anyone. I am also not exaggerating when I say that you will LOVE its results.
A TRICK TO REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR PORTRAITS
The light. In photography everything has to do with light. A great photograph is made by light. A bad photograph is caused by the lack, scarcity or misuse of light.
The trick I'm talking about is to expose the subject to a soft, subtle and indirect light . There is nothing worse than a portrait shot with a strong flash light, the kind in which the subject comes out with an oily face, with that unpleasant shine of sweat on the forehead. How awful! (Normal for people to hate seeing themselves in portraits). Has it ever happened to you?
The light from the flash is usually strong, aggressive, and produces too much imbalance between an overly lit subject and a too dark background.
To fix this and still produce a spectacular portrait, the trick is to illuminate your subject with a softer, weaker light. To achieve this you have several ways:
- Side Bounced Light: This is my preferred method. To do this, simply move your subject close to a white wall, direct the flash at the wall keeping the subject within the frame, and shoot. The light from the flash will bounce off the wall and face your subject, lighting it much softer and more evenly. To achieve this method you need to have an external swivel head flash.
- Ceiling Bounced Light: This method is similar to the previous one, except that we will direct the flash towards the ceiling. When shooting, the light will bounce off the ceiling and illuminate the subject in a much softer and more even way than if we did it with the flash aimed directly at the subject.
- Diffusion Screen: This is another method that can achieve similar results. It is very useful especially for those who do not have an external flash, since it can even be used with the built-in flash of the camera. It consists of a small semi-transparent white plastic accessory called a Diffuser Screen (it can be purchased for 10 Euros or less). Positioned in front of the flash, it softens the light from the flash by spreading it over the entire frame, thus producing the same effect as the previous methods.
- Kleenex, Toilet Paper, Kitchen Paper: Undoubtedly I recommend you use a diffusing screen, because for what it costs it is silly not to buy it. However, if you are in a hurry or looking for a temporary fix, you can achieve a similar result using a Kleenex, toilet paper or similar. Just fold the paper in 2 or 4, place it covering the flash (be careful not to put your fingers in so as not to obstruct the light) and shoot. Kleenex paper is white and semi-transparent, which will dim the light from the flash and make it much prettier on your subject's face.
You can fold it more than 4 times or less, depending on your need/taste. His thing is to keep trying until he finds the right point.
In this video you have some ideas to diffuse the light with homemade accessories:
Thanks for reading this. You will discover the enormous power of this trick only when you put it into practice. I hope with today's article I have helped you discover easy and exciting photography.
Please, if you try it and find it useful, I would appreciate it if you would give it a "Like" or recommendation on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and/or share it with others. Thanks, as always.
