تصوير البورتريه -٢- كتاب فن التصوير الفوتوغرافي

Helper to reduce the intensity of the darkness of the shadows. The auxiliary light must be close to the camera, and it must be less powerful than the main light. As for after it, it must give light that is equal to - the power of the main light in black and white photography, and 1/2 of its power in color photography.

The strength of the two lights can be measured, each relative to the other, using an exposure meter, or the strength of the two lights relative to each other can be calculated in the following way: If the two lights are at the same distance from the person, use an auxiliary light with a strength equal to that of the main light for white photography. And black, his first strength for color photography. But if the two lights are of the same strength, then keep the auxiliary light away from the person at a distance equal to twice the distance of the main light from the person for black and white photography, and one and a half times for color photography.

The auxiliary light can be replaced by using a reflector, which, as we saw previously, could be a sheet of thick cardboard with a sheet of aluminum foil on it, and it reflects part of the light of the main light on the dark side of the face.

This type of auxiliary lighting gives a better distribution than the direct auxiliary light.
Care must be taken not to bring the reflector too close to the subject, lest its light compete with the main lighting, which gives a flat image without clear shadows.
However, direct light, whether it is the main light, the auxiliary light, or the reflector, gives shadows with clear boundaries, which is not desirable in portrait photography, so it is advisable to use a light diffuser, and we discussed this issue in a previous paragraph.

Side and back lighting

The same lighting principles can be applied at an angle of 45 degrees, while changing the position of the camera and obtaining a wide variety of results. To prove this, place the person in a large room in a way that allows you to move the camera around him in a semicircle between two and two and a half meters, and let the person be far from the background person and the main light Falling on it at an angle of 45 degrees, they are fixed during the different shots, and the auxiliary light will move with the movement of the camera. Figure 3 shows the position of the person, the main light, and the different positions of the camera and the auxiliary light.
The main light in position C5, C4, C3, C2, C1, L are the positions of the camera for the five photos that will be taken of the person.

Auxiliary light on the right of the camera in its movement from one position to another. Let's start by taking pictures from different positions of the camera.

1- Profile Picture

Have the person look in front of him through all the stages of the experiments, fix the camera in position C1, and take a picture. You will get a 45-degree side view of the face, which is a well-lit image. Picture (4a) was taken in this way.

2 - Three-Quarter Portrait

Place the camera and auxiliary light in position C2, without any change in the position of the person or the main light. From this position, you will get a three-quarters image, as shown in Figure 5. Notice how the lighting is almost flat, because all the light comes from near the camera.

3 - Full-Face Portrait

Move the camera to position C3. From this position, you will get a picture of the whole face, with good lighting. The face here appears round and strong, as shown in picture (4c).

By moving the camera to C4, you will get a picture of three-quarters of the face again, as picture (4-d) shows, but the lighting here is different shades from position C2, and a greater roundness of the face appears unlike position C2, where the lighting was in the same direction as the camera, resulting in a flat image. And not interesting.

From position C5, you'll get a side view, almost backlit, dramatic and eye-catching. (photo 4e) taken from C5.

- Change the position of the auxiliary lighting

Now that you know the 45-degree lighting in the five modes, it might be worth experimenting with changing the position and strength of the auxiliary lighting. We may notice, for example, that the strong side lighting in shot C5 and C4 becomes stronger if the auxiliary light is relatively weak, because the dramatic nature is caused by the contrast between the high light and the shadows. If you strengthen the auxiliary light, you weaken the contrast and lose the drama.

On the other hand, the well-lit C1 side image can be improved by strengthening the auxiliary lighting directed in the same direction as the main light, because weakening it strengthens the blurry shadows on the chin bone under the eye.
In conclusion, no two people are alike

Each of them requires special lighting to reach the best results, and you will quickly learn to adjust the lighting at an angle of 45 degrees to reach the appropriate results for the situation and the face to be photographed.
This can be achieved by moving the main lighting from side to side, by raising or lowering it, by bringing it closer or farther away from the person.
All these movements change the shape, size and direction of the high lighting and shadows.
In this field, you must rely on experience and good taste.