As we all know, photography is a visual art, an art that uses light and shadow to shape visual beauty. Senior photographers have summed up the core experience of "light and shadow are the soul of photography" in countless real shots. The importance of visible light and shadow in photographic expression: Without light and shadow, there would be no photographic art.

Of course, shooting with flowers and plants as the theme is no exception. From a certain point of view, the shooting of flowers and plants is mainly to shape the beauty of the appearance, but also requires us to be good at using light and shadow, and constantly explore the use of light and shadow in the shooting of flowers and plants.

In the process of communication, I found that many friends have some misunderstandings in the use of light and shadow when shooting flowers and plants, resulting in poor photos taken. Here, according to the shooting experience and understanding of the use of light and shadow, the following 7 misunderstandings are summarized for your reference when shooting flowers and plants.

Misunderstanding 1: You can only photograph flowers and plants on sunny days

As I said before, light and shadow are very important to photography and are the soul of photography. The light and shadow mentioned are not only the light and shadow of sunny days, but also the light and shadow of cloudy or rainy days, but the intensity is different. Strong light and shadow and strong contrast are conducive to expressing the texture of flowers and plants and the transparency of the picture; weaker light and shadow, the contrast is soft, which is conducive to the presentation of the layering of the picture. Therefore, you can not only shoot flowers and plants on sunny days, but also on cloudy or rainy days, mainly depending on your own performance direction and purpose.

Misunderstanding 2: Only in the backlight can you shoot high-end flower and grass works

In the shooting of flowers and plants, the choice of light direction is also very critical. The choice of the direction of light still depends on how and for what purpose we represent it. You can shoot with backlight, you can shoot with front light, and you can shoot with side light. Different light directions have different advantages and disadvantages, depending on how the photographer uses them, and how they represent them.

Misunderstanding 3: The characteristics of light and shadow have nothing to do with the layered performance of elements

Some friends believe that the characteristics of light and shadow have little to do with the layered performance of the picture elements. In fact, this is not the case. The appearance characteristics of the main elements, the presentation of texture details, and the performance of layering are all inseparable. The characteristics of light and shadow, cool and warm not only have a great influence on the performance of the main body texture and color, but also have an important impact on the texture and color of the whole picture.

Misunderstanding 4: The characteristics of light and shadow have nothing to do with the layered performance of elements

Shooting flowers and plants with a dark or black background can show the details and texture of flowers and plants well. This is only one way of using light and shadow, not the only way. I see many friends who spare no effort to obtain a black background, I feel that Only in this way can we truly master the use of light and shadow. In fact, light and shadow are not used according to different expressions and shooting scenes.

Misunderstanding 5: You don’t need to consider light and shadow when shooting flowers and plants

After reading a lot of my friends' flower works, when composing the picture, I only paid attention to the positional relationship of the picture elements, and did not consider the influence of light and shadow on the picture elements. For example, the light and shade of the primary and secondary elements, the light and shade of the color, etc., because the light and shade of the element color and the light and shade of the color have visual weight, if the composition is not considered, it will affect the visual balance of the picture.

Misunderstanding 6: Shooting flowers and plants does not require fill light

Some friends think that shooting flowers and plants is relatively simple, unlike shooting portraits that require so much light and shadow, no need for fill light. In fact, this is not the case. When shooting flowers and plants, if the light is relatively hard, the shadows are relatively dark, and even a black situation occurs. At this time, it is still necessary to fill in the dark part to make the dark part show a certain sense of hierarchy.

Misunderstanding 7: Make good use of light and shadow without post-processing

For post-processing, no matter how good your shooting skills are, no matter how good your use of light and shadow, proper post-processing is very necessary. In the early shoots, it was impossible to achieve very satisfactory results, including light and shadow. This requires us to make appropriate adjustments to the screen in order to achieve satisfactory results.

The use of light and shadow is a difficulty in photographic expression, mainly because of its variability. Different shooting content, different shooting scenes, different expressions, and different photographers have different ways of using them. We need to experience and summarize in our own real shooting.