Hello everyone, long time no see. The text and images I bring this time are the ones I have been brewing for nearly two months."PortraitPhotography" themed text and images, covering the "equipment" section, "progress section" of portrait shooting, as well asLaterThis will be the most comprehensive and detailed graphic and text in CoolAn's history, themed around 'portrait photography.' Everything you want for portraits is here! Without further ado, let's dive into the "Equipment Section" now!

???? : Since cameras have interchangeable lenses, the equipment section is divided into two parts: camera bodies and lens focal length options for each price range.#相机 #

2K range

Canon 6D Mark 1

Advantages: Full-frame body

Disadvantages: No touchscreen, few focus points, unreliable continuous shooting performance

Canon M6 Mark 1

Advantages: Mirrorless camera, compact size, lightweight, and touchscreen functionality

Disadvantages: Camera image processing is slow, and you need to buy an adapter, which increases your budget

3K range

Sony α7M2

Advantages: Mirrorless body, lightweight, many customizable buttons, easy to operate

Disadvantages: Focusing performance is not as Sony, and continuous shooting is unreliable

Canon 5DMark 3

Pros: A legendary camera for portrait photography, a must-have body for studios, comfortable colors, excellent image quality

Disadvantages: Unreliable autofocus tracking and a tear from the DSLR era

4K range

Sony α6400

Pros: Lightweight body, touchscreen, autofocus tracking and burst shooting performance far superior to Sony

Disadvantages: The price is not attractive

Nikon D810

Pros: Full-frame high-resolution body, and Nikon also has several highly cost-effective lenses from their own brand

Cons: Really good at shooting people, which is very Nikon

5K range

Sony α7M2R

Advantages: Static image quality full-frame T1 tier, 42MP ultra-high full-frame pixels, arbitrary cropping, extremely reliable continuous shooting and autofocus tracking

Disadvantages: poor high sensitivity, not usable above 1600

Canon RP

Advantages: Extremely easy to operate with the touch screen, lightweight mirrorless body, portrait portraitPhotographyExcellent color management

Disadvantages: No body stabilization, very slow continuous shooting speed

6K level

The Nikon Z5 melts like cream inside and opens up like a blade version of the Blade Edition

7K range

Canon 5DMark4

8K range

Sony α7M3

Sony α7c

9K level

Sony α7M3R

The Nikon Z6 Mark2 melts like cream inside and opens up like a blade on the outside, sharp like a blade version

These are the recommended camera bodies for various price ranges from 2,000 to 10,000 yuan. Since portrait photography also depends on image quality, I try to choose full-frame bodies. It's also undeniable that there are many excellent cameras in the same price range that might offer better value for money. But in the end, I still chose Canon and Sony cameras. On one hand, Canon excels in color management for portrait photography; on the other, Sony's autofocus and wide range are outstanding. Most importantly, Sony's lens lineup is number one in the world!

It's easy to see that after the 6K price range, I no longer discuss the pros and cons of camera bodies. The main reason is that above the 6K price line, various brands have excellent bodies, with almost no particularly prominent flaws that significantly affect photography. There are also some excellent bodies, but due to their high refurbishment rate, they are not considered.

While finishing this article, a friend asked me, can the CCD card printer take portrait photos? Frankly, the CCD has only been hyped to a level beyond its reach. Its poor image quality creates a sense of atmosphere, which is just the lower limit of the body I've listed above, and the operation of the CCD camera is simply terrible......

When you open a shopping app and enter the keyword "camera lens," you'll see a dazzling array of brands, including original camera manufacturers as well as aftermarket brands like Sigma and Vizon. This makes it difficult for me to recommend a single lens on my own, so when choosing lenses, I will focus mainly on focal length.

50MM (full frame) — What you see is what you get

If you ask manufacturers what the most commonly released focal length is, it's undoubtedly 50MM. The image presented at this focal length is almost indistinguishable from what you see with the naked eye, so it is also one of the golden focal lengths for portraits. Most importantly, lenses at this focal length range range in price from under 1,000 yuan to over 0,000 yuan, so you can purchase according to your budget.

Effect

85MM (full frame) — For beginners, choose TA

85MM is a perfectly balanced lens, compressing the image to some extent while also achieving excellent bokeh effects. Most importantly, this focal length reduces the requirements for the model's full-body posture; in most cases, just adjusting the upper body posture is sufficient, making it extremely friendly for beginners.

Effect

Some other focal lengths—not recommended unless necessary

70-200MM

Reason for not recommendation: Expensive! Heavy! The 720MM, as one of the large triple lens lenses from various brands, offers excellent optical image quality, but it is not recommended. For example, Sony's 720GM F2.8 has a second-hand price of 9,000+ yuan. If you're just out of passion for portrait photography rather than profit, I really don't recommend it. Moreover, all brands' 720 are very heavy, and portrait photography can take several hours. Can you really hold it for that long? Moreover, this focal length makes you overly dependent on telephoto lenses, which is not friendly to advances in portrait photography technology. Your photos will mostly be just part of the model's body, causing you to lose control over the model's overall pose. Most importantly, a cat turns into a dog, never a dog!

Effect

To sum up, if you're a beginner, 85MM should be your best choice. If you already have some experience in portrait photography, you can use 50MM for advanced technology. If you're already tired of prime lenses, want to try a new shooting style, or if you happen to have the financial means, the 720MM is perfect for your shopping cart.

Alright, now that you've bought the lens and body, but that's not enough—you still need some gear to purchase.

64GB memory card

How do you take photos without a card? Since we mainly focus on photography, two 64GB cameras are better than one 128GB one. This is not a brand recommendation; you can choose according to your financial means.

Build your own external hard drive

Photography is definitely not a one-time task. Since you will have many photos to store, a self-assembled hard drive enclosure becomes essential. At a time when solid-state prices have already been pushed down, solid-state external drives become the best choice. Since photos don't require very high read speeds, the more memory the better, and speed requirements are not very obvious. You can choose according to your needs.

Reflector

If you try some special shooting methods (backlit figure glowing), or simply want to keep your face bright even in backlit conditions, then reflectors come in handy. But personally, I don't really like using it because I feel it doesn't look natural enough.

Flash

Many mirrorless cameras today don't have a flash, so if you need a flash, you'll need to buy a separate photo. If you're a beginner, you might not need it much, because adding flash photography requires a solid technical foundation (studios are very common). (For example, I don't have one.) Actually, flashes have many uses and ways to play. If you're interested, why not buy one and give it a try?

There are also other lighting fixtures, such as stick lights and headlights, which are not recommended because if you are not a professional photographer, these equipment will collect a lot of dust, so you should spend your money wisely.

So, is the selection of equipment finished? No, no, no, you might still need a computer, or maybe a professional monitor to meet your post-production needs

ASUS Vivobook 16

The ASUS Vivobook series is undoubtedly one of the best candidates for post-processing photos; a well-colored OLED screen is enough to handle color grading tasks in the later stages.

MacBookbook

No need to say much about ?products—the screen colors are genuinely good, but they're expensive

If you don't want to use a desktop, or if you just want a computer that can also edit photos, then an OLED screen laptop should be the best choice. It's important to note that in photo editing software like Lightroom and Photoshop, Intel chips offer better experiences than AMD, and discrete graphics perform better than integrated graphics. If you already have a desktop and want to buy another monitor with high color accuracy for design and photo editing, you can also check out my recommendations by price range.

1K level

1K level

In the 2K range, you may not trust Xiaomi phones, but you can always trust other Xiaomi devices

2K range, AOC

3K price range, BenQ YYDS

In advance, be sure to communicate with your model in advance, including the style, time, and location of the shoot.

When it comes to timing, there are several widely recognized good outdoor shooting spots

? 7:00–9:00 (one hour delayed in winter)

? 16:00–18:00 (one hour later in winter)

Good communication and pleasant agreements are the foundation of a successful shoot. Most importantly, you need to learn in advance the style you want to shoot and what classic poses that style holds. Beginners can learn and save the corresponding postures from Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

When you're just starting out in portrait photography, making plenty of sugar water videos is essential, and Xiaohongshu happens to have a wealth of notes for you to learn from. It's worth following a few bloggers whose styles suit your preferences. By the way, many Douyin creators post videos of their full shoots, like Xu Shiyi, the big head in the photo. You can learn how to guide your models.

If you start wanting to shoot film style or want your portraits to come alive, then CNU is your stepping stone to progress. There are plenty of sample videos available for you to learn from, and the software is clean and free from the crowd. Highly recommended.

Alright, now everything is ready, only the east wind is needed

Is that so? No! There are a few more important points you should keep in mind before heading out.

⭕ Are you carrying the battery? Is the battery sufficient?

⭕ Did you bring a memory cartridge? Can it read and write normally?

After checking all this, head out and complete your task today!

Filming

First, let's complete the camera setup as follows

⭕ Set the photo format to RAW to preserve the maximum post-processing space for the photo

⭕ Set the settings to A and keep the aperture between 1.2 and 4.0 to ensure bokeh

⭕ ISO and white balance are both set to auto

⭕ Switching shooting mode to continuous shooting (both low and high speeds)

⭕ Enable facial recognition (if available)

Never trust your ability to capture a single photo. Some beautiful moments only happen in an instant. The model barely manages to strike a pose, but if you only capture the moment they close their eyes, oh, you're doomed! So, why not start continuous shooting? Take a few more shots—there will always be the most beautiful moments when you don't expect them. Moreover, when you tell a model you're done shooting, the moment she starts to relax often feels very good and the photos turn out better, so even if the model stops the camera, she can't stop either.

After taking a few shots, be sure to hand your camera to the model to see how it turned out. No matter how good or bad, discuss how to make the next one even better. Encourage your model more, use words to motivate them, boost their confidence, and if it's your NPY, a reward is not a bad idea.

Shooting outdoors is exhausting, especially after enabling burst shooting, which gets annoying. Burst shooting feels great for a moment, but choosing the right image is a grave for fun. So, after shooting one or two sets, when reviewing the photos, you can promptly delete the unattractive ones. If you're short on time, after finishing the shoot, find a place to rest and pick photos together with the model. (Reduce your own workload.)

Filming is complete

Alright, that's it. Today's shoot is complete. Next, let's go home and get ready for the tense and exciting post-production process.

Every photographer has their own post-production process, from post-processing software to plugins, offering different options. Here, I only recommend the software and share my personal computer post-production process.

Post-production software: Lightroom (color grading) + Xingtu (beautification)

The main purpose of choosing to add a Lightroom is to handle RAW photos, and LR is more professional but less difficult to get started with than Flash. Xingtu was developed by ByteDance. As an important part of the Douyin universe, Xingtu boasts outstanding portrait beauty capabilities, long surpassing Meitu Xiuxiu. For beginners or even non-profit portrait photography, I recommend this combination because it has the lowest learning curve.

?️ Post-production software: Lightroom Classic (color grading) + Photoshop (with extensions for beautification)

The PC version of LR has similar features to the mobile version, but its photo editing is more detailed. Most importantly, after 2023, LR has a built-in "noise reduction" feature that completely eliminates color noise in photos and can also perform super-resolution processing. Before adding plugins, PS was very difficult to use and had obvious technical barriers, but after adding plugins, portrait beautification became much easier, making it a complete choice for beginners. Photoshop's beauty features are also highly detailed, far beyond what mobile beauty apps can match. In fact, in the past two years, there has also been a desktop beauty app called "Pixel Cake," which focuses on "AI beauty." It's good, but if you want to pay and it's based on the number of photos, I'm just discouraged you.

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Next, I will use a photo as an example to demonstrate a standardized computer portrait retouching process on a computer

Set the tone

1️⃣ Import photos into Lightroom Classic

2️⃣ Use a preset you think works best (I've included my preset pack at the end), and first set the overall color for the photo. There's no need to rush to get it all right—just roughly adjust the first color set

Restore and modify the work

3️⃣ Restores the color and exposure of the figure, mainly orange and yellow hues, saturation, and brightness, striving to restore the skin tone expected of humans. If necessary, you can create a new character mask and individually adjust various data for each character

4️⃣ Use lens correction to remove chromatic aberration, fine-tune vignetting and distortion

5️⃣ Finally, adjust the overall image of the photo, finalize the print, and export

Photoshop plugin Portraiture

6️⃣ Import PS

7️⃣ Find the Portraiture2 plugin you installed in the filter bar (2 is mainly recommended here because it works better). 3. It's faster, but the effect isn't as detailed as 2). It performs automatic skin smoothing according to the model or your own needs.

8️⃣ In the window - Extension bar, find the DR5 plugin and use the smart liquification tool to slim your face and beautify your face

Here, it's recommended to increase the size of the liquefied pen when using it. For example, as shown in my picture, I want to beautify her chin. The liquefied pen should be as big as her face

9️⃣ After liquefying the figure, remember to raster the liquefied layer

? After rasterization, start using the stain repair tool to treat acne, blackheads, moles, and other skin imperfections on the face, taking care not to damage the skin's light details.

1️1️⃣ ⃣ Use the Beauty Ultimate Edition from WanXuan Design to further fine-tune character details, such as smoothing areas that still need smoothing. Here, we select the intensity smoothing tool to process first, then change the layer's opacity to improve the smoothing effect. Note that for each adjustment, a dermabrasion layer should be applied to ensure overall skin consistency. (Tip: Skin smoothing tools are not only for smoothing but can also fade the body hair to achieve hair removal.)

By analogy, the "white teeth" tool can also be used to refine the whites of the eyes, refresh the eyes, and even add eye light. Similarly, the effect can be adjusted by adjusting the opacity value.

1️2️⃣ ⃣ Finally, use the tools in DR5 to fine-tune details like lips and eyes. This is the technical advancement content, which we will discuss later.

After completing all this, we have them

1️3️⃣ ⃣ Export the photos and send them for review

Alright, that's my complete complete process for portrait retouching on a computer. PS plugins are recommended to buy a set on TB or PDD; they are usually installed as a single unit and very convenient. At the same time, you must understand one thing: tools are rigid, but people are alive. Use plugin functions flexibly and don't trap yourself. Skin smoothing tools can be used for hair removal, teeth whitening tools can be used to shape the eyes, and they can also be used for whitening.

That concludes the entire content of this article. If nothing unexpected happens, this will be CoolOn's most comprehensive article themed around "portrait photography," and I hope it will be recognized by everyone. Since Coolon can only post 50 photos per article, the shooting and post-production parts weren't detailed enough. We'll talk about that next time.

LR presetView the link

#摄影 ##相机 #

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