darken the background

[tony_young]

Hello,

 

I have 3 parts question on the topic.

 

a) what set up do I need to achieve the objective in studio setting with

black seemless paper background. Most of the time I use 1 strobe with either

softbox or umbrella and I tried to play with lowest setting on F-Stop I still

get the undesire details on background. In another word I still catch light on

the black background and it is not completely black. My subject is about 2-3

feet away from the background. My strobe is about 5-6 feet away from the

subject and is about 20 degree from the subject and about 5-6 feet high.

 

I can use photoshop to fix the problem but I 'd like to understand how low key

was done before PS/Digital time. Would there were always be post-production

works needed to completely darken the background? Or one shot one kill ?

 

b) I was using portal flash to shoot a model in the daylight. I accidentally

did something and the scene is just like I was shooting at night. The subject

is lit well but the back ground went fairly dark. I tried to repeat this

scenario later but could not do so. I was using a D70, 35-135 D lens and an sb-

24. I did not bounce my flash this time.Can some one tell me how can I repeat

this set up.

 

c) I am not so good at fill flash especially with light source behind the

subject. I dont want to over expose the background to get decent light on the

subject. I want my back ground properly lit (or darken a bit) and I the

subject is obviously well but not overly lit. Again, I am using sb-24 as my

fill flash. I always bounce my flash. I know this probably is an old topic but

I cant find the link at this time.Can you tell what setting template/method to

achieve this?

 

Btw, I tried to reduce the strobe power as well and play with various F-stop.

I could not get the f/x I wanted. Obviously I did not know how to use the sb-

24 correctly to control the power output, if you can walk me through in detail

of how to, that would be great.

 

 

Thanks

[ellis_vener_photography]

First of all move the people things you are photographing further away from the background.

 

If that doesn't fully solve the problem look at how you are lighting the subject. you maybe splashing out a bucket of light on the subject when work will work best is a well directed stream.

 

Finally In Martin Evening's "The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book", there is an illustrated 4 page section detailing how portrait photographer Greg Gorman uses Lightroom's Greyscale Mix and White Balance Temperature settings to great effect making very dramatic black and white images.

 

2.) most likely you choose a short shutter speed.

 

3.) keep playing.

[garry edwards]

Ellis has hit the nail on the head as far as your studio shots are concerned, but there are a couple of other points worth mentioning.

 

1. Black paper isn't very black at all, and always reflects some light. Black velvet is very much better.

 

2. Remember that light falls off over distance. With your light so far from the subject, even when you've moved the subject much further from the background (as you must) the background will still get a fair amount of light on it.

 

Turning now to your daylight flash question - *I was using portal flash to shoot a model in the daylight. I accidentally did something and the scene is just like I was shooting at night. The subject is lit well but the back ground went fairly dark. I tried to repeat this scenario later but could not do so.* - This isn't my area really but it's obvious that the flash overwhelmed the ambient light. To replicate the effect, you need a powerful flash close to the subject and a shutter speed too short to produce an accurate exposure of the background.

 

Hope this helps

[beauh44]

Hi Tony, I agree that black seemless paper isn't the best stuff in the world to use for a really black background. I love Photek's "Blackest Black" backdrop. I think it's made of velour but it sucks up light like black velvet. Here's an example shot: http://www.photo.net/photo/4947457 It's not cheap (about $150 - and it's pretty big) but you can wash it and re-use it over and over. When you store it, you just bunch it up and stick it in the bag that comes with it - the wrinkles just fall out once you hang it up. Assuming you put your subject a few feet away, it's hard to get any light to show up on it at all. Good luck!

[tony_young]

Ellis! you are no help on number 3...lol. I know everything I/anyone asked , if one have the time to try it all out, one will find the answer. But I know lots of you here already have a working solution and that can make my trying shorter. Can I hear what your set up will be for a typical sunset senario?

 

I cant move my subject too far out , my studio is small (18x20) and my lens is 35-135mm. I was trying to shoot the strobe backward (toward my camera at 2 o'clock) and use a reflector to lit up the other side of the subject...I still not get the background completely black. Maybe, I will have to change the paper to velvet or the Photeck's stuff that Beau mentioned.

[ellis_vener_photography]

In that case stop using big diffused light sources and start using smaller ones closer to the subject and "flag" off the light spill hitting the background.

[koh_boonwei]

Measure the light falling on the background and adjust it to be 3 stops less than the

subject.

That will gives u a black background.

 

Cheers!

[mrstubbs]

The angle of the light reflecting off your background is the main issue. If the camera can see the light at the opposite angle the light strikes the background then the image will show the background as brighter than black.

 

The background in this frame is the reverse side of black tracksuit nylon.

 

The light is coming from a wall twenty five feet away. The subject is less than three feet from the background.<div></div>