How can I get a dark background

[hector_evans]

I think the dark background in this photo was taken with the use of flash, although I'm not sure. I have seen the same

effect in other photos and I would like to know how it is achieved:<br><br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/3896906">http://www.photo.net/photo/3896906</a>

<br><br>

thanks<br>

[Karim Ghantous]

I'm hardly a flash expert but it seems as if the heads were close to the subject and/or the camera was set to a very short shutter speed.

[yann1]

I believe it was painted in PS...

[tobiasfeltus]

the way that you generally get a black background is by making sure that the background gets no spill from the primary

light = distance. essentially, if you can see shadows on the background, then it will not be black, unless you underexpose

the image about 2 stops, but with digital you will struggle to recover the image from two stops under. you can paint in

photoshop, but that is not necessarily lighting it right. try black velvet as a background, and with a subject that size, about

one metre between primary subject and background will probably be enough for the light to fall off sufficiently. if you have a

flashmeter, aim to have the background about 4 stops below the main subject, as this should yield complete lack of detail.

 

t

[ronald_moravec1]

Natue people frequently use a black or colored card behind the subject. Black valour is better than paper. The more distance between the background and subject , the darker its gets, and the larger it needs to be.

 

The other points above are valid also.

[chris_werner]

It does look like it had a background with a very low albedo, but in terms of the flash, think about it as depth of field, just like focus. The higher the ratio of the distance to the background versus to the subject, the darker the background will be. It also requires lighting with the flash as a way of controlling the ambient light.

[seismiccwave]

As long as the background is not lit up as much as the subject it will be dark. You are photography reflected light. If you

expose your subject with a flash and there are not light reflecting in the background then the background will always be

darker than the subject.

[bob_osullivan]

This is very simply done by aiming your flash carefully. You place the flash above, below or to one side. Use of a grid on a reflector or softbox helps focus the light onto the subject and avoids spill onto the background. Also use flags or gobos to block flash light from hitting the background. More distance to the background also helps. You can exert so much control over this with lighting or lack of it, that you can make a middle gray background come out white, gray or black. Set exposure so that the background is black with no flash and correct on the subject with flash.