How do i make the background similar to this?

[steven_scicluna]

<p>What will i need to get to achieve this sort of backdrop, lighting & background?<br>

I'm currently using a Nikon D5200 camera with 18-55mm lens , currently with no lighting equipment or photography equipment.<br>

Can someone precisely tell me how to achieve this sort of effect and professional background with 2 colour tone, muchly appreciated.</p>

<p><a href="https://s13.postimg.org/5gfe3gnif/Screen_Shot_2016_10_17_at_5_27_25_PM.png">Link to Photo</a></p>

 

 

<p>-Steven</p>

<p> <i> Moderator Note: Image removed. Please do not post images you did not photograph. This is against Photonet Terms of Use and User Guidelines.</i>.</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>Your camera&lens is fine.<br>

You need some kind of flat background material (e.g. clear paper, cloth or whatever) and a light source (diffused, I guess) pointing to the area you want brighter. <br>

Place the background out of focus (check DoF), and with a little post processing/correction you`ll get it.<br>

Notice that the subject is also properly illuminated.</p>

[dhbebb]

<p>Hi! The model has been lit by a large softlight on the left, at a guess this was at head height and at about 90 degrees to the camera lens axis (the clue is the shadow under the model's chin). The background is probably white, either a roll of background paper or simply a wall, the tone which it appears in the picture will depend on how far behind the model it is. Three metres would be a good distance to try, you cannot shoot at a very large aperture since you need to get both of the model's arms in focus, on the other hand the background will look cleaner if it is well out of focus. Another light has been aimed at the background on the right, I would call it a bit too bright and aim for an incident light meter reading at the background one stop brighter than at the subject. The background light seems to have been used as a fill for the model's left arm, ideal might have been to place a large white reflector to the right of the picture and light the background separately - the ideal would be a focusing spotlight or narrow angle attachment (snoot) on a boom arm shining down from above, a flash head with a narrow angle reflector (spill kill) would be OK. Plus one stop brighter on the background means some tone is retained, any more and the background will go dead white. The ideal choice for the softbox would be a pro model around five or six feet high and with barn doors (movable flaps) to control light spill. A standard flash head with an umbrella is not quite as good but can be used quite well. Lenswise your gear is fine, the 35 or 40 mm setting on your zoom should be fine, except that you might need to go to f8, since this shot will show up any deficiency in edge sharpness. As I said, don't forget you can control the background tone within wide limits by varying the distance from the model to this.</p>

[glen_h]

<p>Especially, you need to light the background enough to reduce the shadow that likely appears from the subject lighting. </p>

<p>Also, you need to light the subject with enough lights to reduce not create shadows on the subject.</p>

<p>Usually both need diffused light sources, such as ones with umbrellas.</p>

[paul_k1664875007]

<p>As you post your question in the Beginners Questions forum, and detail that you basically only have a (one) camera and a (one) lens,rather then deluging you with all kind of new and unknown theory, I'd like to propose an approach based on a 'starting with nothing' base.<br /> So the premise is not how to get identical results (considering you have neither the proper equipment, technical knnowledge, or photographic knowledge base that's quite impossible the first time round) but just to help you get something that is going in the direction you're after, and help you built upon in future shoots.</p>

<p>Basically the two major feats of the picture you show are a) the one piece, continuous background, and b) the relatively soft (as you can see by the shadows) and large (again as shown by the shadows, in this case the soft graduation from light to dark) light source.</p>

<p>The one piece, continuous background ideally would be a large background roll or cloth, but can just as easily be a white/ one (light) color wall.<br /> So a large room could do the job (the size basically allowing you to shoot from a bit further away with a longer focal length to avoid optical distortion, and having your model further away from the background to avoid too much possibly distracting detail in that background)</p>

<p>Lighting is a bit more tricky, yes, ideally a large softbox (but again to really use that in a correct way would demand more advanced photographic knowledge) and possibly an additional light on the background will do the trick. But as you don't have those, nor the experience to know how to properly work with those, not a realistic option.</p>

<p>So the most simple solution would be using daylight, preferably from a large window or set of windows. Nothing really new, a technique used since the beginning of photography (and before that in drawing and painting, e.g. the paintings by Vermeer).<br /> As I mentioned earlier, I would try to find a (preferably) large room with an evenly colored/painted wall. Now add to that that ideally the room would have some large windows. Now you basically have your even background, and your large, relatively soft lightsource.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, as you will soon notice, there are some snakes under the grass when working under the above described conditions.<br /> While daylight from a/a set of large window(s) will provide a large relatively soft light source, the light drop of from light to dark can/usually is quite stark. To get a similar kind (not the same, you really need more advance studio equipment for that) of shadow detail, you need to fill in those shadows.</p>

<p>Considering we're talking a 'no extra equipment' approach, the simplest solution to counter that is using a reflector screen (that technique really is very simple, you can find plenty of 'how to' descriptions on the net so I won't go into that now).<br /> That can range from very simple and cheap (more on that below) or big, flashy and expensive.<br /> The simple and cheap approach can start with someone holding a newspaper or a white towel, or a plate of polystyrene foam, the kind you eg can find at Home depot, to a flexible/fold able (more expensixe) one <br /> <br /> As already observed, your camera and lens are, for the moment/first experiments more then adequate. As mentioned earlier, you should in order to avoid optical distortion (in the most extreme case, big head, smallish body) not shoot with a too short focal length, so keep your lens zoomed in at 55mm. (Remember you will also have to raise the shutter speed to at least 1/125th to avoid unsharpness due to camera shake)<br /> Yes, that will mean it (the lens) is going to be 'slow', but the 18-55 kitlens already is that to begin with. So to get a fast enough shutter speed, and be able to maybe even stop down the lens a bit (to get a better IQ) you'll need toraise the ISO.<br /> Not really a big issue on a modern DSLR like the D5200, IMO you should be able to go as high as ISO 1600 without significant loss of quality. <br /> <br /> Sure to get magazine quality you'd have to shoot at a lower ISO, but then you should e.g. also not shoot with a kitlens, in an improvised 'studion, and only using daylight.<br /> But it's as far as I can read in your post, your first venture into shooting this kind of picture.<br /> So I'd rather approach it as a learning moment, and just have fun, see how things work out wit a simple set up - and try remember what you did -, and not torture yourself by comparing your first time results with what somewhat with much more equipment, photographic knowledge, and experience did.<br /><br /> On a side note, don't let your model's expectations run too high, especially if she's doing it for free (unless she's paid, then she'd just have do her job professionally, stand, pose, and take the money and be off)<br /> It's your first time after all, so she'd better not expect 'Vogue' quality /pro level results (of course maybe you do have exceptional skills and pull of the trick, in which case kudos to you)<br /><br /> So just experiment, play around a bit, try to learn from your mistakes (during the shoot and afterwards when reviewing the results) and have fun (!).</p>

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