Black backdrop vs white

www.SGphoto.uswww.SGphoto.us Registered Users Posts: 86 Big grins
edited January 24, 2010 in Technique
so, i'm trying 2 expand my skills and do some studio type stuff, i have a 2 umbrella/strobe, (soon to be 3) setup. 2 umbrellas are white reflective and can change to shoot thru mode, one umbrella is silver and convertible to white. i also have a little slave strobe, i dont remember the proper name for it.

today was my first day shooting studio style, i'm pretty impressed with what i came out with on the white background, from what i have read, you basically just overexpose the hell out of the backdrop to get a nice solid white.

but what about black?

how do i get usable shots with a black background i want that same consistent solid black darkness. whats the basic technique?

here are samples

769781362_G5YHo-L.jpg

this is the best i can do with the black, this one shot works, but i couldnt make it any better if i wanted to, or do it any differently, it just sort of happened, i could do it again exactly the same, but i couldn't do any more or less with it if i wanted. it's basically a fluke

769781373_RJWbk-L.jpg

this one worked out too, but you can see the backdrop to the right. its fine for this shot, but if i didn't want it there, i wouldn't know how to get rid of it besides post processing.


and just too show, here's a shot from the white

769782781_zdPdZ-L.jpg

769781693_chiLF-L.jpg


can anyone offer me words of wisdom?
My Website:www.SGphoto.us

Comments

  • D'BuggsD'Buggs Registered Users Posts: 958 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2010
    how do i get usable shots with a black background i want that same consistent solid black darkness. whats the basic technique?

    Seperation and dof, as well as controlling your spill with flags.
  • www.SGphoto.uswww.SGphoto.us Registered Users Posts: 86 Big grins
    edited January 22, 2010
    where could i find a diagram for a black background setup
    My Website:www.SGphoto.us
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,680 moderator
    edited January 22, 2010
    How about a kicker or some other backlighting of the model to increase separation from the background? That's what I'd try.
  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2010
    from an exposure POV, to get whites white you have to over expose by stop or so. To get blacks black you have to underexpose a stop or so.

    Think about what your camera is trying to do. It sees a tone and it set it's meter so that it will appear neutral grey. To get white then you have over expose to crank the grey to white ..to get black you have to underexpose to get grey to black.

    other things you can try are for more true blacks..

    1) more seperation from subject to back ground so the light fall off is greater
    2) conrolling the subject light with snoots or grids so there is less light spillage
    3) post processing the background
    4) using backdrops material that "soaks" up the light better like felt material.
    5) get rid of all ambient light (windows, etc)
    D700, D600
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  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2010
    the easiest way I have found and I am sorta OLD SCHOOL....is to freaking use an incident flash meter (like sekonic L-358)....takes the guess work out of it and saves a ton of time........

    Simply set your main lights as you want then set your back lights a stop or two under, for black backdrop, or 1-2 stops over for White....take a meter reading of your subject and put that into your camera settings and your done.
    Take notes .....keep a Journal of your work complete with diagrams including measurements of how far everything is set from each other and power setting on flash units......that way you do not have to keep thinking about each setup down the road............

    Good Luck
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • LiquidAirLiquidAir Registered Users Posts: 1,751 Major grins
    edited January 22, 2010
    White background strategy:

    If you overexpose the background too much you will get lens flare, which is noticable in your shots (particularly the first). The goal is to overexpose the white background by as little as possible to get as clean an image as you can. I place two lights one to the left of my subject and one to the right pointed at the background. I set the power on my strobes to proberly exposed a white seamless background and look at the histogram. What I like to see is a narrow spike in the highlights. If the histogram spike is wide, either dropping into the midtones or blowing out, I'll move my lights until I have even illumination across the background. Then I can bump the power on my strobes by one stop and evenly blow out the whole back drop.

    Black background strategy:

    For white backgrounds I like paper, but for black I prefer muslin. When shooting for a dead black background you need about three stops less illmination on your background than on your subject. Grid your lights and keep them close to your subject. Keep as much distance betwen your subject and background as you can. Use gobos to protect the backdrop when practical. Shoot high contrast with your fill down at least two stops. Use lighting styles which are heavy on rim lighting so your brightest strobes aren't pointed at the background.
  • www.SGphoto.uswww.SGphoto.us Registered Users Posts: 86 Big grins
    edited January 22, 2010
    awesome! i love it, keep em coming
    My Website:www.SGphoto.us
  • D'BuggsD'Buggs Registered Users Posts: 958 Major grins
    edited January 23, 2010
    awesome! i love it, keep em coming

    That pretty much covers it.... Really
  • pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,694 moderator
    edited January 23, 2010
    Or if you don't have it perfect 'in camera' - in post, get out a soft brush and "Paint it Black!"
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
  • www.SGphoto.uswww.SGphoto.us Registered Users Posts: 86 Big grins
    edited January 24, 2010
    well thanx guys, i'll try it out this week
    My Website:www.SGphoto.us
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