 Stephanie Sherwood |
Black Backdrop Showing up Grey Below are photo's I have taken. The first two have been made darken to get the blacker background through photoshop, the last one is what the actual background keeps coming out as. This is the first time I am working with a paper backdrop. Prior I have used a black felt backdrop that worked pretty good. Any suggestions? What am I doing wrong?
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Glenn E. Urquhart |
Hi Stephanie - Funny you should mention problems with black paper. For the last few weeks I have been indoors, experimenting with still lifes. A few days ago, I used black paper as a back drop and like you.... GREY! Wasted a few hours on that day. What ever your doing wrong, so am I! I do not have a good answer for you, except go back white paper as I have. Cheers, Glenn.
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Mark Feldstein |
Well Steph: I'd say the problem you're having is spill from your umbrella washing the black background causing it to lighten into one shade of gray or another. There are a few solutions, individually or in combination. First, you may be able to get a "spill kill" reflector to use along with your umbrella. Another solution is to move the subject and/or the light source away from the background while controlling the spill from your light source. If not with a spill kill, then perhaps by using light panels to block the extraneous light. Also, make sure any extraneous room light from windows or fixtures, lamps etc., is off/ blocked or not hitting your background. Take it errrr...light.
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Pete H |
Stephanie, I'd venture a guess your backdrop is paper? Now white, paper will do fine.
Pete
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Mikki Cowles |
I don't know...white paper can look grey also, if you don't have enough light to keep it white...:o) The black paper will work, but you need to rig up a snoot to keep ANY light from spilling onto it. Tilting it down, so it can't reflect any of the light will help, and get it as far away as you can from your subject and the light.
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Autumn Hernandez |
I haven't worked with lights other than the natural lighting that comes in my front window and sometimes the flash on my camera, but I usually shoot on a black background. (when doing portraits of my daughter) I use a velvet piece of fabric and I love how rich the color stays. Also, and other people can tell me if this would work or not with the lights, but could you find the proper exposure without your subject in the frame and just the black backdrop and under expose by 1-2 stops? I always underexpose my shots when I shoot a black background and they work wonderfully. Once you find the right exposure for one tone, the rest should fall into place. But, like I said, I don't know as far as extra lighting goes, how that would work, but it seems logical.
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Bob Cammarata |
All of the advice given was good and will help to darken black backgrounds. Black paper is notorious for reflecting light and turning gray. In the attached example, the subjects were arranged on a piece of black poster-board, which reacts to light the same as black paper. The difference in the meter readings off the front kernal and the black background was @ 4 stops.
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