![]() You can also use or make barn doors for the key light, or you can shoot with a grid to focus the light directionally and keep it off of the backdrop. For a foreground light, angle it to the side as not to have any spill onto the backdrop. This works as a “barn door” and directs the light at the subject and away from the backdrop. You can also use a black card (I use black poster board from Walmart for $2) and attach it to the side of your lightbox closest to the backdrop. If you are shooting with continuous light and need a slow shutter speed, you can block off windows and shut off lamps. My studio is practically made of windows and I’ve managed to shoot with pure black backgrounds simply by shooting really fast. With a faster shutter speed, ambient light is usually no issue. If you are shooting on a slow shutter speed you’ll need to beware of ambient light coming from lamps or windows. To achieve a pure black background, you have to ensure that all light is kept from hitting the backdrop. Now my background lights are completely off, and I am only shooting in the foreground. To turn a backdrop black, we must remove all light from the backdrop. Usually just playing around with your settings will yield you the results you want. Depending on your settings and light, sometimes there may be slight dark spots along the edges, but that’s no problem at all to take care of in post. Usually this results in a pure white backdrop. I expose for the subject and foreground light, allowing the background to become way overexposed. In the foreground, I set up the light however I want it. I more often than not keep those speedlights at full power. To turn a backdrop white, what I typically do is set up one or two speedlights in the background, aimed directly at the backdrop behind my subject. I prefer Savage brand Thunder Gray, Storm Gray, and Fashion Gray. However, no undertones are certainly best. ![]() Remember, many shades of gray do have warm or cool undertones, but it’s usually not a big deal because the slight correction takes mere seconds in Photoshop. You can certainly have darker or lighter colored backdrops by controlling the lighting in the same way, but gray is more valuable because being desaturated makes blacks and whites achievable and allows you to add colors easily in post. Do the opposite, and keep light off the background and the background underexposed, and it’s going to appear dark. By illuminating the backdrop brighter than your subject, and using settings that keep the subject exposed while leaving the background overexposed, you are going to get a white background. Simply put, a gray background (or any background) is going to look different depending on how much light is hitting it, and the direction in which it’s hit. With a gray seamless backdrop, you have both of those options available to you already. Buying a backdrop or two significantly cuts into profits too, which is never fun. Easy enough, but if you haven’t got one or the other (or either) you’re likely going to look into purchasing them for your session. She wants one on a solid white backdrop and the other on a solid black one. She wants them photographed separately with plain, monotone backgrounds. Say you have a client who wants you to photograph her two children. Now, we are talking about gray backdrops specifically. Most of you probably aren’t new to the world of seamless paper, but if you are, I suggest treating yourself and picking up a roll. Being sold on rolls is also terrific because getting rid of old, crinkled, or dirty paper is as simple as cutting it off. It is sold on rolls at varying widths, so you can have something compact for a small in-home studio or something wide for shooting entire families. Seamless paper comes in a variety of colors too, pretty much any shade you can think of. No wrinkles like in many fabrics, and no uneven background lighting due to those wrinkles. Seamless paper looks glorious in camera and cuts editing time in half. Regardless of brand, seamless paper in any color provides a smooth, even, non-reflective surface on which to shoot. Gray backdrops are the often-overlooked top dog of the background world, and they become heavyweight champs when you use gray seamless paper. Thankfully, you can satisfy many of your desires with just onebackdrop. For folks on a budget or with limited space, having a variety might not be doable. You’ve also got to do some major organizing to make space for all your new stuff. And you’d add the pink one too if you didn’t just spend your whole paycheck on the four before it. You’re gonna need something dark, and something bright! Maybe something with a floral pattern, and of course one with an old masters pattern. The costs can really go uphill if you’re adding several colors and styles to your arsenal. The Versatility of a Gray Backdrop with Jess Hessīackdrops usually aren’t cheap.
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