How do you all get such good background in your pictures?
Most of my shots seem to be "landscape"-type photography, because the background there is not an issue... I find that if I try and take a macro shot, or any kind of still-like, or portrait, or set-up shot, the background lets me down...
This is the kind of thing I'm talking about - this brilliant flower photograph by @flamez works so well because of the contrast with the striking black background -
Now, I could take a picture of a flower - in fact, I have done, not too long ago, for my own project - but it wouldn't come out like that! Whenever I take pictures of "objects" (flowers, fruit, ornaments, animals, whatever) I find there's nowhere in the house where you can get this perfect background... There's always something behind it, whether that be the cooker, or another family member, or even just a radiator, or something...
For example, this picture of cake (mmm, cake!) which I did, would look so much better with a different background -
So, how do you find good backgrounds for shots like these? Any tips for helping me find them too?
sheets, wrapping paper, curtains
I went to my local camera shop and bought rolls of background paper (I have a background stand though). The rolls are about $25, but it is a lot of paper.
With the background paper... I can tack it to the wall and run it across a table so that my background and my "floor" are all one piece.
oooo that be my flower there :) hehe ! (thankyou kit ) @manek43509
ok i have a simple black curtain , its a heavy curtain tho not a flimsy thing , i just drape it over something and sit the object on it ... i got my curtain for next to nothing , i buy stuff in 2nd hand shops to alter etc so find a lot of usable bits in places like that , one lucky find was a yellow blind for 50p that was white on the back , that blind is now offically my white background and can be slung anywhere :)
the key to making it look solid black is a quick tweak in the curves when u edit ;)
I also have 2 walls in my bedroom that have been painted solid black (and the other two are red) so thats an easy backdrop for me also :) .....
now im very very lazy haha ! and cant always be arsed to go and find my curtain so if an object is small i will just grab any black item of clothing out of my wash basket and use that instead it works just as well :)
I used to use one of my black sweaters... then I finally went and chose a black curtain because I just couldn't fit everything onto a sweater (plus I wouldn't want to get cake icing or candle wax on it!). I know @noellejane uses skirts or whatever else she has handy. :)
with the pictures i posted here, i used those papers that you typically use for wrapping presents. they are called gift tissue here in the US and they come in different colors and patterns. they shouldn't be too expensive. hope this helps.
I like using leftovers of wallpaper. And I have a big roll of very cheap basic white wallpaper. Hardly cost me anything, and each time I get a bit dirty, I just tear it off and continue with the rest.
There's always an interesting pattern or color of wallpaper to find.
The website above shows you how to build a photo light box out of foam board. I made one and also purchased big sheets of colored poster board that I prop up in the back of the light box to get different colored backgrounds.
Sheets, curtains, and backdrops work well, but there is a faster, easier, cheaper way: use a pedestal with a flash.
Check out these two photos below. To get both of these photos with pitch-black backgrounds, I placed them on an old toilet paper roll to elevate them above the ground. Then, I shot inside at night at 100 ISO using a strobe to light the objects. I make sure I am in the middle of the room so the light doesn't bounce off a wall or any other distractions.
I've used similar methods to @jasonbarnette. For close up shots like the one below, I used an A4 sheet of black felt. I also have lots of other colours that I can use if I want. I've also used a sheet of A1 balck card before as well.
I've also used the lid of my laptop, like for this shot:
And for this I used my wall (which is cream, I added a filter later in Photoshop):
Mostly I just try to work a nice natural background into my photos, but if that's not possible, I improvise. There's a bit of foam board floating around the house that actually has one of my dad's architectural drawings on the front - so I use the back of that:
If I have a lot of time on my hands I'll go into Paint Shop Pro (can't afford Photoshop!) with the background eraser and get something like this:
But for me, it's mostly a matter of using whatever's handy. This one was taken with my choir folder as the backdrop:
I love taking photos of flowers and other macro photos with a bright window in the background. It's easy to change the background color if need be. Here are a couple examples of my photos:
@manek43509 there was a tv show several years ago called MacGyver - he would do all sorts of things with a swiss army knife and a gum wrapper. best bet, improvise. wander about thrift stores, find various patches of large fabrics, play around. also try various aperture settings to get a shallow depth of field and different angles.
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I went to my local camera shop and bought rolls of background paper (I have a background stand though). The rolls are about $25, but it is a lot of paper.
With the background paper... I can tack it to the wall and run it across a table so that my background and my "floor" are all one piece.
ok i have a simple black curtain , its a heavy curtain tho not a flimsy thing , i just drape it over something and sit the object on it ... i got my curtain for next to nothing , i buy stuff in 2nd hand shops to alter etc so find a lot of usable bits in places like that , one lucky find was a yellow blind for 50p that was white on the back , that blind is now offically my white background and can be slung anywhere :)
the key to making it look solid black is a quick tweak in the curves when u edit ;)
I also have 2 walls in my bedroom that have been painted solid black (and the other two are red) so thats an easy backdrop for me also :) .....
now im very very lazy haha ! and cant always be arsed to go and find my curtain so if an object is small i will just grab any black item of clothing out of my wash basket and use that instead it works just as well :)
There's always an interesting pattern or color of wallpaper to find.
The website above shows you how to build a photo light box out of foam board. I made one and also purchased big sheets of colored poster board that I prop up in the back of the light box to get different colored backgrounds.
Check out these two photos below. To get both of these photos with pitch-black backgrounds, I placed them on an old toilet paper roll to elevate them above the ground. Then, I shot inside at night at 100 ISO using a strobe to light the objects. I make sure I am in the middle of the room so the light doesn't bounce off a wall or any other distractions.
I've also used the lid of my laptop, like for this shot:
And for this I used my wall (which is cream, I added a filter later in Photoshop):
If I have a lot of time on my hands I'll go into Paint Shop Pro (can't afford Photoshop!) with the background eraser and get something like this:
But for me, it's mostly a matter of using whatever's handy. This one was taken with my choir folder as the backdrop: