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hamm3r
4th of May 2005 (Wed), 13:51
Is there a trick to creating a black background with neither 1. editing in PS nor 2. having the person actually stand in front of a black backdrop?

I really enjoy looking at the photos that I have seen here with black backgrounds, but I do not have a studio and I have not yet learned PS.
robertwgross
4th of May 2005 (Wed), 14:02
You could have the subject stand outdoors at night.

---Bob Gross---
Longwatcher
4th of May 2005 (Wed), 14:44
You might be able to cheat a bit with shadows

I created this
http://www.longwatcher.com/images/Gina/CRW_4064_8x8.jpg
by changing the brightness/contrast a bit.
Live flower in the ground no backdrop. In fact the stem shows up if you increase the brightness enough (or it did when I first created it)

So I know it can be done
It took a sharp shadow behind the flower, with light falling on the flower itself still. Fairly open aperture like f2.8 (or wider) so it increased the background turning darker.

So maybe could do with heavy shadow from building with subject in sunlight.

Much easier with black backdrop though.
PacAce
4th of May 2005 (Wed), 16:08
You can also use a flash very close to the subject and use a very small aperture with a shutter at the highest sync speed. Of course, this has to be done indoors, at night or in a heavily shaded area.
hamm3r
23rd of May 2005 (Mon), 11:43
Sorry for the delay in responding! I had a feeling there was a trick to doing it but it felt like a silly question to ask. I am glad I did!

Thanks everyone!
tim
23rd of May 2005 (Mon), 17:04
Extract filter.
JaertX
23rd of May 2005 (Mon), 17:18
Is there a trick to creating a black background with neither 1. editing in PS nor 2. having the person actually stand in front of a black backdrop?

I really enjoy looking at the photos that I have seen here with black backgrounds, but I do not have a studio and I have not yet learned PS.

4 stops between metering your subject and the background is all you need.

I think.

It's worked for me in the past.
kb244
23rd of May 2005 (Mon), 17:33
Black Glass?
mbze430
23rd of May 2005 (Mon), 21:50
Personally I don't like doing all that stuff in Photoshop. So to shoot with a low-key background I usually have a backlight or a kicker to seperate the subject and the background. No, don't shoot a light at the black ground, as it will turn it grey now.

Hope this helps