What is the secret for black?

[shuedini]

I have a black cotton background and I was wondering what the secret was to getting it to show up completely black in pictures. Is it the angle of the lighting? The power of the lights? The f-stop? A combination of everything? Any advice given would be appreciated.

For example ISO 100 * f/13 * 1/200:
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu84/ShuePhotographyAfterHours/Amber/2009%2009-25/IMG_0056.jpg

You can see that the black isn't close to absolute black.

[silvrr]

Settings look good to me but Im no expert. Keep your subject as far away as possible from your background and try to make sure you lights are not spilling on to it.

After that PP works wonders. Using levels or curves, use the black eyedropper to and select your background. You have to be careful that you are close in camera or it will change how your subject looks to much. Also since your black on black you would need to do some masking to bring back her gloves and provide some background separation.

[hawk911]

yeah- always keep the subject as far away as makes sense- like 6 feet from the BG to eliminate spill.

[woodsters]

opposite of white...lol

[shuedini]

Settings look good to me but Im no expert. Keep your subject as far away as possible from your background and try to make sure you lights are not spilling on to it.

After that PP works wonders. Using levels or curves, use the black eyedropper to and select your background. You have to be careful that you are close in camera or it will change how your subject looks to much. Also since your black on black you would need to do some masking to bring back her gloves and provide some background separation.
I figured there would have to be some PP involved. :( I was hoping to be able to get it close to perfect right out of the camera to minimize the time at the computer.

yeah- always keep the subject as far away as makes sense- like 6 feet from the BG to eliminate spill.
Wow...that's a lot of space. Space we don't really have here. The background in this shot was maybe 12-16 inches past her feet! Definitely makes sense though. I'll have to see what we can do to create more space.

opposite of white...lol
Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Back to the drawing board...more pictures to come late this evening. :D

[hawk911]

shue, the trick on anything with a BG like white or black seamless is distance. Too close and the light on the model is hitting the BG, or the bg light will spill onto your model. If you haven't seen him mentioned Zack Arias has some videos and tutorials that might help you understand the distance logic.

www.zarias.com

[shuedini]

shue, the trick on anything with a BG like white or blak seamless is distance. Too close and the light on the model is hitting the BG, or the bg light will spill onto your model. If you haven't seen him mentioned Zack Arias has some videos and tutorials that might help you understand the distance logic.

www.zarias.com (http://www.zarias.com)
Excellent! Thanks for the link. Tons of good stuff there. I'll be shooting more pictures this evening...so be on the lookout for some of these techniques! :D

[hawk911]

hehe- I just thought about this. Like real estate, the name of the game is location, location, location. Location of the subject, location of the lights, and location of the camera.

[TooManyHobbies]

Distance - loss of light is square of distance
Spill Control - Grids, flags, angles, types of modifiers
PP - Fade to Black isn't just a Metalica song