HOw do I fix this (pic included)

If you look at some of my pictures on the black background you will see there are always wrinkles. How do I make them not noticible? The black to me always looks like a funny color when taken in the studio so I have to darken it up and then everything gets too dark. Please help me learn to fix this, I really want to use the black more often.

This picture it is on the right hand side of the image.

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Not sure if you have Photoshop, or some other tool, but if PS, then use the magnetic lasso tool, and lasso the people. Then, select the 'inverse' and use the paint bucket tool to fill the black part in, with black paint.

That's my miniscule suggestion....hope it helps.

I was hoping there was a way to do it in studio so I don't have to do that with EVERY picture I take.

What fabric is the backdrop made of?

Black velour will basically soak up any light that gets thrown at it. You might also try increasing the distance between subject and backdrop if you have the room.

Curtis N wrote in post #2896496
You might also try increasing the distance between subject and backdrop if you have the room.

+1


Also, Open the aperture a bit to throw the BD out of focus.

The main reason you see wrinkles, aside from having a wrinkly sheet, is from light hitting your backdrop at an oblique angle. Reposition the models away from the background or shield the light from hitting it.

Personally, I'd PP it. Quickmask the models and adjust the levels on the background until it's a nice uniform black. You're postprocessing all of your shots anyway, so it's just one extra step, right?

You should be able to shoot this and have it be very close to what you want right out of the camera. Sure, you could process but I'm with you on this... I can't stand having to PP each image. The problem is two-fold however. If the wrinkles are behind thhe subject(s) then as others have said, the thing that will help you lose that detail is to distance the subject from the background and to position your lights so you are not getting spill on the background. Using a larger aperture will help but be careful or using a depth of field that is too shallow to keep all your subject(s) in focus. If the wrinkles are on the part of the fabric that is underneath your subject(s) then you might have no choice but to remove them in post because if you were going to light the scene so no light reached the floor then you wouldn't be able to light the entire length of the subject(s).
If you stand them up and shoot against the backdrop that will eliminate the second problem and alloow you to have jet black backgrounds with no detail.

You've heard from the "Aces" (Curtis and Robert) who have provided great input...much much better than what follows actually.
To my eyes (to say nothing of my uncalibrated work monitor) the photo looked a little too gray thus accentuating the wrinkles in the mid-upper right of the image and while I don't believe in too much post processing, I will do some if it is a unique photo and in my book, anytime you get a couple of youngsters to sit long enough for a good capture, it's worth keeping it. I suspect this is an image that falls into that category.

I played around with your image, attempting to deal with the aforementioned gray. I fooled around with the background...well, just because. I hope you don't mind.

In the future though, I'd follow the advice of Robert (TMR Design). He has a great studio lighting thread that would greatly benefit your future efforts.

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that looks so good imo. I do know that I need to learn to better shoot in studio.

Count my vote for more space between the subject and the background. The inverse square law is your friend - the more you move back the less light you are getting to it and finally your exposure on the background will fall off the left side of your histogram.

I agree, post processing this type of shot is very time consuming. When I *need* to do it, I use the replace color command in Photoshop and use the eye dropper tool to select my color. I hold the Shift key while dragging around my background making sure to get everything. Make the subject black against a pure white background inside the replace color dialog (white = selected) and then bump your saturation all the way down and your lightness down enough to kill the background. Only go as low as you need to.

Now your color selections will most likely select colors in your subjects (eyes, shadows, hair, clothing, etc) so use your history brush to paint back your subjects.

Increasing the distance is good advice. Try to keep the light from spilling on th background (barn doors if you are using studio lights). A faster shutter will help if ambient light is the problem (underexpose the back and use your light for the subject). A wider aperture will help blur the backdrop, but it will let in more light which may make things worse (unless you compensate with a faster shutter).

Rich