Which baground looks best?

J

Jack10

Guest
I usually take my photos with a white back ground but today I was playing around with some darker paper background and quite liked the results. I know it's not the best choice of tank to use as it's a grey tank on a dark background but it was the only one I had to hand...
IMG_3164.PNG IMG_3217.JPG IMG_3171.PNG IMG_3216.JPG
What's everyone's thoughts on which looks better what do you guys use?
 
J

Jens Andrée

Guest
I'd say white per default because that allows for a clean representation of the model in its full glory without being coloured or affected by any background noise.
Also try to use several light sources to eliminate as much shadow as possible. If you've done this you can then run the photos through soft filters and white balance correction and get those pictures looking like they were taken by a pro! ;)

The camera in my mobile phone is so damn good today that I've stopped using my DSLR when I take pictures. I can also do some post processing directly in the phone via apps like Pixlr or the built-in filters in the Gallery. Android phone of course!!!

If you want to use backgrounds in some photos then pick ones that aren't dark because it makes it hard to see the details, plus they make the over all photo darker, but a colourful background will reflect different colours and change the appearance of your model so you have to experiment a little and see what works best?

The absolute best solution (in my opinion) is to use a lightbox with diffused white light. Those photos looks like you've used a very expensive camera!
I've built one with an opaque plastic storage box with white A3 papers as backdrop. The opaque plastic acts like diffusors for the led lights I've got all around the box and even the photos I take with my mobile camera looks really good! (I need to start taking pictures of my models with this lightbox...)

This is my opinion anyway, but only an opinion. You should take the pictures that you think represent your models the best - and to your liking! I just prefer the clean photos with white neutral, and soft background. :smiling3:
 
F

Fenlander

Guest
The choice of background colour is, as always, a personal taste thing. Jens is right about some coloured backgrounds could reflect light of that colour onto the model but this is not too serious unless you are submitting to a magazine for publishing as they may misinterpret the colour balance for reproduction.

What is more important is the way that different backgrounds can influence the automatic exposure or even the inbuilt light meter when using manual exposure. If you use a white background with plenty of it showing, the cameras meter will try to make the scene a neutral grey. This is not a fault, it is just the way it works. So a white background may cause the subject to be under exposed.

The opposite effect is caused by a black background as, once again, the camera will want to make it neutral grey (to be precise, it is called 18% grey) so the subject will be over exposed.

You can actually see that effect in your pictures above, the lighter background shows as a darker tank, the darker background shows a lighter tank.

The obvious solution is to use a neutral grey background so as not to confuse the camera but, with a little experimentation, you can do some test shots using manual exposure or exposure compensation to ‘correct’ the exposure. As a rough guide, using a black background, you may want to decrease the exposure 2/3 or 1 full stop below the cameras suggestion. The opposite true for a white background but experimentation will determine what is needed for either scenario.

For my ‘final reveal’ pictures, I used to use a blue background which, generally speaking, was similar in tone to a neutral grey. Now I tend to use a white background and increase the exposure to compensate. This use of a white background, properly exposed, means that the backround is pure white and, as such not distracting but can appear a tad clinical.

It also depends on what camera you are using and what control you have so if you have specific questions on my ramblings, please shout out.
 
Top