This excellent hack can transform your images in an instant. Creating a black background behind the subject in your shot can add drama, moodiness and a sense of theatricality to your image. You don’t even need a studio, you just need to know how to do it. That means you can create this black background anywhere whether you are photographing a person, a flower, a car – or anything in between. And you can do this without any backdrops of tricks, just smart use of exposure and lighting.
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Show Notes
Shout Out
Congratulations to GOLD MEMBER Kate Flowers who received THREE Highly Commendeds in the Capture Magazine’s Mono Awards!!
How to create a black background using daylight or flash
Images with black backgrounds are dramatic and moody and can help draw the viewer to the subject by eliminating unnecessary details. It’s one of my favourite styles of shooting because it has a minimalist and theatrical vibe. It looks like it would be complicated to create these images but it’s actually very easy to do.
The most well-known artists who used chiaroscuro include Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio.
Dynamic Range
Gear:
- Camera
- Tripod
- One light source (natural or artificial)
- Black background or dark setting to create black background
BLACK BACKGROUND USING DAYLIGHT
RIGHT: Flower is in the sun and the background is in shade. The difference in light (in Fstops) is approx 3 stops.
Artificial lighting
Above: In this test image, I’ve used a speedlight +Beauty dish very close to my subject to create moody lighting. I’ve added a black background but the light from my flash is also spilling on to my background.
How to create a black background without a backdrop
