Chess background help

[Artemis]

As you all know ive gone into shooting chess pieces, and..well...I just decided to do more, and to help me, I bought a couple of black mount boards so that I could get rid of the one majour ploblem when shooting...and that was the background

And well...I went to do it, and to my surprise, it isnt working so well..
The bottom piece is fine, but the top piece is getting the reflection of the flash, and without the flash, I need the light on for some kinda light source, and...then...I have a problem because you can see that I am using black boards...

How can I solve this....Can I solve this?[/quote]

 

[Big Mike]

Can you show us an example?

 

[Artemis]

Sure...ill get it onto my p.c. right now and post an example

 

[Artemis]

Oki here we are

 

[ferny]

Can I be a pain in the arse? Are you able to draw all over that photo in photoshop or something and point to the bits you don't like and why? I'd just find it easy to give specific bits of advice. If I'm able to that is.

 

[motcon]

firstly, you should diffuse your flash; the lighting is rather harsh.
secondly, you either
a) need more distance between the subject and the background or
b) use a hotlight then meter the subject, then meter the background. the background should come in at about 4 stops under the subject rendering it black (actually a touch more than 4, but you can get away w/4).

**edit: something i don't understand. why are there shadows on the right side indicating another light source from the left?

 

[Artemis]

Cause I took that shot with the light on...just realised that...sorry!

 

[Artemis]

Oki here is a redo.

And here is me showing of using it as an affect.

 

[ferny]

Glow at bottom - looks like a reflection off of the wood to me.

Different shade of black. That's down to the angle of the surface. It's catching the light in different ways.

This is with your digital right? Ignore the flash, don't use it. Instead grab yourself a desk lamp and play with the position of that. Make sure you set the white balance.
With regards to the surface. Have you not got a black piece of fabric? A towel? That'd be better. Not only would it reflect less light but you can curve it rather than having a dead straight line between the vertical and horizontal.

What you're trying to do it called low key photography. Look it up on google. You'll find loads of stuff.

 

[Artemis]

Set the white balance to what?

Edit: ohh and whenever I use a lamp its obvious its two pieces of card!

 

[ferny]

If it's a normal bulb you want incandescent/tungsten light. Just set it to auto. :mrgreen:

 

[DocFrankenstein]

Fenry gives good advice. No on-camera flash.

Set the camera on a tripod... the chess pieces don't more, so you don't need lots of light. Compensate by making long exposures.

And use 3-4 sources of light of different color.

 

[Artemis]

Well...I have it on a tripod...but sources of light are kitchen lights, and my kitchen is huge, so the lights are very powerfull...thus over throwing my backdrops...

 

[Artemis]

Im trying my best but still having the same trouble...perhaps a desk lamp or a tourch may be the best idea...

 

[Big Mike]

I'm trying my best but still having the same trouble...perhaps a desk lamp or a tourch may be the best idea...

Yes, if you can put your little "studio" in a place where you don't' have any other light souces...you will have total control.

Remember, light falls of with greater distance. So if the light is too bright, just move it farther away.