B&W photos

[412 Burgh]

I'm a rookie, in fact I'm a newbie I just got my camera and it's my first DSLR.. Nikon D3100 good price and I also got the Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-105mm Lens with VR.. So I was wondering since I'm only in high school still and don't have a studio or anything like that, how hard is it to make my own little back drops? I was just thinking plan white sheet hanging down with some lighting on it.. I have this photo for an example as what I'm looking to achieve or somewhat closely to it

 

[ann]

sheets, cheap material , what ever, just be sure you iron it .

you could also go to home depot and get a painter's drop cloth, and dye it, make you own colors, whatever,

seamless paper isn't very expensive, just hard on storage . I have seen professional tape the stuff up to a wall if they didn't have the stands, or make your self a set of stands, a couple of poles in a bucket of quick set concret or sand. a few clamps to add an upper rod .

Photography is all about problem solving.

 

[Derrel]

A white wall can be lighted brighter than the subject, and can easily make a plain, pure white background like the one you show in your example/sample photo. Even a gray wall can be lighted very brightly, and made to render as "white" in a photo--if enough differential in light hits the wall, as compared to how much hits the subject. A good tutorial can be found by searching for Zack Arias + white background tutorial.

 

[480sparky]

...........A good tutorial can be found by searching for Zack Arias + white background tutorial.

Click here.

 

[412 Burgh]

My dad has construction lights from like Lowes that he uses for around the house work if it's dark. They just plug into a normal 3 socket outlet, will these lights work?

 

[Stradawhovious]

My dad has construction lights from like Lowes that he uses for around the house work if it's dark. They just plug into a normal 3 socket outlet, will these lights work?

Short answer, no.
Long answer, no.

Shop lights don't have the intensity needed to pull of the effects you see with studio lighting.

 

[Bram]

You need a bright burst of light the continuous lighting is not powerful enough to get the desired effect. I use a piece of cloth material i had lying around the house, actually used to cover the couches when we moved into the house. Found them and hung them up looks pretty good to me.

 

[412 Burgh]

So they only way to achieve this effect is with studio lighting?

 

[480sparky]

So they only way to achieve this effect is with studio lighting?

Purty much.

 

[Bram]

All depends what you call studio lighting. There are several cheap flashes if you look for them. Along with that some radio triggers, you may be looking at around 200 bones for a stand, bracket, flash and trigger, and umbrella and BOOM you got your first lighting setup. All depends where you get it. Ofcourse if you want nikon stuff, then the price goes up a little. The SB600 is a great starter for external OCF. I've seen them go for around $150 used so.

 

[412 Burgh]

Thank you for the input, I'm A COMPLETE ROOKIE/NOOBIE.. I'm just trying to think of ideas here! I think I'll look at Michael's or a fabric store to find a nice material that's a plain white I can hang and then take down easily.. I'm sure I should stay away from glossy materials, but if I want to do full body shots, should I look for a paper roll or like a soft material?