how would you get a black background effect?

[zandman]

At least from the POV of darkening the background the on camera flash is perfectly satisfactory (Assuming it's powerful enough to get the subject sufficiently illuminated).

i tried doing this and what i got is a blurry background, (not black)
and light on the left side, i think it's because i'm doing it vertical.
and not too far background i supposed that's why i didn't got the black background?

 

[zandman]

This makes no sense. You state that it's not possible and then give an example of a way that it is possible. It's nowhere near not possible on a bright sunny day and it's extremely easy when you get the hang of it.

THis picture is high noon with no overcast and very very bright out. Settings were 1/250th shutter speed, F/14 with the flash on the subject. The black background is actually my green lawn. With 1/500th shutter speed I could have made the background completely black (that's not the look I wanted though).

It's really simple, meter the shot so that it is horribly underexposed.....even snap a shot and see if it's basically black. Then kick on the flash and use the flash to light the subject and you'll end up with a black background as long as the background is a good 3-4 feet away or more.

that's sweet, i'll try to do that on the weekend, hopefully the results will be pleasing.
did you use a normal flash or a ring flash?

 

[JerryPH]

i tried doing this and what i got is a blurry background, (not black)
and light on the left side, i think it's because i'm doing it vertical.
and not too far background i supposed that's why i didn't got the black background?

I think that one of the helping factors is if you could get your flash off camera. Now, it can be done with the camera on flash, it's just a little more challenging.

Example: If the flash is on a light stand with umbrella and is 12 inches from the subject, the apparent light source is a LOT closer to the subject than if you were standing 5 feet away with the flash on the camera. Now, you can be 5 feet away, still get that same basic picture, but, the light fall-off happens a lot quicker for several reasons:

- The light source is a lot closer to the subject (1 ft vs 5 ft)
- Becuase its closer, you need to turn down the power else it overexposes
- Becuase it's turned down much more, it falls off faster
- Becuase it falls off faster, a wall that was perhaps light grey with the flash on the camera now becomes pitch black.
- It does this because the ratio has changed drastically.

Try it out, and play with it, it's a lot of fun!

 

[NateS]

that's sweet, i'll try to do that on the weekend, hopefully the results will be pleasing.
did you use a normal flash or a ring flash?

That was a normal flash (SB-600) with a stofen diffuser. It was off camera to the left of the subject, though it should work the same being on camera....you just get nicer effects when the light source doesn't come from the same direction as the image.

Here's another one using the same technique

 

[Moglex]

This makes no sense. You state that it's not possible and then give an example of a way that it is possible. It's nowhere near not possible on a bright sunny day and it's extremely easy when you get the hang of it.

It was a bit daft, wasn't it?

For some reaon I had my mind set on large subjects where having a powerful flash would be challenging.

Of course, going down in scale it becomes a great deal easier.

 

[Bifurcator]

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128479 <-- See the pigeon shot to know what the daylight was like that day. The trees at the bottom were taken two hours later (after the flowers).


These were taken on a bright and sunny afternoon (in the shade) and are just the result of stopping way down and using a flash with the white diffuser (no photoshop needed):

​

All hand held at:

• Exposure Time: 1/15 sec
• F-Number: f/11.0
• Exposure Program: Manual
• ISO Speed Rating: 64

Sorry about the large images. Me likes big!

 

[zandman]

okay, i just got home and my flash's with me now, it's a speedlight sb-800?
to be honest this will be the first time i'm gonna use this flash cuz of the reason i said before. i'm gonna try all the settings you gave but trial will be in my room, battery's still charging, i'll get back soon for the outcome.

 

[Bifurcator]

Cool! Yeah I think indoor light (house, etc. ) during the day is just about perfect... even with big windows. Just have your back to the window if it is daytime - it'll help.

 

[zandman]

i feel dumb, it took me an hour to figure out how to use my flash.. :meh: :meh:
anyway, when i figured it out, i felt awesome, haha.
i got the effect i want, play with different settings both on the camera and on the flash, and figured out that it's really awesome, lol

here's the photos, it's not too good but i got the effects.
it's on the tripod, so it will be far from the background.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. i tried putting it above a mirror i got from a picture frame and underneath the mirror, a black paper, and yea, reflections, it's pretty cool though it's not perfect.

 

[Moglex]

Excellent!

You've obviously got the gist of it and can experiment to your heart's content to get the exact effects you want.

 

[zandman]

Excellent!

You've obviously got the gist of it and can experiment to your heart's content to get the exact effects you want.

thanks, i was experimenting on different setting for like half an hour and decided to stop when my neck started to hurt cuz i was sitting on the floor just to get far from the background, lol
also, one thing i noticed is like when there is a light in color on the background, it'll show up, because my drawer and bed pole shows up on some of the photos. (can see it on the 4th photo, upper right)

 

[Moglex]

also, one thing i noticed is like when there is a light in color on the background, it'll show up, because my drawer and bed pole shows up on some of the photos. (can see it on the 4th photo, upper right)

Yes.

As I said way back, if you can use a black backdrop the relative distances of the subject and background from the camera can be smaller. Much smaller than a particularly light background.

I have a sheet of black cotton that I can hang up when I want to do this type of shot.

 

[zandman]

thanks for all the help, it's so much appreciated.

 

[Do'Urden's Eyes]

No one has mentioned this yet some how... but im pretty sure another method or critical aspect is fast shutter speeds. the way i see it working (and it works) is your flash will be metered to your subject and then increasingly faster shutter speeds will slowly start to reduce the ambient lighting around the subject. am i right? because my flash im pretty sure only goes as low as 1/16 which is somewhat bright.

am i wrong?

 

[Bifurcator]

i feel dumb, it took me an hour to figure out how to use my flash.. :meh: :meh:
anyway, when i figured it out, i felt awesome, haha.
i got the effect i want, play with different settings both on the camera and on the flash, and figured out that it's really awesome, lol

here's the photos, it's not too good but i got the effects.
it's on the tripod, so it will be far from the background.

1.http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/6280/dsc0125gk2.jpg

2.http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/7005/dsc0130wx1.jpg

3.http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/4280/dsc0144mw2.jpg

4.http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/4189/dsc0145zs0.jpg

5. i tried putting it above a mirror i got from a picture frame and underneath the mirror, a black paper, and yea, reflections, it's pretty cool though it's not perfect.
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/7752/dsc0153tl8.jpg

Good stuff man! I like them! I know how you feel about learning new equipment too. I think it's probably the same for all of us. What's a drag is when we don't use it for 6 months or so and then need to use it in a hurry only to find out we forgot everything and have to spend another hour to figure it out again.