portrait background choices

[Blind Bruce]

My "studio" is my living room at this time. My walls are very light in color and my normal background is my curtains that are very white. Good for most shots. However, my model wants to wear white and the contrast between her and the background is not what I would like.
Do you have any suggestions for a temporary backdrop?

 

[tirediron]

Pick up some coloured fabric or a sheet and pin to the wall. Just make sure it's wrinkle-free.

 

[Designer]

If you think you might need something again later, why not consider seamless paper? It comes in many colors, but I chose to get just one roll in a medium gray.

By under-exposing the background, it can go to black or very nearly so, and flash your model without allowing any light to spill onto the background, keeping it very dark or almost black.

 

[Blind Bruce]

Thanks folks.
Designer, what would I do with seamless paper? I don't think you mean wallpaper. Just pin it to the wall like a sheet?
Also, how to underexpose the background and "flash the model" I don't have a raincoat!!!

 

[Derrel]

To UNDER-expose the background, the easiest thing to use is a softbox that has a so-called "egg-crate" grid on the front of it. A softbox tends to fall-off more rapidly than an umbrella, and ther inexpensive, made-in-CHina softboxes that have the "egg crate grid" accessory make the light fall-off in intensity VERY rapidly, and keep the light OFF of the background of whatever photography set they are use on.

So--if you can, use a softbox, and if you have one with an eggcrate grid, definitely use that to keep the light so it stays "up front" on the set, and the backdrop drops off in brightness very rapidly.

SECOND point: move the subject at least SIX feet away from the bak wall. THEN, keep the main light CLOSE to the subject. With a SHORT distance from the light to the subject, the light is soft--but it also falls off in intensity very,very quickly. If you move the light farther away from the model and then open the lens wider from say f/11 to f/5.6 to compensate, the background will be brighter than it was in earlier shots--even though the camera-to-subject distance stayed the same, and the subject-to-background distance stayed the same!

SO: subject six to ten feet from background: main light CLOSE to subject, to make backdrop appear dark. A PLAIN, white wall can be made gray to dark gray this way, under normal room conditions.

Target stores sell nice microfiber blankets in queen and king size, in a nice, medium gray color. I like these as portable backdrops, but you need "some way" to hang them up. A crossbar of pipe, and some A-clampos will work. Seamless paper on 9-foot wide rolls uses a similar system to hang it up..but YOU CAN ALSO unfurl the end of the roll t"upward", leaving the main roll on the ground , and then TACK UP or tape up the end of the roll to the wall!

 

[KC1]

If you use a bright green fabric you can then chromakey whatever background you want at a later time.

 

[Designer]

Designer, what would I do with seamless paper? I don't think you mean wallpaper. Just pin it to the wall like a sheet?

Yes, you could just cut some off the roll at the height of your wall and pin it up.

I bought a wide roll of seamless paper and I also bought a backdrop holder, which is a horizontal bar held up by two telescoping stands that have legs that fold out like tripods.

The roll of paper goes on the horizontal bar, which is held up high on the stands. I have a long dining room so that was set up on one end of the room and my camera on a tripod was on the other end. It takes up quite a bit of space totally.

 

[fmw]

OP, unless someone is paying you to make "traditional" studio portraits consider that the best portraits are done shooting the subject while doing what he or she does. Make images of people doing what they enjoy doing and your portraiture will improve rapidly. The background can then be the environment in which they work.

Take a look at some of the portraits made by Richard Avedon and Annie Liebowitz. You will get an idea of what I am talking about.