Sunday, 16 August 2015

post processing - Background screen for portrait photography?


I'm looking for suggestions for a portrait background (paper/cloth). I have seen photographers using different background screens, but being an amateur photographer I don't want to invest money buying many backgrounds - instead I would like to know which would be the best to use for many purpose. That being said I should be able to change / edit background color in Photoshop after the photo shoot.


Color :
Material :
Screen Size :
Where to buy:



Answer




If you want just one background I'm going to suggest white seamless paper because it's the most versatile, some examples:




  • Point a flash at the background directly behind you subject and it becomes pure white (and easy to mask in Photoshop)




  • Put a soft light source very close the the subject and the background becomes black (or play with the subject-light distance to get different levels of gray).




  • Use a softbox at an angle to create different light-dark gradients on the background.





  • Point a flash with a colored gel at the background to make it any color you want.




The size depends on what you are photographing, for head-shots you need a pretty small piece, for full-length group shots you'll need a huge backdrop - look at a typical portrait you like to make and just measure the width of the backdrop to cover your photo's background.


And about where to buy - any good local or on-line shop should do.


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