I completely copy this topic from the topic I created on a similar resource some time ago - users of that resource took an active part in supplementing my ideas, so I save some of their nicknames (where the surname-name is not indicated) and photos of their works in compliance with copyright right
Beads, let's share that I found successful art backgrounds for photo shoots. I found a few for myself:
1. A shot of decoration on a white draped fabric. For example, lay out the fabric on the table, bring in beautiful folds, and lay out the decoration. Satin, matte silk, and light, thin fabrics look good in the photo. Like that:
2. Shooting earrings on beautiful glasses. Well this is a classic :-)
In the photo, my favorite kit of our bead
3. Shooting in the background thin lace. Moreover, depending on the color of the decoration, you need to apply white or black lace.
4. Looks good in the frame and “does not clog” the decoration of dishes made of twigs, rowan brushes, yellow leaves (but with leaves and mountain ash it is easy to “look” from the decoration to the composition).
5. I almost forgot! Music notes create an excellent background. But it’s also easy to go too far with them. Vot :-)
Further options were suggested by the users themselves in the comments:
6. Discreet antique gizmos, shading the decoration and setting the accent of the composition. Thanks to the idea of \u200b\u200bKaterina Solovieva about antiques, I found a beautiful photograph. In the photo there are legs of an antique dressing table (the author’s blog contains a description of how she restored and decorated it). The truth in the photo is not decoration, but lipstick :-)
7. Photo on the model. I really liked the latest collection of works by Ekaterina Deomidova. Photo of her Santorini necklace on a beautiful girl:
8. Tortilla suggested ideas for suede and concrete flooring. If everything is more or less clear with the fabric, then with a large approximation, the concrete texture is actually interesting and looks in a new way:
9. Evgenia Karaseva suggested photographing on the background of knitted fabrics. Here is what Google gave me at the request of the images “knitwear background”:
I think the same can be attributed to monophonic large-knit fabrics.
10. Natalia Klarissa showed an example with an old book (in the photo of her work):
11. Natalya Klarissa also made amazing plexiglass photos:
12. Pussi suggested the idea with a gray background, which will advantageously shade and accentuate any color of the product. In general, Pussi gave a lot of practical advice - for which many thanks to her :-)
By the way, an unbleached linen came to my mind on the topic of gray:
13. Galina Soboleva suggested ideas with bulk materials: semolina, granulated sugar, millet. I’ll add river sand from myself (it’s cleaner and finer than sea sand)
14. kalena shared an example of using lightbox. Lightbox of course can not be attributed to the background as such. These are the shooting conditions, rather. However, it helps to achieve better results in the photo. Who does not want to spend money on a purchase - here's a link for you to make a lightbox yourself.
15. Oksana Kosmodemyanskaya suggested using white or black watercolor paper, canvas, dense fabric. She also presented the idea with a photo on a candlestick (in the frame there is a fragment of a bronze candlestick with a patina).
16. Barawina Ella suggested a great idea of \u200b\u200bphotographs in the lap of nature. Look how Ekaterina Kostina’s earrings look fabulously on a tree branch:
17. Repair prompted krot1 that in the frame you can use beautiful wallpaper. So what? Now they make all kinds of embossed expensive wallpapers there - the photo should look luxurious and resemble brocade. I think a great idea :-)
18. In turn, the idea of \u200b\u200bkrot1 with wallpaper prompted me to see a brick, a wild stone, and a decorative facing tile under a stone look good on the photo. Something like that:
19. Pussi continues to delight us :-) Look at what wonderful backgrounds she found in full-scale shooting in the forest. I am delighted! By the way, in a personal email she sent me another wonderful background with picturesque forest moss. So do not neglect photos in nature!
20. Here comes the same inspiration :-) You can use shells in compositions! Large beautiful shells, such as:
Once again, I supplement our collection with excellent backgrounds that you, cute beads, suggested:
21. proposed a cool idea with aged paper and English text, and also showed how notes benefit from aging. Admire how stylish it looks:
By the way, I also used the idea of \u200b\u200bdried leaves in my photos. Now is the time to collect beautiful leaves and dry them in the shade :-) In winter, you will get great shots!
22. offered to photograph products on the background of bamboo napkins. It seems to me that this is an elegant solution: the work comes to the fore, and the napkin does not “clog” the image and serves as a good interesting background :-)
23. showed a whole set of different beautiful works and backgrounds! :-) I will add here those backgrounds that we did not have yet. Most of all I liked the ideas with fur and crumpled paper - and you?
24. removes work on a simulated felt. It embroiders on it :-) In my opinion, it looks very noble! :-)
25. showed how beautifully photographed works were on suede, linen and textured paper :-) I would also like to note her idea with suede coating for gift wrapping :-)
26. suggested photographing works on gray pastel paper, or on matte photo paper, because
I want to add that in most cases a win-win option is a photo on medium gray paper (for pastel). On a white background, the product is darkened by the camera, and on black it is highlighted. But on the medium gray just right, the colors are as close to the truth. But the gray background does not always look advantageous, sometimes other colors are needed.
Here is what Google gave me on request about gray pastel paper:
27. showed an interesting idea with a photo on a children's swing - look, what a delight:
And she also noticed that it would be nice to photograph the work on pebbles - in principle, pebbles of shades of gray will perfectly tint the photo and will not “overload” and draw attention to themselves - we admire:
I express my deep gratitude to everyone who helped me collect ideas :-)
If you have any other ideas, please, unsubscribe - we will collect all the good thoughts about backgrounds in one place :-)
If you are fond of food photography or subject photography, you are well aware that one of the most important components of a good picture is the correct and beautiful background. Moreover, if you use it from picture to picture, then it is the background that can become the calling card of the photographer.
Which background to use
For photographs, you can use light homogeneous surfaces or original textured ones: you can use an old wooden table, textured material with an original pattern, brick and even artificial marble.
It’s good if the photographer’s studio already has original textured surfaces, and if not, how to make a photophone with your own hands. Very often, photographers use artificial or real pieces of all kinds of materials. But the question arises of storing such items. However, there is another way: original photophones can be made independently, while the cash costs will be minimal, and storing and moving them is quite simple.
How to make a photophone of wood with your own hands
Wooden backgrounds today are one of the most sought after. Most often they are used in food photos, as well as for creating photos in the style of flat lay. A wooden background can be made independently using the most ordinary boards. To emphasize the texture, the finished surface can be coated with acrylic paint or stain.
Preparation method
If you do not know how to make a wooden photophone with your own hands, then you can use one of the easiest ways. For work, you will need several wooden boards, liquid nails, sandpaper, special or stain.
Boards are cut in accordance with the size of the desired result, if necessary, each needs to be sanded with sandpaper. When you can age as much as possible by treating its surface with a brush for
When the boards are ready, they must be fastened. To do this, it is best to use liquid nails, especially if it is necessary to make a bilateral background. The boards are laid next to each other, face down (you should get a square or rectangle). Liquid nails are applied perpendicular to the first layer and the second layer of boards is fixed (also perpendicular to the face up). When the liquid nails are dry, the surface of the background must be treated with a stain.
If you thought about how to make a photophone from a tree with your own hands, then know your background is almost ready. At the discretion of the stain can be applied several times, allowing each of the layers to dry. To emphasize the texture of the surface, the boards must be thoroughly sanded with sandpaper. Two-sided background can be painted in two colors. In conclusion, each side is coated with a matte varnish in two layers, so the surface will be protected from grease, water, etc.
How to make a photophone for concrete with your own hands
A photophone is of interest to many photographers, it can be a great location for a wide variety of shots. Such a background looks quite aesthetically pleasing, does not distract attention from the main shooting model, while perfectly shading it.
It’s quite simple to make such a background from improvised materials. And although the word “concrete” is present in the title, however, for such a background you only need putty on wood. In addition, a “color” is useful - it is an ink of a certain color, which will give the background a special shade. Suppose to make a gray background, you need to purchase a putty, putty knife and black color. When mixing white putty and black dyes, you get a gray tint, which is applied to the wooden base.
Necessary materials and manufacturing steps
To make a background for a photo for concrete, you need to prepare:
- wooden background;
- a can of wood putty;
- color scheme of the necessary color;
- putty knife.
Thinking about how to make a photophone with your own hands, first of all you need to choose a base, for this you can use sheets of chipboard, plywood, etc. Each one picks up their own, but the most optimal one is 50x50 cm. You need to make sure that the tree is not wet otherwise the putty will fall off. The same thing happens if there are oily stains on the wooden base. Previously, the background can be treated with a primer - it will improve the tenacity of the putty with the background.
The second layer of putty on the background create a picture. In this case, you can work with white putty, or dilute it with black paint to get a gray tint. The background is covered with small movements, while the tree should not be visible.
When the work is finished, the background is given 5-10 minutes to dry. Then the spatula is moistened in water and once again pass over the surface to form stains on it. Do not form them too high, there will be enough strokes about 0.3 cm high. The finished background is allowed to dry for about 1-2 days at room temperature.
Paper backgrounds
If we talk about paper, then this is perhaps one of the most budget options. It is great for rare filming and home use. If you do not know how to make a photophone yourself from paper, then do not be afraid, because it is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. In the work most often use rolls of wallpaper, Whatman paper, corrugated paper, etc.
The paper is lightweight, easy to install, store and transport, but its main drawback is the lack of strength and soiling. If such a background is laid out on the floor, then it will most likely be disposable, since spots and traces in photographs are very noticeable.
If you do not know how to make a photophone from cardboard with your own hands, then for the manufacture of the background at home, you can use the most ordinary wallpaper. Moreover, they can not be covered with anything, because today on sale there are wallpapers with a wide variety of textures and drawings that will look very beautiful in photographs. Of course, it is not advisable to purchase a whole roll for several shots, however, you can find the necessary trimmings of wallpaper at home, because after repair many have such trimmings.
Fabric photophone
The fabric basis for the background or the fabric with the pattern printed on it is used quite often. This is not surprising, since it is strong enough, ironable and quite easy to transport. Moreover, the fabric base is quite easy to fix, while it looks beautiful in photographs, does not scatter light and does not reflect it. You just need to figure out how to make a photophone from a cloth with your own hands.
You can simply pull a fabric background or canvas onto a wooden or metal frame, and your own portable background is ready. It is best to choose a textured fabric, of course, you can also find matter with patterns, however, it is worth remembering that the background should remain the background, and the patterns should not be too noticeable (you can’t interrupt the subject).
The minus of the fabric can be its fractures and irregularities, which are not conceived by the plot. The advantage is that such a photophone can be of absolutely any size, while it can be mounted on a wall, gate, etc.
How to quickly make a photophone: the easiest way
To get a beautiful photo, it is not necessary to craft a background or fabric. If you are interested in how to make a photophone with your own hands quickly and without cost, then this method will be a great find for you.
Without much work, you can get a background of a wide variety of colors and textures, while you can make a lot of them, since such backgrounds do not take up much space.
You just need to prepare a camera with a good resolution and wait for the good weather. The main task is to select the necessary textures. You can photograph an old fence, a sprinkling wall, a large snag, etc. In this case, the photos should be clear, sharp and not illuminated.
And then a matter of technology ...
At home, it remains only to view photos. You need to select only those areas in the photo that are suitable for the background. Using Photoshop, you can remove all unnecessary (leaves, stones, etc.), and make a suitable background using different filters, tones, contrast, etc.
The finished files remain to be taken to the printing house and printed, choosing the appropriate size for yourself. However, in order to use photophones in further work, it is necessary to use sufficiently thick sheets of paper for printing.
If you figure out how to make a photophone with your own hands, then you can get an impressive option. However, you need to remember that a good background and the presence of a professional camera will not become the basis of a beautiful picture. In addition, you must follow the basic rules of photography, think over the composition and put an idea into the photo, and then the photos will be interesting not only to you, but also to others.
This article is useful not only for photographers, as we photograph any of our creativity for demonstration on the net or for our portfolio. There are many simple tricks with which you can create beautiful photos, which means you will arouse interest among people, because beauty always attracts.
Filter
Do-it-yourself filter option is very light. You need a cellophane bag (white, color or transparent - depending on what result you need).
It’s best to take a transparent one and draw with markers the part that is enough to wrap the lens. Take a look at the photo below.
Wrapped the package
Got this result
Reflector
A set of materials: cardboard, kitchen foil, glue and adhesive tape.
It is desirable that the foil was not too thin and had an area of \u200b\u200b1 square meter for the same area of \u200b\u200bcardboard. Abundantly lubricating the cardboard with glue, you put foil on it, pulling it a little and fixing it with adhesive tape behind. Here is the result you should get:
Lightbox or black tile
If you want to make an objective photo shoot, then a lightbox that you can do yourself is ideal. I warn you, making a photobox is a very time-consuming process. The frame can be from anything: cardboard, wood, plastic, iron battens. Here are a few options:
You are pulling perfectly white fabric or paper onto the slats. In this case, the inner front should be without bends.
If you don’t have time for red tape with photoboxing, but you or your friends have black tiles - this is very cool. After all, it will serve as an ideal background for subject photography. And if it is glossy, then it will reflect the subject, and this will add effect to your pictures.
Flash Diffuser
The function of the diffuser is to remove the gloss on the face, too sharp transitions, shadows, and also make the light softer. It’s very easy to make such a useful tool. A sheet of paper attached with clerical gum to the flash, a plastic or paper cup, a ball for table tennis, even a pack of cigarettes - all this can become a diffuser.
Time lapse and kitchen timer
Mirror
In the case of this item you do not need to craft anything. Just remember that you can create very original shots with a mirror. Here are a few hackneyed ideas, look at them and create new ones!
It's not easy to shoot indoors. Especially if you are a beginner. In this type of shooting, much depends on the technique. Light in the room is usually not enough. If it gets through the window or is emitted by lamps, then it falls at the wrong angle on the subject, so you have to redirect it with reflectors or compensate for flashes. Without a good, bright lens in the room there is nothing at all to do. Just knowing the technique is not enough to start taking good photos. You must be able to use it and be able to use the environment.
How not to shoot indoors
Due to the small amount of light you will have to use a flash. In order not to get a lot of noise in the picture, ISO is usually set to a minimum. What comes out of this. Most often, the picture looks like a white face on a dark background. The flash just does not light up the entire room.
Remember the background
The background in the photo is no less important than the subject itself. The background may be blurred or sharpened. but he must be present. It should not be black. In the picture you need to fit the foreground, middle plan and background. During training, it is not necessary to build an interesting background. First of all, you need to achieve a technically correct background transfer, and only then you can engage in artistic activities.
In a dark room, the first thing to do is increase the shutter speed to the point at which the stirrer still does not appear. There is a rule that states that in order to prevent pictures from getting blurry when shooting with your hands, the shutter speed should not exceed 1 / focal length of the lens. For example, if you shoot at a focal length of 28mm, then the shutter speed should not exceed 1/25 sec. If the focal length is 80mm, then the shutter speed should be 1/80 sec, etc.
The aperture will help to slightly increase the brightness of the scene, but if it is not enough, then only ISO remains to increase the brightness. By increasing the sensitivity by 2 times, a gain in lighting is obtained by one step. This means that by increasing ISO, you can reduce shutter speed or cover the aperture. Modern cameras allow you to take pictures with virtually no noise up to ISO 1600. For full-frame models, this threshold is higher. For old cameras, you can work with ISO 800-1000 without any loss in quality.
A small amount of noise is not particularly harmful to the picture. With the naked eye, it can be invisible. In addition, a small amount of noise can be hidden in Lightroom. Just need to shoot in RAW. In Lightroom, the noise and color sliders are responsible for adjusting the noise.
Use flash wisely
In a room, the flash should not play the role of the main light source. It should only highlight shadows, play the role of a filling light source or slightly add foreground lighting. Directing the flash to the ceiling or walls is not the best option. The interior decoration of the room can be multi-colored, and the light reflected from green, blue, red, etc. the wall takes on a corresponding shade. All photos will turn out multi-colored, and white balance correction will be painfully long.
The ideal color for the reflector is white. Therefore, you should strive to use this particular color on reflective surfaces. The most common flash mode when shooting indoors is the rear curtain. This is easy to explain. If the flash fires along the front curtain, blurring will be visible in some situations. The flash flashes in the first instant, and then the exposure of the frame takes place, in which a stir can occur, and it will overlap over our subject. If you use the flash on the back curtain, the exposure will first occur, in which the movement may occur, and then the flash will flash, which will fix a clear and bright object on top of the movement.
Quite often, indoors, you can do without a flash. Many wedding photographers in the registry office shoot that way.
During shooting, you should think about the temperature of light. Only a flash gives a neutral light close to natural daylight. All other lighting devices create a bluish, reddish, yellowish light. This will inevitably affect the result.
If different light sources are used in the same room, they will mix and create an incredible cocktail. A flash in such a situation can only do harm. If the general lighting has a greenish tone, and you flash the foreground, then everything that is in the background will be a greenish hue, and objects located a few meters from the lens will receive natural white lighting.
Fixing lighting in Photoshop is a thankless task, especially if you have several hundred photos, so it's easier to take care of the light sources in advance. In order for different types of lighting not to mix, you need to have a set of color filters with you. After making a test shot, you need to evaluate what color the frame is painted in under natural light. Then you need to select a color filter for the flash with the same hue and set it. After that, the color temperature of the flash will not argue with the temperature of the light from the lighting fixtures in the room.
Choose the right funds
“Indoor Photography” - This is an extensive concept, which includes many different styles and methods of shooting. You can be a reporting photographer at various events. If you intend to sell your pictures to various publications, then the photos should be of the highest quality. Otherwise, no one will buy them from you. For such work, you need an expensive camera and optics. Wedding photographers are allowed to have less expensive equipment, as the pictures will be collected only in the family album, but if you want to gain respect from your customers. then the photos should also be of the highest quality. You must be able to draw all of its capabilities from your technology. If you shoot at friendly parties and feasts, you usually do not have special requirements for photographs. For such shooting, the most important thing is to convey the atmosphere and capture some events. No one will peer into the natural color rendering of sandwiches and salads on the table. For such a shooting, the simplest DSLR or even an ordinary, but high-quality compact is suitable.
To make it easier to decide which camera to buy, you should familiarize yourself with the recommendations on choosing a camera in the article How to Choose a Digital Camera.
Professional cameras that have price tags starting at $ 3,000 take pictures not only accurately and quickly. They have full-frame sensors, which allow you to receive several times less noise compared to crop. So the permissible (working) ISO values \u200b\u200bcan be an order of magnitude higher than when working with crop cameras. Therefore, this makes it possible to get better pictures in low light conditions, and this is exactly what professional reporting photographers need.
A flash most often gives a gain of about ½ or ⅓ step. This is not much, but often this is not enough. In addition, thanks to the flash, you can soften the shadows. The quality of work and the functionality of the flash are directly proportional to its cost. Choosing a flash is based on the tasks that you are going to assign to it. You can talk about the flash for a very long time, so it is better to refer to our articles on this topic:
- Flash Basics
- On the feasibility of using an external flash
- Flash Errors
- Flash Photos: ISO Guides
- Fill flash
Professional lenses cost from $ 1,000. Expensive optics are distinguished from cheaper ones by higher sharpness and aperture. These are very important parameters that affect the quality of photos taken. High-aperture optics not only allow you to get good pictures thanks to an impeccably constructed lens system, but also use lower ISO values, which also positively affects the quality of photos. To decide on the choice of a lens, you can familiarize yourself with our article on this topic: "Choosing a lens."
Professional equipment makes it possible to obtain better results in any conditions. But the price of such equipment can upset many, therefore, choosing a camera and accessories for it, you need to deal with the tasks that it will perform and, based on the available budget, select exactly what you need.
The experiments
All that you read in this article are just the basic principles of indoor shooting. Each type of shooting has its own rules and nuances. If you are overcome by the spirit of rebellion and you do not want to obey the rules, then you should still familiarize yourself with them in order to be aware of what exactly you are violating.
Once every photographer thinks about his own studio. There are simply plenty of advantages in implementing this idea: you don’t have to go anywhere with a huge bag and your items, you can calmly treat the model with tea and combine shooting with communication, you can better recognize the shooting character and, of course, arrange everything in such a way that shooting will be comfortable, pleasant and easy. So, you have a free room, a camera and an unwavering desire to create your own studio. An important question is how to equip it? Especially for you, we have compiled a list of all the items that will be useful in your own home photo studio.
- Convenient connection system
- Chair for model and table for accessories
The first thing to stock up on is a fairly large number of backgrounds for photography. Background, by the way, is no less important than the model or subject that you are shooting. Too bright a background can distract from the subject, too inconspicuous can create the effect of a passport photo. In addition, different types of material are suitable for every skin tone, hair color, clothing and style.
A set of constant light Falcon Eyes Qlbk-500 will cost 23,000 rubles. It includes two halogen illuminators with diffuser umbrellas, two stands for lighting and a bag for transportation.
We already wrote about reflectors and the effects that they create. Even if you have an umbrella, it’s nice to have a few portable reflectors. They are especially useful for portraiture, as light, and shadows, and shades in the photo will be much more interesting. In addition, they will come in handy for you when traveling. For reflectors, it is better to purchase racks so as not to force the model or assistant to constantly hold the reflector in their hands.
Reflector kits are best suited, with all the available options.
The set of reflectors Falcon Eyes RRK-4066 (102x168 cm) consists of seven colors: golden, silver, white, translucent, silver stripes, golden stripes, blue and green. They are large enough to give a suitable studio effect and are easy to transport.
In order for pulsed light to respond simultaneously with the camera, a synchronizer is needed. There are several types of synchronizers: wired, infrared and radio synchronizers. Wired technology is already a thing of the past, so we'll talk about two other options. An IR synchronizer is inserted into the shoe and synchronizes the camera with lamps - everything is extremely simple.
The radio synchronizer is powered by batteries and consists of a transmitter and receiver, which are attached, respectively, to the camera and flash. Some flashes have a built-in receiver.
IR synchronizers are cheaper, but most likely there will be no noticeable difference in functions. You need to choose synchronizers based on the brand of camera.
All lamps and chargers will need to be turned on somewhere. Therefore, in a home studio, you need to think through everything in advance so that neither you nor the model have to trip over the wires. It is advisable to provide a convenient connection system for all equipment used in the shooting and to provide easy and comfortable access to all points. To do this, stock up on extension cords and do not forget to ensure that there are no overloads.
Of course, you can, if necessary, bring a chair from the kitchen set from the kitchen. But do professionals do that? The studio should always be ready to shoot, which means that there should always be a complete set of necessary items. To ensure that filters, batteries and appliances do not lie on the floor, be sure to take care of the presence of a table or curbstone. And for the model, the chair should always be ready. Most often, when shooting, they use a bar stool or small ladders, on which it is convenient to adjust the height.
Of course, we left the main thing in the end: in the studio you will definitely need a tripod, especially if you want to experiment with shutter speed and various shooting techniques. Among the tripods, the SIRUI brand is now very popular and for good reason, these tripods are durable and suitable for both studio and outdoor shooting.
In a home studio, not only equipment is important. Professionals strongly recommend placing a photo studio in a bright room. Best if most or all of the room is painted white. When you shoot in a white room, the light from the flash bounces off the walls and directly hits the subject.
The width of the room should be at least half the same as it is in length. This is very logical, since there is absolutely no need to reduce the focal length of the camera: the photos will not turn out as successful if you have to use a wide-angle lens where it would be worth taking on a telephoto.
And of course, the studio room should be spacious. Lamps produce quite a lot of heat, sitting under them is quite hot, and on a summer day a small room heats up very quickly. So, if you have such an opportunity, choose the space.
