Backgrounds

[Andy C]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me some guidance for purchasing background equipment for portrait type photos.
I want to take photographs of my children and would like them to look a little more professional without all the background clutter from the living/dinning room etc.
Eventually, I would like to build up my equipment to include lights, but for the time being I would be more than happy with a nice background setup.
Any advice/information will be gratefully appreciated, Andy

[Walter Brooks]

Several choices are open to you - plain paper backgrounds, half width rolls are more manageable in the domestic situation ; cloth backgounds either plain (which can be further coloured with a background light) or clouded (personally would choose a neutral/ natural colour) you may find http://www.colourscape.co.uk helpful; or Lastolite type backgrounds which 'pop out' and can then be folded (with a bit of practice) back into their cases - the cloth options are probably the most practical, hope this is helpful?

[Paul Jones]

I want to take photographs of my children
Eventually, I would like to build up my equipment to include lights

In the absence of studio lighting, why not take them outside and practice natural light outdoor portraits? Maybe using a touch of fill-in flash if you have a flashgun (speedlight). You can use large apertures to throw the background out of focus if need be.

You might find the DPR Lighting Techniques Forum useful:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1025

[Ian Austen]

I'd tend to agree with Paul that you'll probably get better pictures outdoors without lights. It may be worth buying a simple reflector to add some fill light - this could also be used indoors as well to add fill to natural light from a window for example.

I use a black lastolite background which is made from a felt like material - an example below of a pic taken of my kids a couple of weeks ago with two lights:



If you decide to go for some lights in the future the Elinchrom DLite kits are very popular. Bowens also do a "studio in a box" kit which also has everything you would need.

Ian

[bert haddock]

Re backgrounds,
Colourscape make a good selection of backgrounds www.colourscape.co.uk I have four differant colours purchased from them,
they are inexpensive compared to many other companies, you can also buy background supports from FOTOSENSE Bolton.

Bert.

[Andy C]

Thanks for all the infromation so far. Colorscape does seem to be fairly reasonably priced and I had not heard of Fotosense (gives me another shop to browse around )
The more I look into backgrounds and lighting the more I fancy a "full kit". There seems to be a lot of lights on the market, is there any particular makes to avoid. I have come across kits on ebay which have 'Procameras Fotolights' These seem to be good value, but is this a case of buy cheap, buy twice?

[Paul Jones]

I have come across kits on ebay which have 'Procameras Fotolights' These seem to be good value, but is this a case of buy cheap, buy twice?

Possibly. If I was buying new lights for myself I'd personally go for Bowens or Elinchrom.

Read through the Lighting Techniques Forum (see my link above) and there's always discussions on various lighting kits.

[Andy C]

why not take them outside and practice natural light outdoor portraits?

I did just that and here is one of the pictures.

As usual! my 2 werent so keen to be in front of the camera, So luckily the neighbours children were more than happy to show off in front of the camera.

[Paul Jones]

I did just that and here is one of the pictures.

You've captured their personality well. The diffused background helps.

One thing you might want to try though is adding a touch more contrast to give it more punch. I just tried it and it made a big difference.

Well done.

[Andy C]

Thanks for the tip Paul. As i'm still at the start of my learning curve for photography and especially photoshop all tips are very welcome.

I find using the photoshop tutorials you get with magazines fairly straight forward especially using there images and guidance. However when it comes to my pictures I never have a clue on how to touch them up or how best to improve them.

[Paul Jones]

.... when it comes to my pictures I never have a clue on how to touch them up or how best to improve them.

It's a matter of experimenting with different things. We've all been there. I'm currently in the process of going through all my raw images and reworking many of them as I work on revamping my website.

Simple adjustments like using LEVELS, CURVES or BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST can have a big impact on the image.

Now you're in ADAPS ask for as much help as you need.

[John]

This coming Thursday will be an ideal opportunity to ask questions about Photoshop techniques, or indeed anything else that you wish to raise.