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11-18-2012, 04:34 PM   #1
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Backgrounds?
Lens: 43 Ltd Camera: K5 Photo Location: Texas ISO: 80 Shutter Speed: 1/60s Aperture: F6.7 

My youngest son and his new wife #4 visited last weekend and I took a lot of shots of them in my little studio......some were decent, some not so much, but over all I think what failed me most was the lack of more varying backgrounds? I have a few new backgrounds on order, and hope this will help bring more satisfaction to my eyes?

I am not good at digital backgrounds, but if anyone would like to play with this one and do some different backgrounds I would be delighted for you to give it a go and post here!
Regards!
Rupert

Janice.....wife #4, and a genuine sweetheart, this one is a keeper...if this fails we will dump our son and keep her!
[IMG] [/IMG]


He's a good guy, but knows nothing of women (who really does?)....this time he just plain "got lucky"!
[IMG] [/IMG]

11-18-2012, 06:51 PM - 1 Like   #2
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OK, I'm no expert, but I used to shot a lot of people - er, photograph a lot of people. It isn't your backgrounds that's the problem, it's the lighting of your backgrounds. Too flat, too uniform. A portrait studio needs depth, so you can place the subject some distance in front of the background, and control the lighting separately. If you can, try adding a separate light striking just the background from one side, to achieve a gradiation of tone across the background. Of course, you can't allow light to bounce from the background onto the subject, although a touch of backlighting giving a rimlight wouldn't hurt, either.
Re: the son and new daughter-in-law. Best wishes to the lovely couple.
Thanks for sharing.
11-18-2012, 06:53 PM   #3
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Nice collection you have there sir.. with better understanding of speed control, you can have at least 3 different back ground with the one you have now (Black, White & Grey) without spending much.
11-18-2012, 08:50 PM   #4
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Here are a couple of variations for you Rupert.

The simple Vinette.




A Gradient Background.



The gradient background was the most work, as I had to use a mask layer to paint the gradrient onto the whitish background without painting your daughter-in-law. This left a "halo" effect around her body. The good news is that it is easy to get rid of the halo using the clone tool. This tutorial is the cloning method I used.

Sharpening Halos And How To Hide Them - Tutorials

Tim


Last edited by atupdate; 11-19-2012 at 10:51 AM.
11-18-2012, 09:11 PM   #5
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Original Poster
Jford...Thanks for the advice.....I am far too close to the background, and I do need to correct this problem....and the lighting on the background...I need to work on this too. I appreciate the advice , it is well received !

Ivan...Thanks! Please elaborate on the speed control....I'm listening!

Tim I appreciate those, like them both, but the gradient is really nice. I will try some of that myself, appreciate the link too!

Thanks guys! You are always helpful to old Rupert! Just for replying, here is a fresh Otis shot I took this evening for my friends here at PF!

Isn't he handsome!
[IMG] [/IMG]
11-18-2012, 09:39 PM   #6
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Maybe this will help you to understand better...

Controlling Ambient With Shutter Speed | The Wonder Of Light
11-18-2012, 11:57 PM   #7
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Theres also something else going on with the images they just dont look right in my eyes, not clean and crisp as they should be, to me they look like they started out soft and have been over-sharpened.
Are you shooting in RAW or are you shooting JPEG and then PPing the JPEG?

11-19-2012, 09:25 AM   #8
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cheap backgrounds:
1 lightsource (any type)
colored things you can shoot through like gels or containers of water or plastic/glass.
gobos and cookies again ANYTHING you can use to create shadows and patterns.
any type of sheer fabric or mesh or netting you can find...

and your basic white wall or white paper can take on a miilion and one different looks:
11-19-2012, 07:26 PM   #9
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Ivan...Thanks for the link, I'll check it out!

Don...Good ideas there! I'm not too creative, but maybe I can learn.

TOUGEFC "Theres also something else going on with the images they just dont look right in my eyes, not clean and crisp as they should be, to me they look like they started out soft and have been over-sharpened."
.......I think you nailed it from my standpoint.......there is something just not right in my view, but I am not sure just how to correct it? Shooting errors...processing errors......or both? I do believe I need a lot more work and practice to achieve the look I am after. I wish I had some more experienced help closer where I could learn faster, but I just don't. I have a few ideas of where I am failing and will experiment for corrections in the coming days...and see what happens? I do appreciate your opinion, I don't care much for beating around the bush, just the way you see it is the most helpful, and that's what you gave me! Thanks!

BTW- This is not in reference to Otis....Otis is always handsome, no matter how he is shot!
Best Regards!
11-19-2012, 08:26 PM   #10
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You've already got some great advice here from the other posters so I'll just add my ignorance to the mix. The only time I see proper photos being taken against a uniform background is for passport or other ID photos and we all know how awful those look (when you start to look like you passport photo, its time to go home).
Of the two photos you show above, the first one of your daughter in law on her own works a lot better than the second, because it has more natural contrast to it. Her skin tone is darker than your son's, and further in the second image, his suit and hair color aren't that far from the grey of the background. A secondary issue here is that if you want to recolor the background, it is hard to get a clean separation of the subject and background if the colors are similar.
11-20-2012, 09:55 AM   #11
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MSL--More good advice, and appreciated! I know these things, but somehow keep making the same mistakes over and over. Maybe I am not concentrated enough on what I am doing, or maybe I am just plain dumb when I pick up a camera? Mrs Rupert says I am dumb to even own a camera most of the time.....she is not one of my best fans, and thinks I need a lot of help......sadly, she is mostly right. She does say I do nice Squirrels, but she is no Squirrel fan, so that doesn't count for much around here!

I was up in the Big City of Dallas yesterday for a funeral, and afterwards I went over to Cowboy Studios and picked up some new gear, including 5 new backgrounds. They look good to me, and we will see if they help, along with a little more serious concentration on what I am doing. I want to get better....but it seems a very slow process. Some "get it" right away, and some like me learn then revert back to their bad habits. Old dog....new tricks.....it can happen, we'll see?

Regards!
11-20-2012, 10:41 AM   #12
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Rupert - not sure how seriously to take that last comment - I've seen Mrs. Rupert support your endeavors at least once

My guess - on this shoot since you know the subject so well it was far less formal for you, and so you stopped going through the sort of checklist you might do on a more formal shoot. In this case, any "snapshots" you get have merit because of the subject matter, whereas when you shoot one of your beauties, you are trying to capture that perfect shot.
11-20-2012, 05:18 PM   #13
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Rupert:

I can't help you on the backgrounds as I don't do this type of photography. However, I'm curious as to how Otis got the ear of corn to stand at attention while he eats it, unless you nailed it to the railing.
11-21-2012, 07:16 AM   #14
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MSL-----You are most likely right, I let down on my checklist while shooting my son and his wife. My apologies to Mrs Rupert too, I tend to forget that she financed my little studio and everything in it. She may not be a fan of my photographic "skills", but she apparently likes me....pretty much?

Cardinal......Otis has that Devil Squirrel to perform magic for him when needed......I wish he would help me out once in a while too!

You do recall the Devil Squirrel?
[IMG] [/IMG]

Regards!
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