Building three dimensionality in your sets
Backgrounds are backgrounds.
What I mean with this is that when you place a model in front or against a background you shoot a model against a background.
It’s literally in the name, background.
When I started with modelphotography the most use backgrounds for me were seamless.
I got them in all kinds of different colors, and still sometimes love using them.
But very quickly we started to paint the walls in our studio with different kinds of patterns, build some moveable walls with wall paper and I started using those much more than the seamless.
And let’s be honest, one of the coolest things I shooting on location.
Why?
Well you have a whole set to play with.
So why not build something in your studio.
Let’s start easy
When you select a background you can select different materials and prints, but for now let’s keep it simple.
The print is one of the most important things for creating depth.
When you select a solid color or pattern it can work great, but there is no real depth in the background.
When you select a background with a whole office print you have a lot of depth, but you are also bound how to light the model, a sunlit office building in the back doesn’t really work for a Rembrandt setup.
So let’s select something in the middle.
Something that is moody, and because I love red and seeing our model will be wearing an outfit inspired by “magnificent” a darker red background would be great.
For this setup I’m using the “theater curtain” background.
I absolutely love this background for glamour setups, but also with fashion, families and literally almost everything I place in front of it works.
But for today it’s a great start to create a bit more depth in the set.
The background system
One of the best tips I can give for studio accessories is an extra background system.
In our studio all the backgrounds are mounted on the wall, or on stands with motors, but we still have two extra background systems.
Because you can change the length of the middle pieces they are great to hang fabrics, chandeliers etc. from and because you can easily change the height and even angle they are perfect for many situations.
In this case we have placed the background system in front of the set and hung red fabric from them, creating much more depth.
Lighting wise I’m using a Geekoto GT200 with a small softbox with grid aimed at our model.
The light was above the background system aiming down.
In the back I’m using a Geekoto GT200 with a red gel from the Rogue magnetic system
The strobe in the back I can use for a slight accent, or a full blown lens flare effect.
The only problem is the front.
How do we get the material to be visible.
For that I’m using a trick with featering and the omnidirectional dome from Rogue
By aiming the strobe towards app. 2/3rd of the distance I’m using the sides of the light in the front, which are less powerful, and the more powerful part of the strobe (the center) is aimed at a point further away, this way you get a very nice and almost even light on the fabric. This trick works for all setups where you need to light several subjects evenly when they are not the same distance from your light.
To create a bit more of the set, the model is sitting on a chair, and we placed a small stand with some plants in the set.
Combined I think it adds a lot more interesting angles to the final results, and it’s really easy to do, when you have an extra background set 😀
Let’s take a look at the results
Workshops
Want to learn everything about light control?
Want to visit a workshop where it’s not just shooting a model with a fixed lighting setup, but see how the setup is build and adjusted to the taste of the group?
And of course learn how to work with poses, backgrounds, small sets, styling, retouching and a lot more…..
If this all sounds awesome, visit fotografie-workshops.nl and book your workshop.
If you don’t speak Dutch, no problem, let us know a few weeks in advance and we can switch the workshop to English.
Not possible to travel to The Netherlands?
We got you covered with our 1:1 online workshop.
We have a full streaming setup in our studio. 4 detail cameras and of course the retouching software so you can see every detail and of course ask questions during the day. Plus you get all the RAW files after the workshop.
