Tutorial: Black BG
Yes, I was inspired by this great anime for the title, but I’m not going to talk about it at all. This time, I want to write some lines to answer this question : “how to have deep black baground for a figure indoor photo shots?”
I think it could be interresting to share what I tried to obtain such backgrounds, and you’ll see, this is very simple and in fact could be summed up in one word : distance.
For the samples below, I took pictures of my latest figure, the Kotobukiya‘s Sonsaku Hakufu from IKKI TOUSEN.
Set up
First, here how I set up my stuff.
Most of the time, when I go for photo sessions, I like to be in a full dark room, with no other lights than ones on my desk that I can manage :
- number 1 halogen lamp is the one I always use, with my home-made diffuser.
number 2 halogen lamp when I wan’t no shadow effects, or a global light.
and number 3 CFL when I’m not satisfied with my “reflector”.
For almost all pictures that will folow, I’ve only used the number 1 lamp, the diffuser, made according to super rats tutorial, and some white paper as reflectors, supported by a mini tripod design easel (since I found this idea on valho‘s blog, I can’t do without). No other lights at all.
Now, like I’ve already said it, the clue is distance. It is possible to have a deep black background with any dark colored paper, from the moment you have enough space between the figure and the background.
Here I used the blue paper on the photo above, I swear!
By the way, if you wonder why there was a kind of CD-box on my desk, I use it to raise the figure, and take this kind of shot :
Lighting
From now, pictures have been taken with a real black paper as background.
Taking picture with only one light source strongly requires the use of a reflector and diffuser. Except if you want to have some contrasted effects, but I think at least the diffuser should be used.
Here what does it look like with none of them :
And now, with the diffuser :
And at last, with white paper as reflector :
Distance is important, since if you’re too close to the background paper, the lamp may light it at the same time as your subject. Like this, for example :
An other funny way to take pictures with black background is to light the figure (or anything else you want to photography) from behind.
An example, with no reflector and no diffuser :
Then I tryed the same thing with the reflector first :
And finally added the diffuser :
Dark Background with a little touch of color
To end with, what I prefer with dark background is when the original color is still visible. That gives a colored shade to the picture, which may avoid to have always the same black background.
For this kind of effect, the only thing to do is play with distance between the figure, the background and the light source.
A last shot, using the number 2 lamp to see the differences :
Some words about the figure
On the box, and the base of this figure, it can be read : “Dragon Destiny”.
WTF!?
I don’t get it… why the hell did they make such a stupid mistake!? This Hakufu is definitly NOT the one designed in Dragon Destiny. How could they get mixed up, this is just the Hakufu from the first IKKI TOUSEN anime. Well, that’s just a detail, but for a true IKKI TOUSEN fan like me, that’s shocking! ^^;
On promotional pictures, she had darker hair, and the magatama was opaque (example)… this is not really the case for mine, but I prefer her that way actually.
Product Information
- Manufactured by Kotobukiya
- completed 1/8 scale pvc figure
- Released in May 2007 in Japan
- List Price of 4,200 JPY
version Française
You sir are a god send! hehe
I appreciate you putting forth the effort to explain the dark b’g effect. The visual aid helps a lot too. It’s also amazing how much the reflector helps.
Now onto Hakufu! As you know, I’m not the biggest Ikki fan, but I can appreciate the excellent figures that have been made. This might be my favorite Sonsaku figure i’ve seen. Cute, great pose & a original base too!
Ah, and the snakeskin background is awesome :P
Another great tip for those of us who do not wish to see the outside lol. Thanks for the tip, if its a rainy day I could use this ^-^.
nice write-up on how to get dark background, i like how your top light can go very high, my can’t and since both of my light are of the same strength it cause some problem for me. i had to make a diffuser for the top light and currently i am testing different position for the light to see how i can improve my setup. nice tip on moving the figure further from the background, i am gonna try that out.
btw nice hakufu you got there, i like this hakufu better than the other that was release, i might just get her later
Nice write up. I’ll have to try this as I have a figure I want to do with a dark background.
Good explanation! I feel no need to finish a post on this very subject that I never got around to finishing with pictures. Your lighting technique has gotten quite good.
aka_ugly : Since there are some dragon stuff in IKKI TOUSEN, I’ve found that funny to put this kind of snakeskin background ^^;
AS : haha yes, I also go for indoor photo sessions on rainy sundays usually :)
valho : This light is very useful indeed. Considering a 20cm figure, I can have about 50cm between the top of the figure and the light source.
(to answer aka_ugly as well) ’bout Hakufu, she’s also my favorite. Very closed from the anime design, the first season I insist hehe. And now I’m looking for the griffon enterprise gym outfit one xD
Adun : Looking forward to it :D
super rats : Thank you. That’s all thanks to your lessons, sensei! ^^; And a lot of practice too ;)
Wow, awesome.
My indoor shots always suck with artificial light so reading up about it helps me understand how you guys do it.
What I found out is that I need a bigger desk space first lol
Thanks for the write up!
really good shots man :) I just love how deep is your dark/blue background on the last pictures. Good lightening technique !
Using one lightsource with a diffuser like you did in IDD005.jpg can bring you a nice atmosphere. A face close-up of my Gundam lurking in the dark just popped into my mind when I saw that picture. Thanks for the inspiration, I will definitely try that setup…it’ll be even more fun now that I got a Canon Eos 400D =D
Indoor studio set shots are great but I kinda still prefer with natural light, but that time of natural light is running out since summer is almost here and I don’t want my figures to melt ^^
Now Sonsaku is great in this figure, she was one of my favorite girls in the anime but I still prefer Kan-U with her school uniform not the Gothic version
Aya Kyunik : I have to remove all stuff on my desk when I want to go for a photo session hehe ^^
Enough space is essential.
Angelo : thank you! I love dark colors so I try all the necessary to have good ones ;)
phamolous : I’m glad that I could have draw your inspiration from my pictures ^^
And nice camera!
Belela-san : yep, it’s starting to getting hot, out there, and I guess even more in Portugal! To expose figures to sunlight for too long could become dangerous for them ^^;
Kan-u is a goddess! But I’ve never found figures of her attractive. The one which is coming out in july in white maid outfit is quite good though. Maybe I’ll be tempted :)
Awesome! This makes me eager to try my dab hand at indoor photography.
hey lu-k, what strength is the light u using, i think might a tad too strong though
you’re right on the space, i move my setup to my work table so that i have more space to work with and since it’s just next to my pc now, i can check my shot easily
Refering to the picture, n°1 is a 12V – 50W halogen lamp, n°2 a 12V – 35W halogen lamp. The third light is 20W CFL, which I think produce as many light as a 70W halogen, but I may be wrong about that :p
nice tutorial, what camera are you using?
nice tutorial! do you mind if i post it in my blog? (all credits and links to you, of course)
ron~ : I have a reflex DSLR-A100, by Sony (well in fact I choose this camera because it’s a Konica Minolta, but Sony’s bought the brand ^^)
Sector6 : no problem!