photo & video

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Lesson 46 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Lesson 46 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

photo & video

buy this class

$00

Buy Class

Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2200+ more >

Save Class

Lesson Info

46. Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Show Transcript

Next Lesson: Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

Lessons

Class Trailer

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

Show All Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

We've talked about all of these little things that we have to think about when compositing. And it's one thing to talk about it, and it's a whole other thing to actually do it and hope that you're getting the exact right angles. So one thing that I like to do when I know that I'm going to be compositing is to get tons of angles on things. And I would argue that this is why my composited shoots tend to go a little bit longer than my very straightforward images. Because I'm thinking so much about, okay, I've got this box. And as we talked about with a box, depending on what you're doing with it, if you're shooting it close or really far away, I'm going to definitely need to figure out my angle now. And if I don't, then I could be very unhappy with how this is going to go. So if I've got my box, and I'm going to be photographing it up close, okay, then like we said with the marker example, if I'm here versus here versus here, that's gonna make drastic changes in this image. Versus if I ph...

otograph it from really far away, this change isn't gonna do anything. So how can I make sure that this works? Answer number one is I cannot make absolutely certain that this works, that it works exactly as you want it to work. And I know that I can't do it, 'cause I've tried to do it, and I can never be certain. I am like... My brain does not work like this at all. Maybe yours does, and I envy you if it does. I am not a logical person. This does not come naturally to me. And I have people say that to me every once and a while, "You're so lucky that these things just come to you." I'm like, "No, this is hard work for me." I would rather be at the dentist. No, I would not be. I heard that coming out, and I was like, nope, I would not be. (audience laughter) But very close to it; I don't like this. So when I'm thinking about this box, you could approach it two ways. One being, okay, I'm gonna think this through. I'm gonna look at my other stock images. I'm gonna shoot this at exactly the right angle. Or my solution, which I think should be everyone's solution, because it's so much faster, is just to be like, okay, click, click, click, click, and you have all of these different angles that you're getting. Those weren't in focus. Don't mind that. (audience laughter) You know I already told you it's my problem, right, I've got some focus issues here. That sounds like a bigger life problem, doesn't it? Got some focus issues. But I'm gonna shoot it from every angle because I just don't wanna get in later into Photoshop and have to really stretch things in weird ways or have to re-shoot it. I mean, photographing a cardboard box is hard work, you guys. I don't wanna do that again. So I'm gonna make sure that this looks good as it is. But I am not ready to make sure of that, because I wanna shoot something else first. So, okay, we've got the cardboard box. We're gonna shoot this miniature scene, and I'm really excited for that. But... And this comes later, my special mug that I use all the time for different things that you'll see in just a moment. But first, I wanna get set up to photograph something really, really simple, and just put this into action how this might work, with cutting somebody off of a background. So April, would you mind coming up here? And I'm gonna have you come up again later, so this one's gonna be way simpler than even the next one, which is so simple. And I'm just gonna have you stand against the black. And if we can get the houselights down and the other ones up, that would be great. Yeah, and what I'm doing here is so simple. I'm just going to show really quickly what I would be thinking of if I was going to cut you off of a background and put you somewhere else. And I'm not going to try to do anything fancy here. This is just going to be a quick example. And I have... You have very pale skin, which is good. You have red hair, which is my favorite thing in the world, and you're wearing white, so there's nothing to think about because we have this perfect situation of black backdrop, pale everything. We have so much in common; we're so pale. And so I'm just going to first get my focus here. Really, really simple. Oh, wow, and now suddenly everything is lit how I like it to be lit. And we've just got a quick photo. Now if I want you to be in a field with a dramatic, dark sky, there are two things that I'm thinking of. One, how dark of a sky, right? Oh, oh, yeah, great, okay. The lighting is down. Oh, yeah. So what I'm thinking of first is if I'm gonna have super dark clouds back there like in this image that I showed you earlier with the pulling the sky down, the clouds were very dark. And that could work really well for this image with the black behind because I'm going to be able to blend that well enough. But I would probably choose the gray backdrop just simply because gray clouds, gray backdrop. It all works. But let's say that you don't have that option. You have black and white, and those are your options right now and you can't do anything else. Well, think about this. So you've got a subject here who is wearing all white. Beautiful, awesome hair that doesn't have any darkness to it. You look perfect. And there are no shadows on you. You're just light and airy. So if I were to go in and Photoshop with this dark backdrop and it needed to be just slightly lighter, it would be really easy for me to do because I could just isolate this black, just select that color black, which is not showing up anywhere else on our subject, and lighten that color black to be gray. That would work in this situation because there isn't anything else black. So if you wouldn't mind just looking airily out to the side. Oh, that's perfect. Good, okay. So then we've got our subject with almost no shadows. And one thing that you can argue... Oh, and you can have a seat, thank you. So one thing that you could argue is that there are shadows down in this area on her chin and on her neck and things like that, but it's gonna still be pretty easy to isolate the dark background because I can just draw a quick outline all around it just to isolate it. You don't have anything on the subject. And then we can lighten that background up. So I'm gonna stick with that actually for this image, just assuming that one day she'll be on this stormy background looking very pensive and, I don't know, heroic in some sweet way. 'Cause I feel like I can't just say you're heroic and then not say sweet, because that doesn't make any sense, especially 'cause your sweater's so cute. So that would be one way that I would consider how to move somebody to a new background. And I shot her straight on. I didn't get some weird, low angle. So that means that if I am putting a sky in the background, I would've wanted to shoot that sky sort of off in the distance. One thing that I notice a lot in images is... And, in fact, when I've been out shooting with people, is you'll see these great clouds and then you're like, oh, my gosh, click, and you take a picture of this cloud that's above you. But how frequently do you shoot someone from this angle, right? You just don't do that. You shoot somebody looking straight at them. And that's why whenever I photograph clouds and things like that, stock images that are out in nature, I try to see a horizon line in the distance so that I know, oh, those clouds connected here with the horizon. In this case, we have somebody who is not in any particular background. They don't have any context to where they're standing, so she could be super close to the camera and maybe the clouds are way in the distance and there's all this blur between them. And that doesn't really matter in this situation. The one thing that I would mention here in terms of moving someone to a new background is the fact that April was standing really close to the backdrop generally. And the closer you are to the backdrop, that means the more the backdrop will be in focus, right. It's just how cameras work. If the subject is close to the background, both things will be in focus, depending on your aperture, of course, what your f-stop is, is you have shallow depth of field. So one thing that I could've done in this situation to make this even easier to cut would be to just have her step up closer to the windows and have all of this separation so that the background is super blurry and our subject stands out. Because just imagine right now... We're gonna play a little game where you're imagining that you're a tool in Photoshop. So just visualize you're a round eraser tool-type thing, okay. Yeah, that's what we're gonna do. Just go with it. And you're a little eraser tool, and your job is, because you're like this big in comparison to my head right now, okay. And you're like, okay, I've gotta erase around the hairs that I'm seeing. What are you gonna look for if you're the eraser tool? You're gonna look for, first of all, is there contrast between them so that I can actually figure out what I'm supposed to be erasing? And then, two, is there blur? Because if something is super in focus, and the thing in the background is really out of focus, that's going to create even more separation for that tool in Photoshop to isolate what you're trying to cut out. So that's something that I'm thinking about. And if I notice, I can see a few hairs around here. Okay, I definitely see that. And I notice that I can see some texture in the background as well. And that's probably not as good for being able to cut those hairs out. So would I re-shoot it? Yes. Am I going to? No. Because it's a really simple thing that we can all visualize, just that separation as much as possible. I mean, what's going to separate someone from a background? Contrast with the background and focus being shifted from the background to the foreground. So that's the big thing.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)

Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)

Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)

Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)

Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)

Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)

Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)

Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)

Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)

Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)

Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)

Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)

Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)

Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)

Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)

Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)

Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)

Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)

Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)

Bonus Materials Guide

Syllabus

Image Edit Videos

buy this class

$00

Buy Class

Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2000+ more >

79.7K Students

99% Recommend this Class

00 Student Work

0 Video lessons in HD
00h 00m of class content
Exclusive bonus content
Lifetime access, anywhere, anytime
Streaming access on desktop and mobile browsers
Download and offline access with class purchase
Offline sync with our iPhone & iPad apps
100% satisfaction guarantee

Brooke Shaden

Brooke explores the darkness and light in people, and her work looks at that juxtaposition. As a self-portrait artist, she photographs herself and becomes the characters of dreams inspired by a childhood of intense imagination and fear.

SEE INSTRUCTOR'S CLASSES

topics covered in this class

Fine Art Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

April S.

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Angel Ricci

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Ron Landis

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

2,000+ classes ranging from fundamentals to advanced techniques.

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Lesson Info

46. Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Lessons

Class Introduction

Storytelling & Ideas

Universal Symbols in Stories

Create Interactive Characters

The Story is in The Details

Giving Your Audience Feelings

Guided Daydream Exercise

Elements of Imagery

The Death Scenario

Associations with Objects

Three Writing Exercises

Connection Through Art

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

Layering Inspiration

Creating an Original Narrative

Analyze an Image

Translate Emotion into Images

Finding Parts in Images

Finding Your Target Audience

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

Formatting Your Work

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

Circle of Focus

The Pillars of Branding

Planning Your Photoshoot

Choose Every Element for The Series

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Sketch Your Ideas

Choose Your Gear

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

What Tells a Story in a Series?

Set Design Overview

Color Theory

Lighting for the Scene

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

Locations

Subject Within the Scene

Set Design Arrangement

Fine Art Compositing

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

Checklist for Composite Shooting

Analyze Composite Mistakes

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Shoot: Miniature Scene

Editing Workflow Overview

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

Edit Details of Images

Add Smoke & Texture

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

Self Portrait Test Shoots

Shoot for Edit

Shoot Extra Stock Images

Practice the Shoot

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

Shoot: Vine Image

Shoot: Sand Image

Shoot: End Table Image

Shoot: Bed Image

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

Shoot: Chair Image

Shoot: Mirror Image

Shoot: Moss Image

Shoot: Tree Image

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

Shoot: Feather Image

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion