Black on black

A quick tip

Often people struggle with black outfits against a black background.

In essence it's not really that hard.
First off, to make sure there is no light hitting the background make sure you meter the background app 5 stops lower than your main light (reflective). If that doesn't work chance the distance between the model and the strobe (inverse square law, light falls off over a distance) move it closer to the model and keep the distance to the background equal would mean less light is hitting the background.

Also use a grid to make sure no spill is hitting the background (or use a flag).

I personally love to use side lighting.
Now with side lighting you have this problem of the shadow side disappearing. To solve this place an accent light on the opposite side. Make sure you also hit the jawline and you get an amazing shot.

It takes a bit of moving around and it all limits the posing options, but if it works 😉

Want to know more….?
We are releasing a brand new full length tutorial soon covering everything from black to white backgrounds, posing, lightsources etc.

1 reply
  1. Perminder Suman
    Perminder Suman says:

    Love this shot. What modifiers were used? And where were the lights placed? To the side and behind the model?

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