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DPChallenge Forums >> Individual Photograph Discussion >> illegal use of photoshop?
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Showing posts 1 - 8 of 8, (reverse)
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01/07/2004 02:40:37 PM · #1
Can I use photoshop to make a background completly black? I've seen several pictures with amazing black, and I'm wondering how they do it?

Just had my first challenge, this is a really cool webpage. I'm getting hooked on taking pictures. :-)

Terje
01/07/2004 02:50:11 PM · #2
ive used a black cloth in a dark room lit only with minimal lights on the subject to aquire a black background..sometimes just a black cloth works well...my husband suggested that i use a big box painted black..havent tried that one yet....
01/07/2004 02:51:55 PM · #3
unless otherwise specified in the challenge, no spot editing is allowed - however, you can use PS techniques that affect the whole image, such as the adjustment of levels and saturation

perhaps you might ask the photographer directly to share their method for attaining that 'amazing black' - then you could share it with us!

Message edited by author 2004-01-30 19:16:02.
01/07/2004 02:52:00 PM · #4
As long as no spot editing is used, you can shift colors or make a black background blacker. If you are using Photoshop, try using Levels and shifting the middle slider toward the right. OR use the Selective Color window, select the Blacks (and perhaps the Neutrals) and make them blacker. This will affect your whole image, but it is amazing how much you can isolate colors with the right tools.

Welcome and good luck!
01/07/2004 05:08:48 PM · #5
the easiest way is to just expose it right...
01/07/2004 05:15:33 PM · #6
yes terje. welcome.

i agree with playing with the levels in photoshop as others have stated, it works well.

Another thing, and this may not address what you mean, but I'll throw it out there anyway, deals with using the great outdoors for a good emergency black backdrop.

Compose your subject outside with no ambient lighting for a good distance (like a backyard for example), use the flash, and whalla - instant black background. (if there are still objects like a tree or something they will be far enough away and subsequently dark enough to easily "slide away" in photoshop.

Just some thoughts. Welcome again.
01/07/2004 07:17:33 PM · #7
It is in fact possible to have pure black background without any post processing. A deliberate one-stop underexpose can help you achive this. For example you meter a scene f/4 for 1/60th and you have a black background (paper or cloth) at a distance that it would be out-of-focus based on you current aperture.

By adjusting your exposure to f/4 for 1/125th will render the background pure black because you allow half the ambient light. This is a rather clasic slide technique that works well with backlit or toplit subjects. Good luck.
01/07/2004 07:57:06 PM · #8
Wow!

This site just keep on amazing me.. The responds here has been overwhelming. :-) Thank you very much for all the good answers!

I've got a lot of very good tips/tricks here, that I can play and work on. Hopefully, I'll one day manage to get the amamzing black that I've seen in some of these pictures.

I'll probably come up with more newbie questions as time passes, so bare with me. ;-)

Once again, thank you all for the good information and tips.
Terje
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