Yes, I believe this is going to be the second of several home studio posts.
When I first started, I saw all of these great studio photographs that I wanted to imitate, but I really had no idea how to do it. I had to play a while before I really understood how to efficiently achieve a completely black background without underexposing. Sure, anyone can take a picture of anything and Photoshop a black completely around it, and I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but getting it right or at least MOSTLY right in camera will look MUCH better than the 'shopped version, guaranteed. So, here are a few simple steps to achieve what looks to be difficult.
Obviously, the first thing you need is space. There isn't an end all be all space requirement, but you need enough to be able to place your subject as far away from the black background as possible. Some people may need more space than others depending on what they intend to be photographing. Lets just say that putting this in a walk in closet would be a bit difficult unless your photographing watches or other small objects.
After space, the next logical step would be a black fabric to photograph. Professional grade backdrops can be quite expensive because they are made of a special material that is essentially a black hole. Black felt or muslin is probably just as good, and its cheap. Again, the amount of fabric you need depends on what you're photographing. If you're shooting small objects, then you probably only need a couple yards. If you're photographing people, then you would need a lot more fabric. Ideally, when the fabric is on the wall, it needs to be about 7.5 ft tall to accommodate for a taller individual and so that it leaves a little headroom. In addition, it needs to come out from the wall on the floor so if you want to do a full-length shot there isn't an abrupt background change at the subject's feet. Now, if you're only planning on doing headshots you don't need this much, but, again, its not expensive.
Mounting the fabric can be done in several different ways. The way that I've always done it is simply tack it to the wall. Not hard. If you don't want to do that, you can build a background stand out of PVC pipe. You can get that for cheap at your local hardware store.
When shooting, place the subject as far in front of the background as practically possible. Reason being, you want as little light as possible hitting the background. Yes its felt and yes its black but it is a physical object and it will reflect light. You can shoot the subject close to the background if you want, but that does come with some lighting limitations, so usually its just easier to move away.
You can do all this, or simply buy a simple setup like this one. This is actually a really good deal, but doing it yourself is even less expensive.
Next up... Completely white background!
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