Recommended Portrait background color

rickp

What background color do you guys and gals recommend for portraits and small groups.

I need to get a portable background system and I would like to get the best color for that type of pictures.

Thanks
R.

Art Scott

Thunder grey (a dark grey) or blk....a set of colored gels and a gel holder for your back light
that way you can have an assortment of colors and if the background has a texture or painted in
old masters style but only one color then add different colors to it can be interest int....
OR....a single green screen and just get a few hundred digital backgrounds to have decent choices.....

divamum

I have one which is black on one side and white on the other. I can get everything from stark black, to high key white and shades of grey in-between depending on how I light it. Gels can further colour it if I choose.

At 5x7' it's a tad small for anything other than head/shoulders on an adult but it's perfect for that, and verrrrry easy to store (it's one of the collapsible ones).

rickp

Thank you.

Let me ask you, how do you change the color with the lights? I'm assuming no Gels are being used.

R.

Art Scott

rickp wrote: »

Thank you.

Let me ask you, how do you change the color with the lights? I'm assuming no Gels are being used.

R.

Light intensity......I shot for many years with only a blk BG....by adding more light I could take it very near pure bright white for high key shots...but then it reflects back and also acts as a backlight....the key is experimentation with a willing subject...

divamum

• Highkey type lighting turns the white side pure white.
• If I move the subject further away from the white side and don't light it at all, light falloff means I get grey (various shades depending on distance and subject lighting)
• If I light the black side, I get a dark grey.
• If I don't like the black side, I get pure black.

rickp

And just to confim i can only it with a back light? Right?

Art Scott

If you try to changfe the shade of the BG with a main or fill light it will burn out your subject or if you are using gels to color the bg with main or fill it will also color your subject.....

divamum

rickp wrote: »

And just to confim i can only it with a back light? Right?

Not sure I understand the question. Do you mean do you only need one light to light the background?

Answer is... it depends. For high key pure white, two background lights is preferred although you can fudge it with one, careful placement (and flagging) and some time in photoshop.

rickp

What I was asking was that to change the background color you need a backlight, which makes sense.

I think I'm going to go with Thunder Gray at this point, as I get learn more I'll play with other colors and setups.

R>