connie
Alumni
Today we’re going to talk abut common photography problems. I’m focusing on photographing black items and red items as these seem to give people the most problems. If you have a photography question that I don’t address, please post it. I’m here to help. Let me first say this: photographing black items is difficult for everyone. There is no easy solution. I personally avoid buying black items becuase I know that they just don’t show well online. Still, there are ways to get decent pictures of even the most difficult items.
I’m going to start with a short explanation of how your camera reads light. Remember what I was saying that your camera isn’t nearly as sensitive as the human eye? Where here is where that comes into play. When you are looking at a black dress, your iris is constantly expanding and contracting in order for you to really see all the details. It happens so quickly and automatically, you don’t even realize what is going on. All you know is that you look at that dress and you can make out all the details, texture, etc. The light meter on your camera does not have that advantage. Because you are taking a still photo, you only have one exposure at a time. Your camera can’t give you different exposures for different areas.
Your cameras light meter actually only sees the middle area of the grey range. It doesn’t take into account, very white whites or very black blacks. (It doesn’t see color at all but we’ll get into that later today.) What your camera does is look at an area in the center of the image - generally about the center half - and figures out how to make it into a middle grey. What this means is that if you are photographing a big white wedding dress, it will try to darken the image and if you are photographing black dress, it will try and lighten the image.
The easiest way to get a correct exposure is to use a gray card. This is simply a piece of cardboard, generally about 8x10 or 11x14, that is printed at the exact medium grey that your camera is looking for. You can buy these at any camera store. Lots of camera books will include one that you can pull out and use. What you do is set that card right in the middle of your picture plane (the center of your picture) and let the camera take a reading off that. Lock the exposure, take the card away and take your picture. You should now have a correctly exposed photo. This works very well for white items. If you have a camera with automatic settings, you can also use the beach/snow button to get this same effect for white items.
Black items have other issues to deal with. Often a “corrrect” exposure will leave you with a very dark item where you can’t make out any details. I’ll get into that next.
There are different ways to deal with black. The first thing I would suggest is, when photographing black, if you are having trouble getting the black to show as really black and still getting the details, show several different exposures. Although I’m not totally happy with these photos for other reasons, you can see here what I do:
http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/D110191.html
I showed one picture with the true color and the rest were lightened to show details.
I don’t reccommend shooting black items on a white background. What you get is a dark silhouette. If you even use a slightly tinted background it makes all the difference. Check out this picture:
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/dresses/D830063B.jpg>
What you see is that the black shows up fine against the beige backdrop. You can tell that it is a black item but you can still make out the folds in the skirt and the slightly shiney texture of the fabric. You’ll notice though that my white mannequin has totally washed out.
I want to put another sample here for you. First is a good picture of black on white:
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/photoworkshop/day2wallbg1.jpg>
Again this is VFG member Denisebrain. You'll notice how the lighting in this pictures is very soft, a real key to getting good pictures of black items. It appears that she has lighting coming from both sides as well. The result is a professional looking picture.
Next is a photo I shot:
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/dresses/D810049F.jpg>
I was forced to take this picture against the back wall of my studio and it just didn't work out. First, the background is just too white. The contrast between the black and the white is too extreme and you can't make out any details in either the highlights or the shadows. Also, the sunlight was shining right on the front of the dress, again flattening out any details. If I were to take this picture over again I'd make sure that I did it in front of a darker background and with my light to the side of the item.
I generally don’t recommend photographing black items on a black background but sometimes it works out well. This hat for instance looks great. You can see the texture very nicely and you still know that it is a black item.
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/dresses/E622043F.jpg>
Black is one instance where photographing outside can really work well. Nice bright sunlight really shows the details that sometimes get lost indoors. If you have a very shiny black item (satin or rayon/silk velvet) photographing outdoors to get the sunlight and then using a flash to catch the shine can work well.
Check out this great example from VFG member Patentleathershoes (www.kitschnsinkvintage.com)
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/photoworkshop/blackoutdoorflash.jpg>
This is a wonderful example of flash photography and natural light. If you've been reading the past few days you know that I'm not a big fan of pop-up flashes. They have their uses, especially if you're taking family photo, party pictures, etc. When you use them for taking pictures of clothing though, they are a real mark of an amateur. There are some exceptions though and this is one. When used in an outdoor situation, where the light is already bright, and you just need to highlight the details, they do the job.
Personally I prefer the top two photos here. You really get the rich blue black of the hat fabric. If I were thinking about buying this hat though, I'd really appreciate the bottom picture as I can make out the details so well. This is another case where several pictures with different exposures really show the hat to its advantage. Certainly better that any one of those pictures alone.
Coming up next - more about taking pictures of black items
Connie
I’m going to start with a short explanation of how your camera reads light. Remember what I was saying that your camera isn’t nearly as sensitive as the human eye? Where here is where that comes into play. When you are looking at a black dress, your iris is constantly expanding and contracting in order for you to really see all the details. It happens so quickly and automatically, you don’t even realize what is going on. All you know is that you look at that dress and you can make out all the details, texture, etc. The light meter on your camera does not have that advantage. Because you are taking a still photo, you only have one exposure at a time. Your camera can’t give you different exposures for different areas.
Your cameras light meter actually only sees the middle area of the grey range. It doesn’t take into account, very white whites or very black blacks. (It doesn’t see color at all but we’ll get into that later today.) What your camera does is look at an area in the center of the image - generally about the center half - and figures out how to make it into a middle grey. What this means is that if you are photographing a big white wedding dress, it will try to darken the image and if you are photographing black dress, it will try and lighten the image.
The easiest way to get a correct exposure is to use a gray card. This is simply a piece of cardboard, generally about 8x10 or 11x14, that is printed at the exact medium grey that your camera is looking for. You can buy these at any camera store. Lots of camera books will include one that you can pull out and use. What you do is set that card right in the middle of your picture plane (the center of your picture) and let the camera take a reading off that. Lock the exposure, take the card away and take your picture. You should now have a correctly exposed photo. This works very well for white items. If you have a camera with automatic settings, you can also use the beach/snow button to get this same effect for white items.
Black items have other issues to deal with. Often a “corrrect” exposure will leave you with a very dark item where you can’t make out any details. I’ll get into that next.
There are different ways to deal with black. The first thing I would suggest is, when photographing black, if you are having trouble getting the black to show as really black and still getting the details, show several different exposures. Although I’m not totally happy with these photos for other reasons, you can see here what I do:
http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/D110191.html
I showed one picture with the true color and the rest were lightened to show details.
I don’t reccommend shooting black items on a white background. What you get is a dark silhouette. If you even use a slightly tinted background it makes all the difference. Check out this picture:
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/dresses/D830063B.jpg>
What you see is that the black shows up fine against the beige backdrop. You can tell that it is a black item but you can still make out the folds in the skirt and the slightly shiney texture of the fabric. You’ll notice though that my white mannequin has totally washed out.
I want to put another sample here for you. First is a good picture of black on white:
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/photoworkshop/day2wallbg1.jpg>
Again this is VFG member Denisebrain. You'll notice how the lighting in this pictures is very soft, a real key to getting good pictures of black items. It appears that she has lighting coming from both sides as well. The result is a professional looking picture.
Next is a photo I shot:
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/dresses/D810049F.jpg>
I was forced to take this picture against the back wall of my studio and it just didn't work out. First, the background is just too white. The contrast between the black and the white is too extreme and you can't make out any details in either the highlights or the shadows. Also, the sunlight was shining right on the front of the dress, again flattening out any details. If I were to take this picture over again I'd make sure that I did it in front of a darker background and with my light to the side of the item.
I generally don’t recommend photographing black items on a black background but sometimes it works out well. This hat for instance looks great. You can see the texture very nicely and you still know that it is a black item.
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/dresses/E622043F.jpg>
Black is one instance where photographing outside can really work well. Nice bright sunlight really shows the details that sometimes get lost indoors. If you have a very shiny black item (satin or rayon/silk velvet) photographing outdoors to get the sunlight and then using a flash to catch the shine can work well.
Check out this great example from VFG member Patentleathershoes (www.kitschnsinkvintage.com)
<img src=http://www.cosmiccatvintage.com/web-data/Components/photoworkshop/blackoutdoorflash.jpg>
This is a wonderful example of flash photography and natural light. If you've been reading the past few days you know that I'm not a big fan of pop-up flashes. They have their uses, especially if you're taking family photo, party pictures, etc. When you use them for taking pictures of clothing though, they are a real mark of an amateur. There are some exceptions though and this is one. When used in an outdoor situation, where the light is already bright, and you just need to highlight the details, they do the job.
Personally I prefer the top two photos here. You really get the rich blue black of the hat fabric. If I were thinking about buying this hat though, I'd really appreciate the bottom picture as I can make out the details so well. This is another case where several pictures with different exposures really show the hat to its advantage. Certainly better that any one of those pictures alone.
Coming up next - more about taking pictures of black items
Connie