Can you help me achieve this effect?

[djotaku]

I want to take a photo that looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rod_monkey/238774542/

or

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildhiss/2555826780/

but I get



Where the subject is lit and the background is pure black. It was even featured in Digital Camera Magazine and I wasn't able to accomplish it. Does it require photoshop? What am I doing wrong? I always end up with the whole photo black or too much background lit.

Any help would be great!

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Exposure: 0.3
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
Exposure: 0.00
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off


Thanks!

[SusanH1970]

A black backdrop would help.

[djotaku]

Advice taken. But, at least in the DCMag article, they didn't use a black bg. The model was just sitting on a couch. Any other techniques?

[KathrynWilson]

Take a look at this tutorial:
http://www.zarias.com/?p=101

[MattG]

You need to use a faster shutter speed to cut out ambient light from the background. If you can get your camera to spot meter on your subject, this will help you expose the subject and darken the background sufficiently.

[geekgirl415]

Originally Posted by KathrynWilson

Take a look at this tutorial:
http://www.zarias.com/?p=101

That is an AWESOME tutorial- thank you so much- i had NO IDEA!

[Snowdust]

How close is your subject to the background. It appears fairly close. It looks like if they we just moved further away, you already have the enough light falloff to darken the background.

[archersdad]

Move as far from your background as possible. Grid or gobo your flash to eliminate/reduce light spill onto the background. Use a smaller aperture.

[kencaleno]

You need to use your maximum shutter speed-1/250 sec on your camera, I believe:

From my writings:

If you shoot at a party or wedding reception, indoors at night using the auto or programme flash setting, which is usually either 1/250 or 1/500 second, you will end up with ultra black backgrounds, and not the scene you saw.

Regards, Ken

[djotaku]

Originally Posted by KathrynWilson

Take a look at this tutorial:
http://www.zarias.com/?p=101

AWESOME tutorial! I have to read it more carefully out when I get home! I can't believe with the same bg he went from white to black.

Originally Posted by MattG

You need to use a faster shutter speed to cut out ambient light from the background. If you can get your camera to spot meter on your subject, this will help you expose the subject and darken the background sufficiently.

When I tried using a faster shutter speed, I ended up completely dark. After reading the tutorial, I guess it's important to mention I was not using a flash, but a light in the room. I didn't think this was an issue because in the DCMag article they used light from a window as their source.

Originally Posted by Snowdust

How close is your subject to the background. It appears fairly close. It looks like if they we just moved further away, you already have the enough light falloff to darken the background.

I was in the middle of the room. Of course, it's a small room. So what you're saying is that I need to try this in my basement. (Which is huge!)

Originally Posted by archersdad

Move as far from your background as possible. Grid or gobo your flash to eliminate/reduce light spill onto the background. Use a smaller aperture.

What does it mean to grid or gobo your flash?

Originally Posted by kencaleno

You need to use your maximum shutter speed-1/250 sec on your camera, I believe:

From my writings:

If you shoot at a party or wedding reception, indoors at night using the auto or programme flash setting, which is usually either 1/250 or 1/500 second, you will end up with ultra black backgrounds, and not the scene you saw.

Regards, Ken

Um.....I can't believe I had a memory fault there. I know this! That's why I "laugh" at people who take pictures with flash from very far away and end up with everything just black. It's why I usually use Av or Tv instead of P when I'm using flash - so the background is properly exposed. I can't believe I didn't think of that. I only remember not to do it, but didn't think to purposely do it.


I'll have to try these suggestions out today. Thanks for being so helpful, everyone!