Studio photography tip: Completely black background
Thursday 13 March 2025, 13:31 by Elja Trum | 2,985 views | 1 commentThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Creating a completely black background in a studio is not that difficult. Just make sure your subject is far enough away from the background. Light your model, not your background.
With enough distance, even a white background will become pitch black, although it is of course easier to start with a black cloth or background paper.
If your model has black hair or is wearing dark clothing, it can be a good idea to point an extra light at your model from behind as well.
This creates a small rim of light around your model, helping them stand out from the background. A rim light also looks good with lighter hair or clothing.
Can you still see something in the background? With Lightroom or Photoshop, you can often quickly fix this by making anything grey even darker. A black background is always very easy to work with in post-processing too.
About the author
Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.
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1 comment
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Fred Hermans wrote on Wednesday 19 March 2025 at 08:57 | replyPersonally, I often think a model with a black background looks as if the model has been photoshopped in. I often find the contrast between the background and the model too great around the edges. That's why, in my opinion, a little bit of light from behind the model is actually a must for getting beautiful portraits.
Translated from Dutch.
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Elja Trum
Photofacts; everything to do with photography!
Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about PhotofactsPhotofacts is made possible in part by
