background

How to Remove a Background in Photoshop

Using Photoshop to remove the background in an image so that you can replace it is one of the most frequent things for which it was used, and might still be. The actual placing of a new image for a background is relatively easy. The heavy lifting comes from making a good selection of your subject as this will be used to remove the unwanted background for replacement.

How to Make a Simple DIY Background for Food Photography

I have made many DIY backgrounds for my photography. Honestly, too many. It gets really addictive. If you have been thinking of creating some for yourself or how you can improve your photography collection for very little money, these tips on creating your own DIY background are going to be super helpful.

To Shoot Great Portraits, Learn To Control The Background

If you don’t control the background, you’re not controlling your image. In this video and article, I'll share 7 different ways to control your background and give you better images. These are simple techniques to master to improve your photography.

Creating Homemade Photography Backdrops on the Cheap

Anyone who has had any exposure to still life photography or studio work will know just how expensive backdrops can be. I have a couple from Kate Backdrops company, one of which I use very often, but I've been hankering after a few more.

How to Make a DIY Mottled Backdrop for Just $30

For those of us born in the 1970s and 80s, this new phenomenon of mottled, cloudy backdrops appearing in modern portraits is an odd one. You see, back when we were kids, we had horrendously cheesy family and school portraits taken in front of these bizarrely arranged patterns, so to us, it’s pretty weird to see these painted, cloudy backdrops now grace the covers of Vogue and Tatler.

Do a Background Check When Shooting a Wildlife Photo

When photographing wildlife -- much like hiring a new employee or going on a date with someone you met online -- it's essential to do a background check. What is behind the animal that you're photographing?

Revisiting ‘The Americans’, Robert Frank’s Influential Photo Book

In this post, we're going to revisit The Americans by Robert Frank. This influential photography book, first published in France in 1958, appears highly relevant today with the United States divided in so many ways. However, the odds are that these honest, and often sad images, have always been relevant.

Why Zooming with Your Feet is NOT the Same as Zooming with a Lens

You've probably heard it a million times: "zoom with your feet!" This advice comes up almost any time the prime vs zoom lens debate resurfaces, but as anyone with even basic lens knowledge will tell you, zooming with your feet is NOT the same as zooming with your lens.

Tiles Are a Product Photographer’s Best Friend

As a product photographer, I've always had a problem with finding what to use as a background. Even more so when I need to go to my client to shoot their products.

Before, I was limited to shooting on a black granite tile. Then I added some do-it-yourself wood planks into my props collection, but carrying the wood planks was a big problem, as they were too heavy and I could only limit myself to about 2 wood planks per shoot.

How to Make a DIY Studio Portrait Backdrop for $46

Many moons ago I was enrolled in a class on portraiture by Don Giannatti that studied and sought inspiration from the greats in photographic portraiture. The final artist studied was William Coupon. Coupon is known for his formal painterly backdrop portraits. Being the dutiful student I turned my assignment in post haste, or rather several months late. Either way, I learned that creating a painted backdrop had to be neither difficult nor costly.

You Can Use a Flat Screen TV as a Cheap and Simple Backdrop for Product Photos

As my startup gear brand Eupidere grows, we face more and more photographic challenges in shooting thrifty product photos. Recently, I had just minutes to come up with an image that is a) eye catching, and b) Christmas related. There are lots of Christmas decorations around right now and the little guy above, wearing striped pajamas, is one of them. We decided to put him into a winter scenery and wish everyone Merry Christmas.

Achieving Black Backgrounds in Macro Photos

One of the most important aspects of fine art macro photography is capturing a non-distracting background so your subject stands out. I tend to like clean and colorful backgrounds, but there are situations where dark backgrounds may be desirable. This article will showcase one method of how to capture black backgrounds in macro photography. We’ll take a look at using flash falloff.

A Getty Images Photo and an HP Laptop Wallpaper

If you sell your photography as stock shots with royalty free licenses through services such as Getty Images, you need to be okay with buyers using the images in ways that seem disproportionate to the meager price they paid. That's a lesson Turkish photographer Murat Koc learned this past week after discovering his photo used as a wallpaper on a newly launched laptop.