# Sexy Yoko.... how to background?



## DGMPhotography (Nov 12, 2015)

Hey, so I met this really great cosplayer at Nekocon this past weekend and it's a nice shot lighting wise, but backgrounds almost always suck at conventions. So I've messed around with a few different options and I've got this one so far.

Thoughts? Things to improve/change?




I think my shadow angle is a bit off.. and the colors are a bit off..

Honestly... I'm not that happy with this. But I really needed to start somewhere, and could use some direction. 

Thanks!


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## FITBMX (Nov 12, 2015)

She needs to be blended into the background more, she looks to separate from it. But she looks great! 
You are right, she is well lit.


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## Braineack (Nov 13, 2015)

DGMPhotography said:


> Honestly... I'm not that happy with this. But I really needed to start somewhere, and could use some direction.
> 
> Thanks!




Go to Byrd Park today around 4:00-4:30pm with the model.

Stand her between you and the sun.

Meter you camera for the ambient, then drop it one stop.

Add a light to the front of the model so it meters the same as the ambient.

Take pictures when sun starts beaming onto subject's back.

????

Profit.


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## ronlane (Nov 13, 2015)

Your background is WAY too green. If she were shot in that environment, the green would have reflected on the skin. (As FITBMX said, they don't blend well).


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## DGMPhotography (Nov 13, 2015)

ronlane said:


> Your background is WAY too green. If she were shot in that environment, the green would have reflected on the skin. (As FITBMX said, they don't blend well).



Yeah, I tried changing the color tone of the model, but it looked gross.

Braineack, that's what I would prefer to do. Unfortunately, a lot of these congoers can't do shoots if they're not at the convention. She's from North Carolina, so logistically that could be difficult, but I did tell her I wanted to do a shoot sometime. 

For this one, I just need to find a better background I suppose...


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## ronlane (Nov 13, 2015)

I would agree. Adding green to her skin tone would look gross. Try finding a warmer toned background so that you can warm her skin up and it look okay.


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## FITBMX (Nov 13, 2015)

Start walking and driving around until you find a scene that would make a good background, go back when the light is right and get the background shot just for this.
You maybe able to get something that will be easier to blend.


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## SoulfulRecover (Nov 13, 2015)

just needs to be feathered. cant say anything about the color temps from my work computer. One Monitor is blue and the other green hahaha


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## Derrel (Nov 13, 2015)

My thought would be that the background in this case is simply too eye-catching, too strong, too dramatic...looooong shadows that cut across the frame and steal from her. Strong, low, late afternoon sunlight, yet she is lighted with diffused, modified artificial lighting...there's simply a fundamental disconnect here. 

The background that will be pasted in needs to be simple, and out of focus! Again...the background needs to be out of focus. Go outside on a cloudy day and shoot some out of focus shots, with the lens set wide-open and the focus fairly close, like say 8 feet, but shoot stuff that's 40 feet away....make some ready-made OOF backdrops. 

Or shoot some close-ups of some of the walls in your home, wayyyyyy out of focus, and use those. Just get a simple, OOF backdrop and make the composite that way.


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## runnah (Nov 13, 2015)

That looks nothing like Yoko Ono.


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## FITBMX (Nov 13, 2015)

Also if you are shooting a new background, put a tripod (or whatever is around) where you would want her standing if she was there, and focus on that. Then once it is in PS you can just place her where the tripod is, so the focus should look really natural. I think it should at least!


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## DGMPhotography (Nov 22, 2015)

Thanks for the advice guys! I ended up just doing a bunch of work on the original background. See below.


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## Designer (Nov 22, 2015)

Actually, this second try is not too bad.  At least the lighting is ambivalent enough that it is plausible.  

The model is in more light than the background, so maybe just dial back on the model light a bit.


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## cauzimme (Nov 22, 2015)

It's still look wrong to me, is the original background that bad ???


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## Derrel (Nov 22, 2015)

Major improvement from the original.


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## DGMPhotography (Nov 24, 2015)

cauzimme said:


> It's still look wrong to me, is the original background that bad ???



Uh, I didn't change the background that much... lol. 

Just cloned out some things. See below for the original.


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## jcdeboever (Nov 24, 2015)

Oh my... Nice

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk


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## cauzimme (Nov 24, 2015)

Take the rug out, and the fire extinguisher like you did, but add less contrast, I think it's gonna work better.


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## dxqcanada (Nov 24, 2015)

You need something more apocalyptic.


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## kundalini (Nov 24, 2015)

FITBMX said:


> She needs to be blended into the background more, she looks to separate from it. But she looks great!
> You are right, she is well lit.


And all this time I thought the whole idea behind portraits was to have the subject separated from the background, you know, so they would stand out, be the dominant subject.  Why, oh why, did I spend all that money for fast glass with such large apertures?


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## cauzimme (Nov 24, 2015)

My opinion is that sometime, less is more. Especially in Cosplay, with their funky outfit, costume, you don't need a wow background, you just need to put the emphazis on the subject, Let her blend in the environment a bit more, less contrast on the background, her outfit is enought, especially her under boobs to captivate me.


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## FITBMX (Nov 24, 2015)

kundalini said:


> FITBMX said:
> 
> 
> > She needs to be blended into the background more, she looks to separate from it. But she looks great!
> ...



You know what I mean you little jerk!


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## kundalini (Nov 24, 2015)

FITBMX said:


> kundalini said:
> 
> 
> > FITBMX said:
> ...


Not really, other than contradicting what I have learned over the years.  I'm not a slave to fads, but am always willing to learn.

And by "little jerk", I assume you are speaking of the time you spend alone.


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## FITBMX (Nov 24, 2015)

kundalini said:


> FITBMX said:
> 
> 
> > kundalini said:
> ...



You know what I meant!


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## DGMPhotography (Nov 25, 2015)

Well my edit I think at least made the background less distracting..


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