Afer a lot of light tests, some format pondering and experimentation, I am now at the point where I need to choose a background style. This is not as easy as you may think. Choosing a background is tough enough, choosing whether you even want one or not is harder.

This is a question of style.

Doing my usual deep dive into the subject, and not for the first time, I have become a little numb to the whole thing. Lots of models, lots of ideas, nothing that really grabs me. The biggest question I guess is, do I really want to be this photographer?

The studio has been great, scratched an itch that was a long time needing to be scratched, but realistically it was a practical move to help me experiment with my environmental portrait and work processes, not a passion in its own right. I love portraiture, but I am not sure I love this type of portraiture, nor will I chase the subject matter that will make it worth while. Maybe for the odd project, probably for work, but video and other stills projects are more distracting.

Like a lot of things in my life at the moment, I need to “be across” this, but I have to resist getting carried away, as it is not needed at a higher level. It is however, good to master the basics, because like all things, skills bleed into each other. I feel it needs to be done professionally , but efficiently. This is not an area that will take well to a poor-mans implementation, as the crasks will show, so a simple, repeatable, classy look, with no gimmicks, no junk level gear or short term styles.

Textured.

This is the knee-jerk ground zero. All (most) portrait photographers start here and there are lots of options. I have a Kate grey graduated texture that has been (literally) hanging around for a few years waiting to be used and it is versatile if a little heavy on the gradation, but it can be quite effective especially with a little Capture 1 masked brushing.

The base grey first, then some density control, then changed colour using colour temp and a little manipulation from there (apologies to my wife for the poor image). These were all achieved with the brush tool and its mask, white balance controls and a little saturation adjustment. The pure black needs some work, but the others are quite natural. I especially like the more muted and darker ones.

I only really like a couple of these as they all feel a little heavy handed, but for examples they were easy enough, each taking only a few seconds after the initial brush and mask.

It is also easy to change the background density, simply based on light placement. Black and white are only a small step further away.

I already have this Kate one and may look at a few more for $50au, just for the different textures. They are hard to get wrinkles out of for free hanging, but with clamps, tighten up well.

My only real issue with textured is the distracting way it shares the space with the subject.

Texture does look good, but is that at the expense of maximum focus on the main reason you are here, the human subject? I have seen countless examples of beautiful people in front of these lovely (or sometimes not so lovely) textured drops, but tend to prefer the less process dominated ones of people and I have noticed, the top end ones are usually less textured looking. The Oliphant drops used by Leibovitz etc are nearly texturally smoothed out to being non-textured, just hinting at texture like an antique wall or tapestry, which is why they cost so much.

I think I actually prefer a plain backdrop, one that compliments the person, their clothing and their story, rather than a textured one that shares the composition, sometimes dominating it. This is based also on my preferrence for a dark, almost black shade with just a hint of colour showing through.

Basic black.

This is a project or subject specific style and one that I love and can implement any time, anywhere. It is basically backdrop agnostic (irrelevant even), but can be over used. I see no need to buy a black backdrop, so this would be using any one I have with lighting control.

Clean white.

White, with colour manipulation using gels, RGB LED’s or post processing (see above). With lighting, white is cleaner and more briliant.

Neutral grey.

Less brilliant than white, so less responsive to gels and LED’s, a grey will produce a good deep colour base and will post-process well, again as above. This is probably my best option. It is also possible to add texture to these, with the grey as a consistent base, so I could shoot now and process to taste later.

Westcott make a 5x7 grey/green and a solid grey for their X-drop system, that are both high quality and well priced as well as offering a Glyn Dewis textured grey for the X-Drop system (the whole lot coming in at about the cost of a Lastolite collapsible).

One of my favourite Rory Lewis images is of an Italian Army officer in her Khaki uniform. He used a grey background, that looks slightly olive in the shot, matching her uniform and complexion perfectly. It would be easy enough to use a solid grey and subtly shift it to a different colour with the above tools.

Another option with any of the plain backdrops is to shoot uneven light at them, using shadows, even light streak textures to break up their flatness.

The environment.

Here is where things get fun. I had settled on the square format for some of my portraits, as I feel this is the most interesting and the least demanding compositionally. I love the democratic square. It can be a little limiting for larger subjects and busy compositions as it shrinks things, but otherwise it is just right.

So, what if I composed a portrait like a movie set in wide screen, with supporting elements shaping the subjects environment? This would mean backdrops as we know them are irrelevant.

This plays into a couple of interesting areas for me. Cinematigraphy is my current crush, even more so than portraiture, which is more of a preparation thing, and the dressing of a scene can be reliant on constant lights as well as flash, again a strong area at the moment.

So, where are we now?

I can use any plain wall for a black or near black background or any other colour using lights or post, my Kate textured for the same and my environment blurred out or used as a stage, all based on context and subject.

I don’t feel I will over do backdrops. They are great for some, but just have not clicked with me yet. I think lighting will be more useful, so more tests, hypotheticals and out of the box thinking, but I may pick up a cheap Neewer grey/blue 5x7 or the Westcott in the same so I have a guaranteed wrinkle free option and maybe another Kate in a less overtly textured pattern. The Chroma-key may also be useful for video.