Alternative to black background

[smokinjoe1952]

I was tired of using kitchen cabinets as backgrounds for my orchid shots. I am not crazy about pure black either.

A trip outside revealed many scenes that could be used as a background if you shoot it WAY out of focus. I tried several things, brought my pick into post editing, blurred it even further, and reduced the saturation a bit. I have posted the original shot, the edited photo that was printed on a Canon PRO-100 using 13x19 semi-gloss paper, and a shot of my Plutos Drummer 'Pacific Pink" with the printed background.

You don't have to worry about stopping your lens down, because the background is always out of focus.

Just make sure you don't have a lot of color or contrast in your final background picture. My first try had both things wrong, and it really detracts from the flower itself.

For what it's worth.

Joe

[fishmom]

I like the way the color of the background is a soft "echo" of the bloom.

[Paphluvr]

Are you really going to take your plants outside in Iowa in January so you can have a nice background? I think I'll stick with black indoors. I do find that other dark colors can work as well.

[smokinjoe1952]

I did not take any orchids outside for this shot. Please re-read my post.

Joe

[Ray]

I prefer black velvet, because it "eats" shadows, and doesn't mess at all with the camera sensor's color balance.

[Leafmite]

I always prefer to have other plants in the background to make the setting more natural. In my opinion, there is nothing better than plants!