Illumination Strategy Background

Background light. The background will in general be dark unless it is illuminated separately. The main lights will provide some background illumination but birds and flowers in the field of view will create shadows in the background. Backgrounds can be natural, or poster boards, or black if the background is far enough away. If you go out in the garden and take a blurry photo, and then print this perhaps 20in x 30in, this can serve as background to illuminate with dedicated flashes. A natural looking poster board background is not as easy to achieve as you might imagine. You blur the image when you shoot the background photo and it is again blurred in your hummingbird photo. So, include more detail in the original photo than would seem necessary. I struggled to find the best lab and the best paper on which to print. I found that a matte finish works best, but I tried a couple of labs and many mattes until I got it right. The background should complement the bird and the flowers, perhaps contain similar coloring. Remember that the background flashes must also be synchronized with the main lights.

Figure – The background should complement the subject:

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Figure – Background lighting, the High Key. Broadbilled Hummingbird, autumn sage (salvia greggii), Madera Cyn, AZ

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