Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Invisible Black Backdrop

One of my favorite past times is to play on Twitter. I could sit for hours and hours following the maze through websites, blogs, and facebook pages of a gazillion wonderful and creative people. I don't follow anyone that posts their play by play activities. However, I do follow some of the most creative and professional people from all over the world. I follow people from my cousin, Ryan to folks in Delhi, India and the UK.

Now, the UK brings me to a photographer I follow named Glyn Dewis. Glyn lives in Buckinghamshire, UK and he was one of the first photographers I followed. Somehow I saw a photo he had taken from his morning walk. It was an image of where he was walking and it was dark and cloudy and wonderful. I thought to myself how amazing it was to peek into another part of the world at such a quiet moment. I was hooked when I saw his work and his blog. Glyn's site is on my list of pages to check everyday.

Clearly a teacher at heart, Glyn Dewis posts many tutorials, how to's, and how I did's on his blog. After reading his tutorial about The Invisible Black Backdrop, I was truly amazed! Now, I understood this concept in the studio but never realized it could be done out and about in the real world. It made perfect sense and I couldn't wait to put it in my tool bag.

This setup makes it possible to have a studio portrait at any shoot. Thanks Glyn for the new tool and for the constant inspiration from across the big sea.


The set up outside on a rainy day
Kim and Emma.

I have glass walls so we threw a towel over the reflection.
perfect model


Bringing the light down and hanging the towel


And tah-dah, lovely image with lovely light





Kim took this last image and we printed it out on gallery quality paper and it was just fabulous. In about twenty minutes time, she had a beautiful portrait for her portfolio and Emma had a fun time of playing on her plastic house in the back yard.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Kelley,

    I saw your message on Twitter so thought I'd drop by.

    What a wonderful post with some beautiful images, and thank you so much for your kind words; it's great to see the tutorial's being used and with such fantastic results.

    All the very best to you,
    Your friend from across the 'Pond',
    Glyn

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  2. Hey Kelly! Very cool technique. I'd love to talk to you about your experience in 280. Could you e-mail me? smhamada@gmail.com (we had 187 together last semester)

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