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Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Lesson 48 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Lesson 48 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

photo & video

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Lesson Info

48. Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

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Next Lesson: Shoot: Miniature Scene

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Class Trailer

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

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Lesson Info

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

And I think that this is looking pretty much how I want it to look, but we're going to add a couple of things here to this scenario. And this is where things get complicated. Now, if I were just making a dress out of fabric, then I could be like, "Okay, strike a pose." And then she'll be like, you know like whatever you would normally do, obviously, and then we could be done. I could just take the fabric and, like I said, photograph the fabric in different ways. But I want to make this an artistic picture, as I have embarrassingly claimed. And so we're going to do this in several pieces. And I'm going to explain why we're doing this in so many pieces, okay? So one of the reasons is because we've got this fabric and it, it could go with the rest of the scene. The candles and the veil that we're going to bring in, but I want you to imagine that we've got this fabric here and I'm gonna put this over your head eventually. And if we've got the fabric and the dress all moving all over the pl...

ace, what if I don't like the veil in one shot, but I do like the dress underneath in another shot? I would rather have the pieces of the dress separately, the veil separately, and then try to get it all together. If it works all together, great. If it doesn't, I want each individual piece to be able to add in later. So, I'm going to do this separately. And the first thing I want to do is get our main pose. Which is going to be really simple, cause I just need you to hold some candles and just stare out the window. So it's going to be really easy. So I'll have you just, the candles are all broken and weird. I'm going to have you hold those candles. Perfect. Oh my god, they're so weird. Okay. Just try to hold them together, if you can. You can hold it higher up, if you want, also. Yeah. Okay. And I'm not even lighting them yet, because we're going to try not to catch everything on fire at the moment, so we're going to keep them unlit first. And you can come straight onto me. Good. And then just direct your gaze out the window. Perfect. And I'm going to have you close your eyes even, as long as you don't get dizzy closing your eyes. Some people do and it's really hard to stand still closing your eyes. Great! Got it. Okay. So we've got our main shot, and this is going to be the shot that everything gets built off of. Now, I'm going to add the veil just to see if we can get everything going at once. So this is going to be weird, cause it's like really gross and heavy and odd, but here you go. Aww, you're married. Okay. So this is going to be the next shot that I'm going to get and I'm just letting this fabric come off to the side. And we're gonna just poof that down there. Okay. There we go. And let's have you take your arms out of this, and that way we won't catch anything on fire. Yeah, I like this. Okay, does anyone have a lighter? Thank you. And I'm gonna light these candles and your job is don't catch anything on fire. I should have inspected my candles. And we have hair that's like burning now, and now it's going to stink. Yuck. Come on. I have often lit candles later on in Photoshop, so if that's what you need to do, then that's what you need to do. But I think that is, it's really nice to have it practically done in camera one, because then you don't have to fake anything, but also because it's going to add a little glow to our subject. (laughs) These poor candles. Yeah, that's right. Just get rid of that dinky one and that's perfect. Oh, that's good. Yeah. Okay. We've got this. So let's do one more shot here looking out the window, and can you bring them any closer without catching yourself on fire? Perfect. Okay. Good. Yeah, I like how this is looking. Okay. Fantastic. So we've got, oh, they kind of went apart, yeah. I'm gonna, hold on, let me just kinda (laughs) There we go. Good? Okay. (laughs) These poor candles. Can you hold them a little bit lower for me? Yeah, that's it. That's exactly right. And I'm just focusing on the hands right now. Perfect. Okay. So I'm going to probably use this as my main shot. Just looking at it, seeing how it's going. So let's blow those candles out. Okay, I'm gonna do it. She was like, "I'm not responsible." Yeah, there we go. Okay. I'm gonna take them from you, but now we need to get all of these extra shots. This is gonna be our room. Thank you. (laughs) And so what I want you to do is just take this veil and if you can, just flick it out that way a little bit. You can take one little step over to the side. There we go. That way it doesn't go off onto the white or anything like that because this is transparent. So, we cannot afford to have this on a white or busy background or anything like that. It's okay if I switch my distance a little bit to accommodate this because my focus isn't shifting and the background will not change in this picture, so this will all stay the same. So I can move back to get that fabric. I'm just going to refocus. And whenever you're ready, I'm ready to capture the fabric. Perfect. Good. And let's do one more. Grand! I like it. Okay, well you know what? I love how it's falling behind you. Would you take another step over that way? Yep. I can't use left and right, because I just don't understand things, but perfect. Okay, I love how that was falling on you. So now let's go ahead and remove the veil and in fact, you can even remove the fabric, if you can do that in a decent way. (laughs) Oh, I'll come unclip you as well. Oh good, the clip was the easy part. Okay. I'm like holding it up in case you need a, okay good. So now if you wouldn't mind just assisting me for a second here, I'm going to have you just take this and fling it up that way and bring it back to your body a little bit. So there you go. I usually hold it from a corner, just so that there's more fabric moving outward. Okay. Yep, go that way with it to start. And I'll let you know when. Okay, perfect. Yep, got it. And just keep going. Good. And I'm just going to get a bunch of images here. That was a good one. Okay. Okay, and now out toward me. Oh, that was really good though. Okay. Oh, these are nice. And I actually think the reason is because the fabric is quite heavy, so it's falling really, really well without any wrinkles. And then out to that side, so if you would step a little bit over toward the window. Good. Yep. And it's important that you get it from all angles like this so that the lighting remains consistent. You have to make sure to really move from one side to the next and cover all the ground that you think you're going to need to cover. Great. Okay, we definitely got that. That looks really awesome. So we've got the veil, let's just go through a little check list. We've got the veil, we've got the fabric, we've got our subject, the candles were lit. I think we have everything that we need, so let's move on to our miniature scene.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)

Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)

Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)

Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)

Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)

Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)

Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)

Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)

Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)

Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)

Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)

Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)

Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)

Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)

Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)

Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)

Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)

Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)

Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)

Bonus Materials Guide

Syllabus

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Brooke Shaden

Brooke explores the darkness and light in people, and her work looks at that juxtaposition. As a self-portrait artist, she photographs herself and becomes the characters of dreams inspired by a childhood of intense imagination and fear.

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topics covered in this class

Fine Art Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

April S.

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Angel Ricci

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Ron Landis

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

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Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Lesson Info

48. Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Lessons

Class Introduction

Storytelling & Ideas

Universal Symbols in Stories

Create Interactive Characters

The Story is in The Details

Giving Your Audience Feelings

Guided Daydream Exercise

Elements of Imagery

The Death Scenario

Associations with Objects

Three Writing Exercises

Connection Through Art

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

Layering Inspiration

Creating an Original Narrative

Analyze an Image

Translate Emotion into Images

Finding Parts in Images

Finding Your Target Audience

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

Formatting Your Work

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

Circle of Focus

The Pillars of Branding

Planning Your Photoshoot

Choose Every Element for The Series

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Sketch Your Ideas

Choose Your Gear

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

What Tells a Story in a Series?

Set Design Overview

Color Theory

Lighting for the Scene

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

Locations

Subject Within the Scene

Set Design Arrangement

Fine Art Compositing

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

Checklist for Composite Shooting

Analyze Composite Mistakes

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Shoot: Miniature Scene

Editing Workflow Overview

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

Edit Details of Images

Add Smoke & Texture

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

Self Portrait Test Shoots

Shoot for Edit

Shoot Extra Stock Images

Practice the Shoot

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

Shoot: Vine Image

Shoot: Sand Image

Shoot: End Table Image

Shoot: Bed Image

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

Shoot: Chair Image

Shoot: Mirror Image

Shoot: Moss Image

Shoot: Tree Image

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

Shoot: Feather Image

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion