The right color for basic home studio portrait


akagi07

Senior Member
Apr 6, 2006
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Hi guys, as per topic. Usually what is a good basic color to start with?

I sold off a chroma green. Find it unsuitable.
White seems hard to maintain since cloth turn yellowish.
Grey vs black?
 

White, black for me.
Grey can always be 'manipulated' by controlling exposure
 

White, black for me.
Grey can always be 'manipulated' by controlling exposure

yup, i read that grey can made white or made black by exposure.. isnt this better, 1 stone 2 birds
 

yup, i read that grey can made white or made black by exposure.. isnt this better, 1 stone 2 birds
it is not so simple, you need to able to light the background and your subject separately.

just go for neutral tone, they are more versatile.
 

Erm catchlights I suppose ur neutral tone means white or black right?
In my case mean black is e best choice den.
 

yup, i read that grey can made white or made black by exposure.. isnt this better, 1 stone 2 birds

Most useful background is white. If there is only one background you can buy, buy white. If can buy another one, get a black one.

Why white? By using distance of subject and flash to background, you can make a white background grey. You can also do high key by lighting up the background. If you need colors, you can use gels and fill a white background with color.

Chroma green is only useful if you intend to do CGI or merging.
 

Last edited:
akagi07 said:
yup, i read that grey can made white or made black by exposure.. isnt this better, 1 stone 2 birds

Not exactly...white can be turned into different shades of grey or black...but grey can't be turned into white, only black.

I will say white is most versatile if you really just need one.

As catchlights mentioned you need another separation light if you are using white to create black /grey background as shadows may bleed into the "background"
 

if you want to get colors from neutral tone background by gel-ing the background lights, it is better to use gray or black color background to start with,
if using white color background instead, you can only get pastel tone colors, will not be solid colors.

to make white color b/g into jet black, you need to place your white background far far far far far far away from your subject and shield the key light falls on the background, I don't think any home studio have that kind of luxury of space, unless you are shooting small figurines and not placing it on the background itself.


chroma key background is for you to shoot your subject with the ideal of replacing background in the post, it is not design to use it as a background on it own.
 

Yup tts y I sold the green after learning all e factors. Ya I do not have e space so was thinking hard to get either white or a black. My worry is white muslin turning yellowish or dirty under e road of usage.

Now advice from u (catchlights) make more sense n sent me leaning towards e white.. I do find black may b too limited for me though I read black can create more dramatic looks
 

Yup tts y I sold the green after learning all e factors. Ya I do not have e space so was thinking hard to get either white or a black. My worry is white muslin turning yellowish or dirty under e road of usage.

Now advice from u (catchlights) make more sense n sent me leaning towards e white.. I do find black may b too limited for me though I read black can create more dramatic looks

Thing is backgrounds are really not that expensive. You can buy more muslin backgrounds and just hang or clip those up. Also get a piece of black velvet, if you really want real real black bg.
 

if u have a white wall at home and don mind using your floor tiles as part of the image
u can just get a black one

for me, black / white / brown
 

Ok roger. ;)