Getting a black background in underwater macro photography can create a very pleasing image. Many distracting elements are removed, drawing full focus to the colorful critter. Black backgrounds are not difficult to create, but do take a fair amount of practice to master whether shooting on a compact, mirrorless or DSLR camera. One of the omnipresent challenges for photographers of all levels is the elimination of backscatter.
The principals behind creating black backgrounds are to shoot with open water behind the subject and to precisely control light falloff from the strobes or video lights. These principals are explored in the tutorial below. We’ll be adding more black background tutorials in the very near future.
Black Backgrounds – A Tutorial
(More tutorials on black backgrounds coming soon!)
If there’s something you want to learn about creating underwater black photo backgrounds, email me at brent@uwphotographyguide.com and we’ll get an article up on the site. Enjoy!
