So, I’m watching DC@Brooks – again; and I pick up just a little bit more.

Blowthrough on the background. i.e. in essence you don’t want your background to be brighter than 2 stops above 18% Grey, reflective… or in other words, no brighter tan 2 stops above the diffused value of your subject… I think I’ve got that right…

so, shooting at f/8 then the background should read no brighter than f/16-reflective; f/5,6 -> then f/11 reflective on the background; f/16 -> then f/32 reflective on the background; etc.

Photographic White and Black
Photographic White is 2 1/3 stops above 18%;
Photographic Black is 4 1/3 stops below 18%…

18% being the middle point.

Photographic Black is 4 & 2/3’s … Lithographic Black (for Magazines), however, is 2 & 1/3 … stops below 18% grey. (Reflective)

I want it darker…. “you’ll get it when its reproduced,” because web-press printing increases contrast by 10-15%

Thats Reflective, NOT Incident…

The standard of measure in Photography is?
What is our (photographic) 1 part? => 18%, i.e. changes by 1 stop…

With this we can measure and effect predictable changes.

If a Subject Incident Reading is f/16 THEN the background needs to be measured REFLECTIVE as f/8 for a photographic (reproducibly Lithographic Magazine) Black… etc.

Shooting with two layers of black, cotton tulle (available from Florists) over the lens, to cut base contrast by approx. 10% …
it helps to manage post-production web-press reproduction of the image, which tends to enhance contrast by 10-15%

Catalog Photography: What needs to be consistent? Colour – i.e. The diffused value of the product. Shadows and Specular is used to identify shape and texture – those are going to be (colour) incorrect, But, what needs to be correct is the base diffused value.

Other
Eggshell Crate paint it black, cut it to size and put it on your soft boxes. Will keep the light on the subject but isolate the background by 2 -5 stops… USE IT its good!

How to get your backgrounds to all have the same consistency and brightness relative to the subject?
Light your subject relative to the brightness of the background such that you maintain the same lighting ratio.
i.e. if in the first shot, your background is 1 stop brighter than your subject? then in every subsequent shot, light your subject to be 1 stop duller than your background, however, you still need to expose for the true base diffused value of your subject.

Lastly, What exposure is it? “Its f/Good…”

For today, that’s what’s in my
Line of Sight.