How to make a black and white background correctly in Photoshop
Most often people and various items photographed on a white background. Outdoor photography is also popular. Photographing against a black background is much less common. The explanation for this lies in the high cost of such shooting. Only successful photo studios can afford to purchase proper lighting and black decorations. But we can also send this or that object to a black background. To do this, you only need Adobe Photoshop.
Photoshop: black and white background
Let's imagine that we photographed a pair of apples against a white background. This is very easy to do, just buy a large sheet of paper (whatman paper is ideal) and a couple of table lamps of decent power. If we need a black background, then everything is much more complicated. When using flash, any dark surface will not be as black as we would like. That is why it is better to use a graphic editor by virtually changing white background to black.
After opening the image in Photoshop, take a look at the Layers panel. If it is not open, then press the F7 key or look at the “Window” menu. In the “Layers” panel, click the “Create New Layer” button. In our case, it will serve as a black background. This is exactly how Photoshop works. 
Now press the D key. This will reset the drawing colors to the default ones. This means that the background color (eraser) will be white, and the main color will be black. The layer you created should now be active (selected in the Layers palette). Select the Move Tool and press Alt+Backspace. This will instantly fill the entire layer with black.
Make a black background in Photoshop
However, we don’t need the Malevich square; we need to make a black background in Photoshop. Double-click the Background layer in the Layers panel. You will be prompted to change the name "Background" to "Layer 0". Take advantage of this offer. This will unlock this layer, which will allow you to perform any actions with it. 
Drag this layer over the one filled with black. Don't forget to select it and make it active. Now it all depends on your skills and type of photography. You can use different tools to select a particular object (in our case, apples). For beginners, we can recommend the Quick Selection tool. But it should only be used on pictures that are similar to our example. In the case of a non-uniform background, some problems may arise. If photographed against a white background simplest object, then no one bothers you to use the tool " Wand" It allows you to select an item in one click.
The Magnetic Lasso will help you cope with more complex objects. This tool is designed to select an object along its outline. Whatever tool you choose, the result will be the same, the item you need will be highlighted. All that remains is to make the background black. In Photoshop, to do this, you first need to specify what exactly is considered the background. 
When the object is selected, press the key combination Ctrl+Shift+I. Or follow the path “Selection-Invert Selection”. After this, you will have everything selected except the object itself. Next steps understandable even to a novice Photoshop user. We need to delete the area we have selected, which requires pressing the Delete key. Or Backspace, if that's more convenient for you. 
Most of the work is done. Follow the path “Select-Deselect”. Without any doubt, you will notice some roughness at the edges of the object. You could even say that the result was a black and white background in Photoshop. An eraser will help you remove white areas; you just need to choose the right size and hardness.
To achieve the perfect result, use the Blur tool. Select the correct brush diameter and follow the outline of the object. This will significantly soften the contrast at the edges. Then all that remains is to merge the layers (Ctrl+Shift+E) and save the image in the format you need. 
This is the picture we ended up with. At first, all these steps may seem too long to you. But really longest time takes up selection. When you learn to commit this action quickly, then achieving a black background will not be difficult.
This article is intended for those who want to get a high-quality background in portrait photography without having a professional camera and.
Necessary:
- pair new methods adopted
You can quickly adapt to different lighting and composition, but keep in mind that most of the techniques below work best with one or two subjects. As their numbers increase, you will have to adapt again. Although... this is the very essence of the work of a portrait photographer, isn’t it?
Anything that distracts attention - cut it out!
How many times have you looked around your subject and been unhappy with the surroundings? The reason for this could be an untidy home interior, an unremarkable courtyard, or an unsuccessfully chosen color of the walls in the room. At first glance, many photography locations are quite boring, but there is always room to improve them. Think about what your camera "sees".
Try changing the viewfinder position, looking higher or lower, further or closer, straight or at an angle. Analyze what is displayed in the viewfinder and how the picture changes. You can get rid of background distractions by “trimming” them (by covering them with something or completely removing them from the composition). This will help you get the shot you want.
The photo above clearly demonstrates how the photographer removed the image of the parent in a portrait of a child. The dark purple sweater is similar in color and, of course, helped to ensure that all the viewer’s attention was concentrated on the baby. Lighting in in this case not direct. Light falls from the window. A fixed 85mm lens, aperture 1.8, should be designed for fast shooting to avoid blur from natural camera shake.
Look up or down
In most situations, if you look at your subject from above or below, you can find a great background. You can sit on the ground, kneel, or squat. It would even be appropriate to climb a tree, stand on a chair or bench. This way you can use the sky or tree foliage as a great background. This will help greatly expand your horizons in photography and get interesting effect.
Blur the background
The technique enhances the expressiveness of the subject in the foreground, making the photo immediately more artistic. This effect can be achieved by changing the aperture or focal length. The wider the aperture is opened, the more details in the background are blurred.
If there is only one photographic subject, then you can photograph it at f/1.8 or f/2, getting a nice background. The same effect is achieved when using long focal length lenses. Walls, ground and other background elements will lose their sharpness when the background is blurred, and in such a portrait the model in front will be clearly highlighted.
Replace exposure
You might be surprised to learn that you can make the background completely black or white by changing the exposure. This is a cool trick. And no one will be able to guess that you didn’t use a professional background to complete it.
The fact is that the camera can only capture a limited range of light. Start with the light falling on your subject and compare it to the amount of light falling on the background. If the difference is too large, the image will be too white or black. When the background is in the shadows, little light will be reflected back into the camera.
If it is light and bright, then a lot of light will enter the camera, and the background will turn out white. Remember to measure exposure based on your subject, not the background, and everything will work out...
Use more available backgrounds
This method builds on the previous one. When you don't have a large enough exposure gap between the subject and the background, you can cheat by using dark or light elements of the composition as the background. They will either absorb excess light, protecting the lens from excessively bright reflection, or vice versa - amplify too much low lighting. At the same time, you can easily get the desired effect.
Look around - most often light or dark walls are chosen as a good background. A white background and a black velvet dress go well. If you use a white or black T-shirt as a backdrop against which to photograph your child, you may end up with excellent result.
Increase the distance between your subject and background
Another simple one, but effective way- increase the distance between the subject of photography and the background. Firstly, it increases the blurriness of the background, as noted earlier, and secondly, it increases the likelihood that the background will be white or black, according to the previous two points. This way, you can add depth to the portrait you are creating, which will make the image more interesting to visual perception.
Use dappled or washed out light
If there are in the background sunspots or blurred highlights, this can make it pleasant and interesting to look at. Disaster strikes when spotted sunlight falls on the model's face. Sometimes this technique can be used wisely, intentionally achieving an interesting effect. If you approach the issue carefully, it is worth trying to use bright sunlight breaking through the trees. This often helps to take amazing pictures.
Stream of light
Many of you, when learning the art of photography, learned that glare in photographs is the result of poor compositional technique and often photographers avoid them in their work. But sometimes, especially in portrait and wedding photography, highlights can be used intentionally. This will add flavor to a photo with a boring background or hide something that is distracting the viewer's attention from the center of the composition. In this case, it is more convenient to work with inexpensive lenses, because their expensive counterparts are designed to reduce the likelihood of light artifacts.
To get a shot with highlights, position yourself so that the sun is on the side of the frame. Never point the lens directly at it, as this may damage your vision. Use inexpensive lenses and it will give you larger number light spots.
Learn to use eye color intensifiers
Enhancing the shade of the eyes has always been considered an excellent technique in portrait photography. You can highlight your look using different backgrounds. A little experiment and you will know exactly how to turn your model so that her eyes shine and become brighter.
Don't be afraid to experiment
And let the photographs recognized masters help you get inspired! By imitating at the very beginning the master whose photographs you like, you can get an interesting effect on your very first image, and understand and realize the nature of the work of light only after a few months hard work.
Try experimenting with black backgrounds and natural lighting. If you're indoors, find a window and position your subject so that the light hits your face from the side. Straight lines should be avoided sun rays, bright light must fall in front of the object.
Remember a little trick. All people look more expressive against a black background. If you are photographing a child, take a portrait with an adult who is wearing dark clothes, you will see how much more expressive the baby will look in your photo.
Anyone who occasionally does photomontage and photo editing in Photoshop knows how important it is for a Photoshop user to have an established skill in cutting out certain objects from the background, as well as replacing the previous image background with any other. Different backgrounds are suitable for different purposes, and sometimes you want to see how your image will look against a plain black background. Placing a drawing or human figure on a simple black background in Photoshop is very easy and requires just a few steps.
Instructions
And also about .
Of course, in a graphics editor, if the photographer has the necessary skills, you can transplant the object onto any background. The question is how long will it take. If, when shooting, it is possible to get this or that background or effect on the background, it is better to do this than to waste time on post-processing.
If with a white background everything is clear and logical - in order to get a white background when shooting, you need to illuminate it more strongly than the object, then getting a black background when shooting is associated with the inverse problem.
Briefly, the principle of obtaining a black (or close to black) background can be formulated as follows: in order for the background to become black, it is necessary that the subject being photographed is exposed normally, and the background is underexposed in such a way as not to be recorded on the sensor (or other light-sensitive material). Simply put, you need to light the subject, but not the background.
So, I took a picture of this bottle first in natural light, in a regular room in my apartment. The bottle stands on black acrylic, and the background is light wallpaper on the wall, it just didn’t fall into the depth of field. That is, I don’t have a black background.
Now, actually, the procedure:
You need to determine the exposure at which the background will turn black. To do this, set mode M, shutter speed equal to the sync speed (usually 1/200 - 1/250 sec), ISO to minimum, then select the aperture to completely cut off natural light. I got an aperture of f/11, with some margin. So, my camera parameters were as follows: ISO 100, f/11, 1/200 s. With these values I am guaranteed to get a black background.
Next, you need to select the flash power so as to properly expose the subject. I should note that this method is not suitable for shooting with the built-in flash or an external flash installed on the camera.
I used simple diagram lighting with one source. On the left is a softbox, the light source of which is a Canon 580 EX II flash, controlled using a radio synchronizer. It is very important to place the softbox as close to the subject as possible, so as not to unnecessarily increase the flash power, and most importantly, to reduce the intensity of light reflected from the walls onto the background.
Now another very important point: The distance between the background and the object must be significantly greater than the distance between the object and the light source! The principle is simple - the inverse square law. If you don't know, please use the site search. My distance from the softbox to the bottle was approximately 30 cm, and from the bottle to the background (wall) - 2.5 meters. Here's a little exercise for your brain: calculate what the difference in illumination will be between the object and the background?
And finally, to completely eliminate the possibility of light directly from the softbox hitting the background, I placed a black flag next to the softbox. A screen, to put it simply. Now I can be sure that when shooting I will get a black background or as close to black as possible.
It’s easier, of course, to get a black background using pulsed light sources, but this is also possible with constant light. It is advisable to work in a darkened room and carefully control the spread of light.
The main principle is that light should only be where it is needed. If we need a black background, we cut off the light from it. As a result, any background turns black.
Hi all. Today I would like to briefly tell you how to make a dark background on YouTube so as not to spoil your vision at night when watching videos on your favorite video hosting site, and also reduce the energy consumption of your battery if you are using a laptop. It’s not for nothing that this feature is called night modes. The eye strains much less when looking at dark colors in the dark. Therefore, it is important that when the lights are off, you always try to work in this mode.
Initially, YouTube did not have such an opportunity, so the person did not even have any choice. Over time this opportunity became available only in hidden mode. To do this it was necessary to register special code in the console, which is located in the web developer panel.
But with the advent of the new interface, the ability to set a black background became available to everyone. All you need to do to do this is click on your account icon and select “Night mode” from the menu.
After this, a small window will appear in which you will need to move the slider from “Off” to “On”. After this, you will see that the entire theme has turned black. Now you can work without straining your eyes. Well, to return everything to the way it was, repeat this combination, just move the slider back.
Activating black background using extension
With the release of a built-in method for activating night mode, many began to refuse extensions. But many users still remain faithful to them, since to change the style you only need to press one button. Let's look at the example of the Google Chrome browser.
After this, your background will instantly turn black and you won’t need to go anywhere else. And if you suddenly want to return everything to its place, then just click on this button to turn off the dark theme.
Turning off the lights
There is another cool extension that does not paint the background black, as was the case in previous versions, but which darkens it, as if turning off the light. This is also quite a useful thing that will not only relax your eyes but will also save your laptop battery.
To do this, go back to the extension store and search for turn off the lights, then install it.
And now, when you watch videos on YouTube, you can click on a special button in the extensions panel at any time to darken the background.
Is it possible to make a black YouTube background on an Android phone?
Unfortunately, neither in the official client nor in the web version of YouTube mobile browser There is simply no such possibility. Of course, there are characters who offer to download some plugin files and install them directly on the phone, but personally I would not recommend doing this. God knows what these plugins are, who invented them and how they work. Moreover, there are even adequate instructions other than links to download files.
The only way out of this situation is to install the application from Google Play « Youtube gaming". This is the same YouTube, only aimed at to a greater extent for game content. No, you can find any content there, even content that does not concern games, but still, because of this focus, it becomes more difficult to find something non-game.
If you want, you can install it for yourself and check it out. If you are satisfied with this solution for watching YouTube videos on a dark background from an Android phone, then go ahead. No one will judge you.
As you can see, there are a lot of ways to make a dark background on YouTube, and I haven’t written all the extensions yet. In principle, I think that everything is clear. If you want, you can check everything for yourself.
Well, this is where I end my story. I hope you liked it. Therefore, be sure to subscribe to my blog notifications, and also join the public in social networks to stay up to date with current events and new articles. I look forward to seeing you again on my website. Good luck to you. Bye bye!
Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.
