Different White Backgrounds

I have not been able to get a really white background with the cloth that we got at Jo-Ann Fabrics. So I asked my wife to pick up white poster board from Staples and I ordered white muslin photograph background. Here is a comparison shot using some paint cards from Home Depot. The white poster board seems to give the cleanest, brightest white, but I also like the softer white of the white muslin, I will try to play with both backgrounds in the next couple of days and post some of the results.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...07-23_copy.jpg

What have you guys used for your backgrounds?

I use white matte poster board. I use white muslin as the material the light shines through.

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DH has not built me a lightbox yet (it's on the never-ending list of projects, thank god I married a builder/tinker) but I will be interested in your results for when the time comes! :) Post many pics, for science.

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Originally Posted by Tsanford

I use white matte poster board. I use white muslin as the material the light shines through.

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I was thinking about turning the poster board over and using the backside, I'll pick up another sheet and take a comparison picture with the differnt backgrounds.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aercadia

DH has not built me a lightbox yet (it's on the never-ending list of projects, thank god I married a builder/tinker) but I will be interested in your results for when the time comes! :) Post many pics, for science.

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Will do. Both my wife and I like to build things and tinker, but decided to buy a light kit with soft boxes so that we could adjust for bigger subjects. This is the light kit that we bought:

http://www.amazon.com/Fancierstudio-.../dp/B00507HC9K

This kit also allows us the option of shooting video. If I were interested in only photoraphs, I think I would go with umbrellas and off camera flashes. My sister is getting a kit with a shoot through white umbrella and a silver reflective umbrella for taking pictures of dogs. Her kit is coming with compact flourescent lights, but she might get the off camera flashes in the near future. If she does, I plan on experimenting with her kit too. Just some thoughts about light kits and photographing setups.

I've only use white muslin. My main problem is not having strong enough light, so I set my light tent up against a window in addition to the regular lights I have, and the muslin allows daylight to pass through. I also like that it's soft and I don't have to worry about glare, which is the case with glossier types of poster board, or a sharp line at the edge of the board.


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Here are some more pictures. First up is a picture of my setup. The hair light soft box has 4 full spectrum compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that are 225 watt equivalent and 5500K. Each of the side soft boxes has 5 full spectrum compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that are 300 watt equivalent and 5500K. To try to get a little contrast, I turn on all 5 light bulbs in the left soft box and 3 light bulbs in the right soft box. I use a homemade PVC stand to drape the fabric over and have a piece of acrylic on top of the twin mattress so that there is a hard surface for the snakes to be on.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2015-07-28.jpg

And here are some more pictures with the glossy side of the poster board as the background:

2015 Clutch 2 Female Mystic Sterling
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-20_3.jpg
I really like her pattern and colors.

2014 Female Pastel Leopard Pied
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_7.jpg
Pieds have a great white, so I thought she would be a good test for any background.

2015 Clutch 1 Female Pastave Calico
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-20_3.jpg
Looking forward to see how the colors develop with this girl.

2015 Clutch 4 Female Pastave
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-20_3.jpg
Third year in a row of hatching out this combination and I still love the soft, bright colors.

2013 Clutch 2 Female Orangebelly that changed colors on me (just like her half brother, a 2012 male Orangebelly)
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_5.jpg
I figure a nice, dark snake like this would be a good test for a backgrounds. I really hope that she and her half brother prove to be genetic.

I plan on taking another background comparison picture with the white fabric, the white muslin, the glossy side of poster board, and the matte side of the poster board in the next couple of days. Appreciate the feedback and suggestions.

Those are some really nice pictures. It looks like you have a pretty pro type set up too.

I don't have a setup like that, but one cheap thing I found to use is the lids of the tubs at Walmart for a white background. If you use racks you get them free when you buy the tubs anyway.

I also hope that dark snake proves genetic!

These were all taken when I took the white background comparison picture, I just finally got around to crop them and getting them sized to post. Hopefully I'll find some time this weekend to take some more pictures.

Here is out 2014 Clutch 1 Male Melanistic Pastave. We're hoping to breed him back to his mother and our Super Melanistic female to see if the Melanistic affect is truly genetic, or is it a line bred trait.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-20_2.jpg

Here is a comparison picture. Top left is our Melanistic Mojave, top right is our Mojave het Hypo, and the bottom two are the ones that I think are Mojave Calicos. It's going to take some time to raise up these babies to be sure of the Mojave Calico. I've never seen a Mojave Calico in person, but the Lesser Calicos that I have seen in person take some time to identify by growing into their white spots. Maybe these are just Mojaves and I was excited and misidentified them, or maybe they will prove out to be Mojave Calicos.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...2015-07-20.jpg

Here is the other Color Changing Orangebelly (he is a 2012 male Orangebelly from clutch 6). Hoping he proves genetic!
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_2.jpg

Here is a 2013 female Pastel Orangebelly. She looks great and is growing well.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_5.jpg

Here is a 2013 female Firefly that we picked up at the 2013 November Columbia Repticon. Looking forward to working her into our breeding projects.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_4.jpg

What do you think of the future couple? We plan on having our 2014 male Pastel GHI is go to a couple of ladies this fall, but this is the one pairing I am most excited about. Hoping for a male Super Pastel Mojave GHI het Hypo to hold back. I really want to get GHI into a Mojave Hypo, but have to produce hets first.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_2.jpg

Wanted to see how this 2014 female Super Pastel Calico looked on the white poster board. Shows how yellow she is. Not sure what to breed her to in the future (probably the fall of 2016), but I am excited about the possibilities.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_4.jpg

This the one 2014 female Super Mystic that didn't sell at the shows in November, February, or march. If she keeps eating and growing as well as she is, I think we'll have to hold her back and not let her go.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_3.jpg

Our very own Magic Mike! I caught this 2014 Hypo het Pied just starting to shed. It is always cool how the shed of a Hypo is clear.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_4.jpg

Here is our 2014 female Ivory. I think she might be getting some Graphite Markings. The spots that I think she is getting are so subtle that I couldn't catch them in the picture, but a few more sheds will let us know for sure.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-07-23_1.jpg

Let me know what you think about the white poster board background. Thanks for checking our pictures out!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blackbear123

Those are some really nice pictures. It looks like you have a pretty pro type set up too.

I don't have a setup like that, but one cheap thing I found to use is the lids of the tubs at Walmart for a white background. If you use racks you get them free when you buy the tubs anyway.

I also hope that dark snake proves genetic!

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I'll try that out with a few of the hatchlings and smaller yearlings, but I don't think I have a lid big enough to get a clean back ground (now ridges) for my adults. Thanks for the feedback.

I modified my setup by getting two reflectors to bounce light back in where it was escaping. I build stands for the reflectors out of PVC and you can see that I added the reflectors in after the side soft boxes before the vertical part of the background. It really helped to keep the light levels up in the background.
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...15-08-01_2.jpg

After making this setup change, I took a bunch of pictures. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until today that I had changed my ISO from 200 to 400 because of some pictures I took in another room in the time between these new pictures and my last setup. I think this change from an ISO of 200 to 400 has over exposed the pictures a little, but I'll drop the ISO back to 200 and take some more pictures in the near future. Until I do that, here are some pictures with the ISO at 400 and the new setup.

Here is a quick background comparison. I am using white muslin and then put poster board in with one piece glossy side up and the other piece matte side up:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-1.jpg

Here is a series of pictures of the 2012 male color changing Orangebelly:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-2.jpg
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-3.jpg
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-6.jpg
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-9.jpg

And here is a picture of the 2014 female Mojave Orangebelly:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-5.jpg

How about a picture of one of the 2013 female Pastel Mystic Enchis:
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-2.jpg

And finally, a crowd pleaser, the 2014 female Orangebelly Specter (Super Stripe):
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5-08-01_-6.jpg

Hope you guys like them and sorry they are slightly over exposed. I'll back the ISO down and see what I can get.