NOTE - TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS... A few people have asked if this could be done with a 1080HD TV instead of 4K - ABSOLUTELY! Also a few people have suggested using a projector... that is an option but not nearly as practical as you may think. With a projector you will be photographing reflected light and you will need considerable distance between your subject which you are lighting and the background so that your lights don't spill onto the background and wipe out the projected image. I have tried this and it honestly is not worth the hassle in my opinion, It will not work in a small space and is very finnicky at best
Joe Edelman that was the good old days onto some white seamless. Heck I even used an old slide projector with some of my images. But what a pain! The lumens were not there and it was always tough to not blow it out with a strobe.
Many decades ago, I worked at a small-town TV station. Before color came in, we had a 20 x 25 rear screen on which were projected 4 x5 slides. For a news story, we would start with a rear screen, and at the end of the shot, the director would tell the cameraman to dolly in and the rear screen operator to go void. It looked good, but the studio was about 50 x 100 feet with a 30-foot or so ceiling. As you say, it is hard to work with any projection setup because of the spill from your lights.
FINALLY a real pro photographer. You're pushing boundaries, being creative, and doing things very few other photographers on youtube are doing. It can be annoying when every photography is making videos about "increasing your iso to get brighter photos" or what's the difference between 35MM and 85MM. Copycats and amateurs pretending to be gurus. Thank You. Something New.
Great Ideal, I do product photography and a versatile mixed with a Variety of background is a must for what products I shoot. This is a game charger for me. Dont need a room full of backgrounds now Thanks again Joe.
You are the Wayne Gretzky of the UA-cam Photography World. I am Canadian, so I hope you understand how much praise I am heaping onto you by equating you to our country's greatest athlete.
LOL Michael, while I am not much of a hockey guy, but I actually had the opportunity to photograph him playing against the Flyers in the early 1980's and I am very aware of why they called him The Great One! I am flattered and appreciate your kind words!
Just watched your presentation on Christmas Portraits and it was excellent. Thanks for including the link to this and two others on shooting portraits.
@@theJoeEdelman as a way-older-than-I-out-to-be- beginner, I am always looking for ways to make the most out of my investments. YOU, sir, have given me an idea that I can run with. Awesome content, and you can bet I will continue watching and liking your videos!
Hi Joe! Many thanks you for exellent idea of close-up portrait! It's like a greenscreen, but with real-time effect! And special thanks for "tips video" - Short & usefull!
Thank you Leumas Photography ! The problem with projectors is that they are not actually very bright when you consider you would be photographing reflected light off of your background and if you don't have a lot of space to shoot in - the light from your subject will spill onto the screen / backdrop and wipe out the projected image.
Once again, love your creativeness and clear and thoughtful discussion of your craft. You give me hope that anything is possible (within reason). Thanks again Joe.
gracias primera vez q veo ese manejo de la fotografia con el televisor lo voy a poner en practica muchas bendiciones q mi dios lo bendiga saludos desde colombia
I've no idea why but I unsubscribed some while ago and have just seen this creatively innovative idea. I've resubscribed permanently. Thank you, Joe, I love your enthusiasm and common sense approach.
The TV is a brilliant idea. I use one in my preview room with Proselct to sell images. That is already paid for itself 10 times over. Repurposing this asset when it’s not in use gives a bang for buck 10,000 to 1!
Really interesting. This is such a smart solution to a problem; it's essentially a very "simple" idea thoroughly worked through. The essence of creative vision is taking things that don't go together in most people's heads, and showing them that they can and they do. Thanks Joe.
Does anyone know if some of the UA-cam news channels use flat screen TVs for their background? I don’t know if this works for video. It might pick up artifacts as the screen refreshes itself 24 times per second or whatever?
I've been thinking about this for a long time. The other night, I was sitting at home not doing anything else so I popped off a bunch of selfie headshots (like 150+) in front of the TV. It's pretty cool and I completely dig it. I actually just let UA-cam run in the background. I got shots in the desert, the forest, space.. and a bunch of them on a video that just had patterns. I need to figure out how to simulate shots with depth in them for actor and business portraits.. in the studio. To virtually put someone in a location. I know others do it but _I_ haven't worked it out yet. I could set up vflats in the background and bounce lights off them and introduce various elements. Or... I could shoot against a TV and create whatever background I want. I haven't committed to getting the big TV for the studio yet but I think it's just a matter of time. My problem is that it's not very portable. Also.. I'm thinking of 75" so I have some more field to play with. It's not much more expensive than the 65. And.. I normally shoot FF with an 85mm. I need the real estate. :-) Being a student of the house of Hurley, I shoot a lot on grey as well. I'm wondering if this would make white easier. My thought is that you don't have a lot of light splashing back from the TV and that would keep flare to a minimum. I'm big on buttery soft backgrounds but I wondered if you could close up the aperture a bit and bring the background into a little more focus so it's not just color soup. After watching your video, I think that's a 'yes'.
Hi Joe I know this is the digital age is there a modern equivalent of front projection as this would give you a bigger background should you need a bigger background love your studio work as a retired wedding and portrait photographer it's lovely to see how the modern creative photographers work
Thank you for the kind words Stephen welham ! The challenge with front projection is that projectors are actually not that bright unless they are very close to the screen and then you have the issue of having to light your subject so that NO light reaches the screen as it will wipe out the projected image,
Hi, Joe, better late than never: I wish you all the best for 2020 :-) as always very creative and inspiring with awesome looking results, what a crazy concept, so far you are the only one with such a great idea, as far as I can tell !!
Amazing results with endless possibilities! Thanks, Joe! I like how you bounced colored light off the reflector to fill in the glasses. I see you have the reflector at an angle, did you also have to position the glasses at a certain downward angle as well? I'd like to learn that technique and add my own flair to it.
Thank you Ajax Rodriguez . I didn't have to tilt the glasses down but I did have to look for the reflection to make sure it was covering the whole sunglass - if it wasn't I would adjust my angle or the angle of the reflector.
Thanks for a neat idea! I haven't been able to do enough portrait photography to make investing in backgrounds worthwhile. I had bought a bunch of backgrounds from a guy who was dumping his equipment during a divorce. I've used some of them and could still do more without repeating. At one point, my strategy for backgrounds was going to involve a bunch of sheets of Visqueen plastic sheeting and some spray paint. I was actually planning to make something that would allow me to hang three sheets one behind another about six inches apart. I would then spray paint different colors on each sheet and have an extra flash fire from behind the last sheet to project colors onto the sheet nearest the model. When I got tired of one background, I'd just get out the can of spray paint and modify it a little bit. The whole idea probably wouldn't have worked very well, but I would have had fun. In your pinned comment, you mention using a projector but also mention the problem of dealing with projected light. Do you think that problem would be reduced if you got a translucent material and projected your background pattern from behind the sheet. On a budget, maybe you could get a non-colored translucent shower curtain and project from behind. Most projectors have brightness settings, so you could fiddle with those to produce different effects. You could also blow a powerful fan against the curtain to produce ripple effects. At a slow enough shutter speed, that would give you the blur effect that you like while still freezing your model's position with a strobe.
Joe, you are so creative. Thank you for this idea. I thought about using a projector but dismissed it. I also dismissed using a TV because of the assumed reflection from the flash, but I guess until you actually try something out (i.e. actually do the experiment and keep changing your variables) to see if works you won't know. This is the solution I have long been looking for--Thank you for telling us about it.
It also has a higher resale value and has a much wider appeal on the second hand market, if you suddenly decide that you want to sell off your photography stuff and try to get some of your money back.
Could you do this with video instead of still shots? I'm filming an online course and am debating between green screen or an actual setting. But this may be better. Any thoughts? Thanks
Have you tried using a projector shot onto a wall as the background? Or is the light/video coming out of the projector too slow to make use of a background
I have tried it Zack. The projectors are not very bright when you have to rely on the reflected light from the screen. The other issue is that you need much more space because if the lights you are using to light your subject hit the screen - they wipe out the image.
NOTE - TO ANSWER A FEW QUESTIONS...
A few people have asked if this could be done with a 1080HD TV instead of 4K - ABSOLUTELY!
Also a few people have suggested using a projector... that is an option but not nearly as practical as you may think. With a projector you will be photographing reflected light and you will need considerable distance between your subject which you are lighting and the background so that your lights don't spill onto the background and wipe out the projected image. I have tried this and it honestly is not worth the hassle in my opinion, It will not work in a small space and is very finnicky at best
Joe Edelman that was the good old days onto some white seamless. Heck I even used an old slide projector with some of my images. But what a pain! The lumens were not there and it was always tough to not blow it out with a strobe.
Many decades ago, I worked at a small-town TV station. Before color came in, we had a 20 x 25 rear screen on which were projected 4 x5 slides. For a news story, we would start with a rear screen, and at the end of the shot, the director would tell the cameraman to dolly in and the rear screen operator to go void. It looked good, but the studio was about 50 x 100 feet with a 30-foot or so ceiling. As you say, it is hard to work with any projection setup because of the spill from your lights.
I have missed the Hows and Whys series, great to see it again.
FINALLY a real pro photographer. You're pushing boundaries, being creative, and doing things very few other photographers on youtube are doing. It can be annoying when every photography is making videos about "increasing your iso to get brighter photos" or what's the difference between 35MM and 85MM. Copycats and amateurs pretending to be gurus. Thank You. Something New.
Thank you HEED! I appreciate the kind words and support!
Just brilliant... as usual!!
Happy and safe 2021, Joe!
Fantastic video and awesome creativity👍 just subscribed
Brilliant. Just brilliant idea.
WOW .... this amazing ... @Joe Edelman ... you are amazing at sharing...!!
How did I miss this when it came out?! Definitely bookmarking this one.
Thanks Joe. The details you provided is excellent and gives enough to get started if I wanted to.
These photos look amazing
Love that idea. Who knew. Thanks Joe
Fantastic tips with endless possibilities 👍🏼. Thanks
Great Ideal, I do product photography and a versatile mixed with a Variety of background is a must for what products I shoot. This is a game charger for me. Dont need a room full of backgrounds now Thanks again Joe.
My pleasure Mike Osinski ! Glad it helps!
Classic idea, very nice.
This is a great idea, Joe. I will have to give that a go. See you later, in Tog Knowledge. Cheers from AUS.
This is why I like this channel - really makes me think about how I’m working and generates new ideas. Thanks Joe
Never seen your videos before, but this is fantastic. Thanks!
awesome and inspiring... Thanks Joe
You are Great for all of us and Olympus
Thank you Alexander Stehle! I appreciate the kind words and support!
Very clever. Thanks for sharing!
Great idea
already shared this on the FB Groups ........thank you JOE
Joe you are truly the Man never thought about using the tv as a background great idea 👍👍
You are the Wayne Gretzky of the UA-cam Photography World. I am Canadian, so I hope you understand how much praise I am heaping onto you by equating you to our country's greatest athlete.
LOL Michael, while I am not much of a hockey guy, but I actually had the opportunity to photograph him playing against the Flyers in the early 1980's and I am very aware of why they called him The Great One! I am flattered and appreciate your kind words!
Love this creative idea!
This was awesome. Gave me a great reason to buy a new tv.
Great creative background idea.
Just watched your presentation on Christmas Portraits and it was excellent. Thanks for including the link to this and two others on shooting portraits.
Thank you Carla Chirigos! I am glad you enjoyed it!
I have a 49” I’ll have to give it a try. Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing.
Most definitely a cool idea. My wife was just asking me the other day how many backdrops I need since I had 4 more in the Amazon Cart. Thank Joe
the creative master. great concept
Glad you enjoyed it metamurph! I appreciate the comment!
Great video/tutorial, thank you for sharing Joe.
mind blown!!!! Thanks JOE!!!!!!
My pleasure Charles Richard! Thanks for commenting!
love this! Never thought about introducing motion into a backdrop.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to try it.
My pleasure fmrff70! I will look forward to your results!
AMAZING VIDEO!!
Always a pleasure Joe and I even learned something! Thanks!
How freaking OUTSIDE THE BOX is this? Awesome idea--thank you!!
Thank you Stillwaters Farm!
@@theJoeEdelman as a way-older-than-I-out-to-be- beginner, I am always looking for ways to make the most out of my investments. YOU, sir, have given me an idea that I can run with. Awesome content, and you can bet I will continue watching and liking your videos!
Hi Joe! Many thanks you for exellent idea of close-up portrait! It's like a greenscreen, but with real-time effect! And special thanks for "tips video" - Short & usefull!
Livescreen?
absolutely loved this video and its content!!! will definitely try this!! thank you!
Thank you Franklin Liranzo! I appreciate the kind words and support!
Fantastic presentation and ideas. As usual.
so creative
Glad you enjoyed it cosmo ianiro! I appreciate the comment!
GENIUS!!!
Nice!
I'd imagine a 4k projector might work well too
Thank you Leumas Photography ! The problem with projectors is that they are not actually very bright when you consider you would be photographing reflected light off of your background and if you don't have a lot of space to shoot in - the light from your subject will spill onto the screen / backdrop and wipe out the projected image.
Once again, love your creativeness and clear and thoughtful discussion of your craft. You give me hope that anything is possible (within reason). Thanks again Joe.
Thank you dance2jam! I really appreciate the kind words!
Great Idea, wow
Joe, this is really cool. Your creativity genes are on steroids! LOL Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much John!
Really great video sir
Cool idea I hadn't thought about. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much! I really miss these videos
Nice. Thanks for the share
Bravo, chapeau bas.
Who needs to listen to this Nerdy-Know-It-All? EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!
Cool idea! Hmmm... I think I have the perfect opportunity to try this. Looking forward to it.
Awesome Kevin T.! Thanks for commenting!
Brilliant
🤔 I love this idea
Great video as always Joe! Very well thought out and full of ways to make someone think outside the box!
Amazing idea man, I love it. thank you so much!!!
Awesome video Joe... it's wasn't just about the TV, but really, the creative elements/ideas discussed... Thanks for doing what you do!
My pleasure Dave Williams! Thank you for the very kind words!
Great DIY
Great ideas found here... thank you!
Very inspiring, Joe! I had wondered about the horizontal banding and I think I understand your answer in the video. Only thing to do is try!
gracias primera vez q veo ese manejo de la fotografia con el televisor lo voy a poner en practica muchas bendiciones q mi dios lo bendiga saludos desde colombia
Great video Joe, like always. Thank you very much. Hello from Moscow. Russia.
Thank you so much Andrey!
Great idea!
Thank you Brett Haddock! I appreciate the comment.
Did you have a glare issue from the lights on the TV? How did you overcome it?
Sometimes Jason Klein - YES - I did talk about it in the video at 3:30
Wow.... great idea!
You keep amazing me, great idea Joe!
Thank you Gon Alroc! I really appreciate the kind words!
I've no idea why but I unsubscribed some while ago and have just seen this creatively innovative idea. I've resubscribed permanently. Thank you, Joe, I love your enthusiasm and common sense approach.
Neat idea, thanks for sharing.
Very interesting and Thanks for sharing this!
My pleasure Alan Johnstone! Thanks for commenting!
The TV is a brilliant idea. I use one in my preview room with Proselct to sell images. That is already paid for itself 10 times over. Repurposing this asset when it’s not in use gives a bang for buck 10,000 to 1!
Re-purpose a tv as a actual tv when not in use as a backdrop - nice. :) That just may justify the cost.
Ohhh thanks for sharing mate, not often you can say you have an original idea, but you did it in 2020! That alone is worth a Nobel prize 😂👍👍
Great thinking 99! Great backlight for some things too.
Thank you! Work Pics 360 Virtual Tours Glad you enjoyed it!
great stuff inspiring
Joe! Thank you soooo much for this. Love your infinite knowledge and creativity. Keep up the fantastic work :)
Really interesting. This is such a smart solution to a problem; it's essentially a very "simple" idea thoroughly worked through. The essence of creative vision is taking things that don't go together in most people's heads, and showing them that they can and they do. Thanks Joe.
Thank you Martin Tolley! I really appreciate the kind words!
Great idea..Going to try it..
Thank you!
My pleasure @veselinvasilev9362 !
Does anyone know if some of the UA-cam news channels use flat screen TVs for their background? I don’t know if this works for video. It might pick up artifacts as the screen refreshes itself 24 times per second or whatever?
I really need to try this 👍
Muchas gracias!
Genius!
I've been thinking about this for a long time. The other night, I was sitting at home not doing anything else so I popped off a bunch of selfie headshots (like 150+) in front of the TV. It's pretty cool and I completely dig it. I actually just let UA-cam run in the background. I got shots in the desert, the forest, space.. and a bunch of them on a video that just had patterns.
I need to figure out how to simulate shots with depth in them for actor and business portraits.. in the studio. To virtually put someone in a location. I know others do it but _I_ haven't worked it out yet. I could set up vflats in the background and bounce lights off them and introduce various elements. Or... I could shoot against a TV and create whatever background I want.
I haven't committed to getting the big TV for the studio yet but I think it's just a matter of time. My problem is that it's not very portable. Also.. I'm thinking of 75" so I have some more field to play with. It's not much more expensive than the 65. And.. I normally shoot FF with an 85mm. I need the real estate. :-)
Being a student of the house of Hurley, I shoot a lot on grey as well. I'm wondering if this would make white easier. My thought is that you don't have a lot of light splashing back from the TV and that would keep flare to a minimum.
I'm big on buttery soft backgrounds but I wondered if you could close up the aperture a bit and bring the background into a little more focus so it's not just color soup. After watching your video, I think that's a 'yes'.
Hi Joe I know this is the digital age is there a modern equivalent of front projection as this would give you a bigger background should you need a bigger background love your studio work as a retired wedding and portrait photographer it's lovely to see how the modern creative photographers work
Thank you for the kind words Stephen welham ! The challenge with front projection is that projectors are actually not that bright unless they are very close to the screen and then you have the issue of having to light your subject so that NO light reaches the screen as it will wipe out the projected image,
Hi, Joe, better late than never: I wish you all the best for 2020 :-)
as always very creative and inspiring with awesome looking results, what a crazy concept, so far you are the only one with such a great idea, as far as I can tell !!
Great idea and very good explanation (as allways). And the TV is a super good opportunity when you shoot tethered instead of a Notebook screen.
Freaking amazing 👏 loveeeee this so much. Thank you brotha. 😊
Amazing results with endless possibilities! Thanks, Joe!
I like how you bounced colored light off the reflector to fill in the glasses. I see you have the reflector at an angle, did you also have to position the glasses at a certain downward angle as well? I'd like to learn that technique and add my own flair to it.
Thank you Ajax Rodriguez . I didn't have to tilt the glasses down but I did have to look for the reflection to make sure it was covering the whole sunglass - if it wasn't I would adjust my angle or the angle of the reflector.
Thanks for a neat idea!
I haven't been able to do enough portrait photography to make investing in backgrounds worthwhile. I had bought a bunch of backgrounds from a guy who was dumping his equipment during a divorce. I've used some of them and could still do more without repeating.
At one point, my strategy for backgrounds was going to involve a bunch of sheets of Visqueen plastic sheeting and some spray paint. I was actually planning to make something that would allow me to hang three sheets one behind another about six inches apart. I would then spray paint different colors on each sheet and have an extra flash fire from behind the last sheet to project colors onto the sheet nearest the model. When I got tired of one background, I'd just get out the can of spray paint and modify it a little bit. The whole idea probably wouldn't have worked very well, but I would have had fun.
In your pinned comment, you mention using a projector but also mention the problem of dealing with projected light. Do you think that problem would be reduced if you got a translucent material and projected your background pattern from behind the sheet. On a budget, maybe you could get a non-colored translucent shower curtain and project from behind. Most projectors have brightness settings, so you could fiddle with those to produce different effects. You could also blow a powerful fan against the curtain to produce ripple effects. At a slow enough shutter speed, that would give you the blur effect that you like while still freezing your model's position with a strobe.
Joe, you are so creative. Thank you for this idea. I thought about using a projector but dismissed it. I also dismissed using a TV because of the assumed reflection from the flash, but I guess until you actually try something out (i.e. actually do the experiment and keep changing your variables) to see if works you won't know. This is the solution I have long been looking for--Thank you for telling us about it.
Thank you Norm! I really appreciate the kind words!
It also has a higher resale value and has a much wider appeal on the second hand market, if you suddenly decide that you want to sell off your photography stuff and try to get some of your money back.
J'adore (I love)
Could you do this with video instead of still shots? I'm filming an online course and am debating between green screen or an actual setting. But this may be better. Any thoughts? Thanks
Absolutely @John MacGregor! A lot of the tv news people are doing that at home right now.
Where can a person get a wheeled stand for the TV? Good video thank you!
Its in the description: 32 to 70 Inch Mobile TV Cart Universal Flat Screen Rolling TV Stand: amzn.to/35NQcz1
What a great lesson. How do you feel about using a projector on a screen instead?
awesome vid! what is the name of that curved reflector you have in front of your models?? looks like an awesome tool!
Great video Joe (Y)
Thank you Luis Enrique Castillo! I appreciate the comment.
Omg you just shared fire Mr.Promethus.....
Glad you enjoyed it MMA Hype Watch! I appreciate the comment!
Have you tried using a projector shot onto a wall as the background? Or is the light/video coming out of the projector too slow to make use of a background
I have tried it Zack. The projectors are not very bright when you have to rely on the reflected light from the screen. The other issue is that you need much more space because if the lights you are using to light your subject hit the screen - they wipe out the image.
@@theJoeEdelman ah ok I kind of figured, thanks