# Fish with totally black background



## k7gixxerguy (Jan 12, 2012)

I have seen a few pictures on here of fish where all that you could see in the photo were the fish with a totally black background. How is this accomplished?


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

black background.


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

or if lit from above make sure no light falls behind your subject.

This one is not lit from directly above....more of a 45 degree about a foot above and the background is probably a dark log.


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## RayQ (Sep 26, 2007)

Yep, it is a trick of the light, there are a few different ways to accomplish it, you just need to understand how the camera works :thumb:


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## T-Roy (Jul 9, 2009)

Its light fall off.Using a flash to light the subject and using a fast shutter speed and small aperture to minimise ambient light.


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *k7gixxerguy*,

Everyone is correct. As with all photography, it is all about light. I tend to set up my remote flashes towards the front of the tank, which lights up the subject and lets the background "fall" into darkness. I also have black backgrounds.

However, I must be honest; I do like to use Photoshop in some situations to remove floating particles. I am not saying other hobbyist/photographers use this approach; it is just something I like to do in some situations. Here is an extreme example where I had to remove major parts of an imageÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s background for a beginners Photoshop class assignment.

Original Image:









Photoshopped to remove background:









As you can see, even the cichlidÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s tail is Ã¢â‚¬Å"fallingÃ¢â‚¬Â


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