Using a computer monitor as backdrop

I love to use backdrops for my figures. The other day I experimented with using a computer monitor instead of physical backdrops. In some cases, it works well, in others not. The main problem seems to be the correct lighting of the figure in the front. The advantage is that is a cheap and flexible way for backdrops, disadvantages are the narrow-angle of photographing and the landscape format.
Does anyone have experience with this technique? Some examples in the 16:9 ratio:

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Nice photos, if we can call the zombie apocalypse "nice."

Yes, I have been doing it for a while now, using a monitor much like yours (different brand, by the looks of it, but possibly very similar otherwise -- widescreen and curved). You can see plenty of examples in my threads, as I am increasingly unable or too lazy to make or use printed backgrounds. You hit upon one of the most annoying issues, lighting. It is nice to have a back-lit screen as long as it does not interfere, but getting your other lights to not cause glare off the screen can be a challenge. I use adjustable goose-neck lights, and add a little black microfiber cloth for screen and lens cleaning to throw a drape over the light source so that it does not cause a glare over the screen, adjusting it so it also does not prevent the light from hitting the figure or diorama pieces in an obvious or unwanted way. I did that, for example, in the House of Gopnik scenes, especially the bedroom ones (the drab wallpaper was projected on my screen).

There are three other sources of frustration using this method:
* Poor image resolution. Sometimes you need to zoom in on an image to make it large enough for your figures, and that lowers the resolution. Additionally, even if the image itself has reasonably good resolution, depending on exactly where and how your camera focuses, you might end up seeing a sort of grid on the screen in your photos. It helps when your focusing point is well in front of it, which usually preempts this from occurring.
* Perspective. The farther from your screen your figure, the less of the above problem. But, due to perspective, your 12 inch (30 cm figure) might end up poking its head above visible top edge of the screen, which would be no good. My widescreen monitor has a screen 33.5 cm tall, and that is not always enough.
* Flooring. One way to counter the above, or needed for other reasons is to shoot a little from above, but then you see more of the "ground." That needs to at least obscure the bottom line of the screen (something more difficult with a curved screen), and ideally one needs some sort of passable (not to say good) transition from the figure's "ground" to whatever is on the screen. It helps if you crop your photo above that, but sometimes you want the whole figure in or you need to show what's on the floor (like in the aforementioned bedroom scene, where there were luckily enough objects on the floor to obviate worrying about the transition).

I’ve done that a couple of times. It works pretty good if you have the correct lighting available, and can keep the flare from showing up on the screen. Your shots look good; I especially like that first one.

Monitors and TVs are good because they provide a diffused source of light. OLEDs are the best because they have a coating to cut glare, they have excellent colour and contrast, and they have no backlight to mess with the camera exposure. The curved screen gives the illusion of depth and reduces reflections.

I posted these in our earlier thread about Angelina. They were shot with a cheap phone in a completely dark room (I just waited till night-time and turned off all the lights in the living room). The only lighting came from the OLED TV and a single mini flashlight. The camera flash was turned off. The backdrops are just ambient videos on Youtube.

To avoid reflections I simply held the flashlight parallel to the screen and aimed at the figure. In pic 1 the flashlight was held just off camera at the mid-right. In pic 2 the flashlight was top right. In pic 3 it was bottom left. They haven't been photoshopped at all except for cropping. I think I could have done better with a proper camera, more elaborate lighting, and some photo editing but they turned out ok for a rough job.

I'm using my a TV screen hooked up to my computer for almost all my shots. It's an easy way to get pretty nice results in a short amount of time, but in order to really place the figure within the environment you need diorama pieces or at a minimum a reflective surface under your figure to mask the screen border. To accomplish a feeling of depth, it also helps to play with the aperture of your camera, so that the screen is slightly out of the focal area. Otherwise you don't get good background separation and your picture feels crowded.

I was going to post this in my thread, but it fits actually better here. I worked on some diorama pieces and took some test shots in front of my screen. Here is the entrance to the pyramid of doom...

CJ3A4417pp by Randam Hajile, auf Flickr

Yep, some diorama pieces for the foreground and midground make it work a lot better.

Indeed I've also used a 35" TV/monitor for backgrounds in the past but not so much anymore.

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An effective alternative to physical printed backdrops, though I've tried this method only a couple of times. The bigger the screen, the better, and more room to work around. All great tips here for future attempts. Speaking of curved screens, I understand there are eventually supposed to be (or maybe they're already available) 'fold-able' smart phones, and I'm wondering if that kind of technology would eventually be incorporated into flat computer screens or very large tablets. Maybe I'm thinking too far off into the future with the possibilities that would offer for this hobby.

I'm not sure if the light reflection problem is the same with monitors that don't have the benefit of screen coating, but with a handful of 'glossy' printed backdrops (when I couldn't get them printed in matte), I always held my light source high overhead, or at a far-off angle to the side, and it prevented any glare.

Beautiful work, Randam and Wolf -- and how appropriate for the date too! Ok, let me dig out something for the ladies, also in front of a screen... LOL





In fact, I think almost all the backgrounds I used were projected on the screen in that thread:
https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t1854-new-superhero-revealed-fire-man-nsfw-updated-with-part-ii-july-2019

Nicely done guys!

Thx for your posts! As the examples show, fire and explosion seem to look great on monitor backdrops. Concerning the resolution of the pictures: I recommend HD wallpapers. https://www.wallpaperflare.com offers a free very large HD wallpaper pool.

AlKelAstra91 wrote:An effective alternative to physical printed backdrops, though I've tried this method only a couple of times. The bigger the screen, the better, and more room to work around. All great tips here for future attempts. Speaking of curved screens, I understand there are eventually supposed to be (or maybe they're already available) 'fold-able' smart phones, and I'm wondering if that kind of technology would eventually be incorporated into flat computer screens or very large tablets. Maybe I'm thinking too far off into the future with the possibilities that would offer for this hobby.

I'm not sure if the light reflection problem is the same with monitors that don't have the benefit of screen coating, but with a handful of 'glossy' printed backdrops (when I couldn't get them printed in matte), I always held my light source high overhead, or at a far-off angle to the side, and it prevented any glare.

OLED screens are flexible just like any other sheet of plastic, which is why they are used for foldable phones. TV makers use a metal plate on the back to stop them from collapsing and to make them cheaper to manufacture. LGs first few models of OLED TV were only available in a curved format; flat ones came later. LG has one model that has been kept in its flexible state.

Most TVs have Youtube in them these days. Run Youtube and search for "ambience". There are hundreds of backdrops to chose from. They are videos rather than photos so you have features such as flickering fire and running water, which you don't get in a still shot.

Randam Hajile wrote:I'm using my a TV screen hooked up to my computer for almost all my shots. It's an easy way to get pretty nice results in a short amount of time, but in order to really place the figure within the environment you need diorama pieces or at a minimum a reflective surface under your figure to mask the screen border. To accomplish a feeling of depth, it also helps to play with the aperture of your camera, so that the screen is slightly out of the focal area. Otherwise you don't get good background separation and your picture feels crowded.

I was going to post this in my thread, but it fits actually better here. I worked on some diorama pieces and took some test shots in front of my screen. Here is the entrance to the pyramid of doom...

CJ3A4417pp by Randam Hajile, auf Flickr

Love the dip pieces. Excellent shot.

Thanks, Marks!
Actually the statue bases took a whole afternoon to build, as I had to glue each individual brick on the four surfaces of the two styrofrom blocks. But I'm very happy how they turned out. The Maya statues are actually for decoration of aquariums. I think they nicely fit the style of the shaman.

@Gubernatorfan
Did you notice that the secondary head on the smilodon? No more smiling cat

Randam Hajile wrote:@Gubernatorfan Did you notice that the secondary head on the smilodon? No more smiling cat

Yes, I looked it up the first time and saw it has two heads. I was wondering about those bases myself. Must have been a little tedious to assemble.

A variant of the scene in my Lady of the Lake Post -- this one would have caused it to be named Lady of Ruin, perhaps?

I tried it with my arthur morgan. It worked better on my 4k screen than my 1080 tv for sure heh. Trying to match the lighting is key to make it work.

Beautiful shots!!

My PC monitor works beautifully, but only for close-ups, as it's too small for full body images.

And I find that those ambient videos on YouTube mostly consist of images with the wrong angle, and I don't particularly enjoy scrubbing through that footage and then not finding anything workable. I prefer the wallpaper route, and the lower resolution of the tv can be countered with the option of shooting with some distance, thereby putting the tv screen out of focus. .

Thank you everybody for all of these ideas and tips!