Dabbling in Black Backgrounds

editing Jul 01, 2024

By Hayman Tam

As aviation photographers, we strive to improve our images, whether by refining our technique or with equipment upgrades. In the post-processing workflow, the matter of style takes shape. I know my style has been evolving constantly, and one recent style phase I’ve been exploring is that of black backgrounds.

A Spanish AF Dassault Mirage F1 displayed at the Museo del Aire in Madrid.

A McDonnell F3H-2N Demon on display at the USS Intrepid Museum.

A Waco UPF-7 at the 2018 Wing Over Wine Country airshow.

2019 AmaWaterways river cruise, Prague, National Technical Museum, OK-TBZ 1937 Zlin Z-XIII,

The BEFORE photo: a 1977 Zlin Z-50LA at the National Technical Museum in Prague

A 1954 Beech D18S Twin Beech from the 2019 Pacific Coast Dream Machines show.

Local tour operator Seaplane Adventures’s De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver.

North American B-25J Mitchell “Executive Sweet” seen at the 2021 Wings Over Camarillo.

Jason Some’s 1959 PZL-Mielec Lim-5 (MiG-17F) seen at the 2021 Wings Over Camarillo.

An L-39 Albatros and a 1970 McClaren M8C at the 2022 Wings Over Camarillo airshow

EA-6 Prowler at the Palm Springs Air Museum

A black background does wonders for truly focusing the viewer on the subject. Issues with color balance can be conveniently dealt with by converting to mono. I look for subjects with nice even lighting. Canopies and windows can be tricky depending on the light, reflections or visible background through the glass.

These images were processed using Luminar, adding a black image layer and then editing the inverted mask. Editing can be tedious, especially on biplanes with all the flying wires or the Beaver with an abundance of struts. I’ve become a convert with my use of a Wacom tablet and pen simplifies the fine detail editing process significantly.

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