Jim, I like the royal blue above a lot for white, black, or b&w dogs. I would like it better with a snoot of background light. What kind of material is this?

Thanks Preston,

Do you mean a hair light with a snoot or a background light with a grid / snoot to create a lighter area on the BG?

This is seamless paper. I could probably get a gridded spot on it from behind, but since I was working on the floor rather than the table, I couldn't put a light behind the subject from below. I suppose I could put one above though.

Who has blue like that in their homes? Seriously. What are you looking to sell? No one will buy that in a 30x40 as it will totally clash with their decor. White, black, browns all go in people's homes.

I love vibrant pinks, turqouise and other colors for fun. No one buys them. Not the way they do the white, gray, brown.

I shoot to sell. Warm colors sell. The black and white dog looks fine on that color, I still don't like it. It can't be hung anywhere.

Gridded BG light from above. Tough to do right though. Easier to have a platform and do it from below.

Julie,

I sort of see your point in terms of decor, however, I just sold a bunch of blue portraits, so somebody likes them. Granted, they were only 16x20 and smaller, but its for a cluster. Even so, I can see a narrower appeal to the bolder color as opposed to the more neutral / earth-tones.

Preston,

Yeah, tough to do from above with spill on the floor. Maybe barn doors or a flag . . .

It might be very easy to do from behind. Most of my hot white images up to the last week or so are with back lighting on the BG. I'll have to try it on blue or red to see how much spill I get throwing the light from behind.

Boom arm...

I have a couple booms and I also have a drop down in the ceiling that could hold a light. I don't, however, have a lot of side to side space (12.5 feet wide in total) to put a stand off to the side for a boom.

If I can mount it in the ceiling and swing it around the way I need it . . .

My boom is just an accident waiting to happen. I've quit using it around animals. If I wanted to carry around 50 lbs of sandbags, different story.