The black background is actually a combination of luck and skill. With a macro lens focused at that distance and aperture, you end up with an extremely blurred background, so the only think you need is for something fairly dark to be somewhere in your background. Anya did a great job of making sure to reposition the shot until she got a nice background without any distracting shifts in brightness, and thus a nice solid black background is achieved and makes sure to keep the viewers eyes focused right where they should be. Sometimes you aren't lucky enough to get a background without distracting elements and you either end up with a less than perfect shot or you have to make your own background.
The black background is actually a combination of luck and skill. With a macro lens focused at that distance and aperture, you end up with an extremely blurred background, so the only think you need is for something fairly dark to be somewhere in your background. Anya did a great job of making sure to reposition the shot until she got a nice background without any distracting shifts in brightness, and thus a nice solid black background is achieved and makes sure to keep the viewers eyes focused right where they should be. Sometimes you aren't lucky enough to get a background without distracting elements and you either end up with a less than perfect shot or you have to make your own background.
- Bill