Black is a dramatic color when used as a background for many subjects. When I travel, I usually carry with me a 2-yard piece of black velvet to use as a background when I want to take a subject out of its natural environment and make a visually compelling statement. For example, I photographed this fern about to unfold in Indonesia. I actually took this picture on the patio of my hotel room when I was leading a photo tour to Bali and Java, and I set this up so the people traveling with me could get the same shot. The lighting is entirely natural. It's simply diffused daylight from the shade of the building, and the background is the piece of black velvet. This is so simple to do, and the results are very powerful.