Photography By Michelle

Archive for July 13th, 2010

I’m frequently asked – by annoyed photographers – what materials they ought to be using so you can get a crisp, sparkling, pure white photography background.

Regrettably, that is the incorrect question to ask! It in fact, isn’t the background material that provides you with the sparkling white you are looking for.

It is actually the source of the light!

Here’s the situation…you set up a dirt free white bed sheet or a roll of white paper – and you put your model in front of it.

You set up a light source or – even more than one, and light your model. All is appearing nice. You think you have a satisfactorily lit model and a nice white set.

Now, you take the picture.

Anxiously, you hurry to the photo lab if you are shooting film or to a computer if you are shooting digital. You check out the completed picture and ta daaa!

Your model is perfectly lit, however the background is really a dingy gray color. Not the sparkling, pure white you saw inside the viewfinder!

Sound recognizable? If you’ve been having a hard time shooting high key photographs…And you’ve been getting that dingy gray color (regardless of the materials you use) here is how to fix the situation!

All light has a certain drop off feature.

With that I mean that the further the light is from a subject, the less bright it is. As a result, meaning… when you have a specific amount of light hitting your model, and you’re using that SAME light to light your set, your light is further from the set than from the model. So, it will be slightly less bright when it gets to your background material.

Whew! That’s a mouthful. Simply stated…

The main reason you are getting that gray color is because there is more light hitting your model than is hitting the photography background.

To get your background be a genuine, seamless white…simply hit it with MORE light than you will be using for the model!

Appears obvious after you understand it, but this is a huge sticking point for many photographers.

The total amount of “over-exposure” that’s required on the background depends on the color of the background material. If it is already white, you could probably get by with using enough extra light to get an over-exposure of about half an f-stop. Maybe even one full f-stop.

If the fabric you are starting with is gray…that is OK too! Just hit it with approximately 2 ½ stops (give or take) more light than you will be using on the model.

Here’s one that could blow a few minds…what if your photography background material is a pure black piece of canvas – or black paper?

It does not matter! Zap it with 5, 6 or perhaps even 7 additional stops worth of light (over what you’re using on the primary model) and you will again have a nice clean white backdrop.

It is a LOT of light and I would not suggest starting out using a black backdrop. When you begin nearer to white initially, it is a lot simpler. But, attempt it! It’s a amusing experiment and can teach you a lot regarding light!

The point being – by way of sufficient light, you can achieve a nice white photography background regardless of the type or color material you start with.

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For some more photography background information, check out this video: