Photography By Michelle

Archive for July 18th, 2010

I’m commonly asked – by annoyed shooters – what materials they should be using so you can get a crisp, unsoiled, pure white photography background.

Unfortunately, that would be the inappropriate question to ask! It in actuality, isn’t the backdrop material that will give you the unsoiled white you’re seeking.

It’s the source of the light!

Here is the case…you put up a sparkling white bed sheet or a piece of white paper – and you situate your subject matter in front of it.

You set up a light source or two and light your subject matter. All is looking excellent. You think you’ve got an acceptably lit subject matter and a nice white backdrop.

Next, you shoot the picture.

Nervously, you run to the photo lab if you are shooting film or to a computer if you are shooting digital. You check the completed photo and ta daaa!

Your subject matter is perfectly lit, but the backdrop is a dull gray color. Not the clean, untainted white you saw within the viewfinder!

Seem recognizable? If you’ve been having a tough time creating high key images…And you’ve been creating that dull gray color (regardless of the materials you use) here’s how to repair the situation!

All light has a certain fall off aspect.

With that I mean the further away the light is from a subject, the less bright it is. Consequently, that means… if you have a certain amount of light striking your subject matter, and you’re using that SAME illumination to light your backdrop, your light is further away from your backdrop than from your subject matter. So, it will be a little less bright by the time it gets to your backdrop material.

Wow! That is a tongue twister. In other words…

The main reason you are getting that gray color is because there’s more light striking your subject matter than is striking the photography background.

To have your backdrop be a genuine, picture perfect white…merely hit it with MORE illumination than you are using for the subject matter!

Appears obvious when you understand it, but this can be a major sticking point for a lot of shooters.

The amount of “over-exposure” you require on the backdrop is dependent on the color of the backdrop material. If it is already white, you could get by with using adequate additional illumination to have an over-exposure of more or less half an f-stop. Perhaps even one full f-stop.

If the material you are starting with is gray…that’s OK too! Just strike it with approximately 2 ½ stops (give or take) more illumination than you happen to be using on the subject matter.

Here is one that may blow plenty of minds…imagine if your photography background material is actually a pure black piece of material – or black paper?

It does not make any difference! Zap it with 5, 6 or perhaps even 7 additional stops worth of illumination (in excess of what you are using on the primary subject matter) and you will once again have a nice uncontaminated white background.

This is a LOT of illumination and I would not suggest starting out using a black background. When you start off nearer to white at first, it’s a lot less difficult. However, take a crack at it! It’s a amusing experiment and can teach you a lot regarding light!

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

Want to know how to acquire a pro quality photography background for NEXT TO NOTHING? This is bound to move your photography to a new level! Check out the above link.

Or, If you are already a pretty good shooter…do you intend to begin making a living using your camera? Take a look at: PartTimePhotography.com.

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