DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> How to achieve the perfect white background?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 24 of 24, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 02/05/2007 12:44:06 AM · #1
Im courious, what does it take?
i browsed around online, couldn't find much to easily

heres an example of what i am talking about

CLICK

thanks guys!
 02/05/2007 12:45:18 AM · #2
One word.

"Studio"
 02/05/2007 12:57:03 AM · #3
Originally posted by Judi:
One word.

"Studio"


yea still not easy witha studio but not too bad. I told my wife that it couldn't be done in our studio with no editing and she proved me wrong.


so first thing you need are some lights and some white background paper.
 02/05/2007 01:01:49 AM · #4
Light and levels adjustment are your friend.


No PP (Minimal Editing Rules) I watched my histograms closely and watched for clipping on the preview... I wanted the white to clip.

That was with two softboxes.


This was done with less equipment (cemera flash with slave fill), but I will admit I did have to hit the levels adjustment pretty hard on the highlights.
 02/05/2007 01:02:20 AM · #5
Just light the background two stops brighter than the subject and you're all set. :-)
02/05/2007 01:02:53 AM · #6
Originally posted by Judi:
One word.

"Studio"


alright, thats a good start

heres my equiptment

Camera: 400d
Lenses: 18-55 kit lens, 50mm 1.8
Flash: Canon 580ex

what i plan on getting soon, is a light stand with an umbrella and a cheaper flash taht will used as a slave (ive been reading the strobist blog)

now, can i obtain this effect with the addition of more componenet, possibly some type of background material?

:)
02/05/2007 01:02:53 AM · #7
the usal thing to do is too light your b/ground independantly giving it 11/2 /2 stops ver the base exposure

02/05/2007 01:04:16 AM · #8
I use a piece of white posterboard and either point my lights ($5 clamp lamps from the hardware store) directly at it or push it to full white in processing. As long as you have a smooth background of a single color, you can always change it to white in processing.
 02/05/2007 01:05:58 AM · #9
Originally posted by Elmakias:
Originally posted by Judi:
One word.

"Studio"


alright, thats a good start

heres my equiptment

Camera: 400d
Lenses: 18-55 kit lens, 50mm 1.8
Flash: Canon 580ex

what i plan on getting soon, is a light stand with an umbrella and a cheaper flash taht will used as a slave (ive been reading the strobist blog)

now, can i obtain this effect with the addition of more componenet, possibly some type of background material?

:)


posterboard, a roll of white paper, etc.
 02/05/2007 01:07:38 AM · #10
Originally posted by Elmakias:


now, can i obtain this effect with the addition of more componenet, possibly some type of background material?

:)


I find the best background for small subjects is cheap white posterboard (the kind ya get at the drug store). I use the shiny side.
 02/05/2007 01:08:38 AM · #11
what is the subject is, 6 feet tall by 3 feet wide


Message edited by author 2007-02-05 01:10:22.
 02/05/2007 01:09:21 AM · #12
//strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html is a site I think I found on here at some time. It explains how to build a light box for under ten bucks. I haven't gone all the way through building one myself but the concepts have helped me out.
02/05/2007 01:10:29 AM · #13
Yup...you are on the right track. My daughter uses the rebel with the kit lens in my studio setup. White backdrop (board or material of some sort) and lights at 45 degrees as a basic starting point. Once you start to experiment with different angles/strengths of your lights you will start to look at further lighting to overexpose your background. Then you will start to see what you are after. A bit more fine tuning with settings/equipment and you will be there.

No one way is the correct and only way....experiment and work out what works for you and take it from there. Listen to lots of advice...read lots and you will get there. Before you know it you will be helping others.
 02/05/2007 01:12:56 AM · #14
Originally posted by Elmakias:
what is the subject is, 6 feet tall by 3 feet wide


Big paper rolls and lots of light.
 02/05/2007 01:13:54 AM · #15
In the example site you showed, I picked one of the images at random:



Look closely lower right (between arm and sweater at the bottom of the gap) for obvious evidence that the figure has been cut from another shot and pasted on a white BG in photoshop; sloppy selection.

As far as getting "perfect white" in-camera, this requires exposing a white BG to zone 8 or higher basically. If you metered the BG only, then you'd give +3 exposure based on that metering (which is zone 5 metering) and it would be white. Basically, in a studio you need a white BG large enough that you can place the object/s you are shooting a significant distance in front of it, then you light the BG separately from the subject/s such that when you expose the subjects correctly the BG is exposed to +3 EV, and you have white.

The "significant distance" between subject/s and BG is for two reasons: to be bale to light the BG evenly without any of that lighting spilling over to the subject/s, and to avoid having the subject/s cast any shadows on the BG.

R.

Message edited by author 2007-02-05 01:29:33.
 02/05/2007 01:13:56 AM · #16
Originally posted by Judi:
Yup...you are on the right track. My daughter uses the rebel with the kit lens in my studio setup. White backdrop (board or material of some sort) and lights at 45 degrees as a basic starting point. Once you start to experiment with different angles/strengths of your lights you will start to look at further lighting to overexpose your background. Then you will start to see what you are after. A bit more fine tuning with settings/equipment and you will be there.

No one way is the correct and only way....experiment and work out what works for you and take it from there. Listen to lots of advice...read lots and you will get there. Before you know it you will be helping others.


thanks, very helpful, so for a backdrop, ive seen these rolls that stick to you wall and people jsut roll them down to the wall and accross the floor, what material is that?

edit;: ok, bear typed up something that is prolly what im looking for, thanks everyone, i hope other can benefit from this thread as well!

Message edited by author 2007-02-05 01:15:17.
 02/05/2007 01:16:04 AM · #17
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:


This was done with less equipment (cemera flash with slave fill), but I will admit I did have to hit the levels adjustment pretty hard on the highlights.


Good example of a mixed solution. I see so many who try to fix it in post and do it very poorly. Nothing is worse than a subject that looks like they were masked out from the background.
02/05/2007 01:28:00 AM · #18
Originally posted by Elvis_L:

yea still not easy witha studio but not too bad. I told my wife that it couldn't be done in our studio with no editing and she proved me wrong.



Probably needed a bit more background light or be a bit further from the background. I wasn't fond of the shadow. Liked the pic though :-)


02/05/2007 09:05:37 PM · #19
if its all about overexposing the background and not the subject, than how to you light the white paper that the subject is sitting directly on, without everexposing the subject?
 02/05/2007 09:22:47 PM · #20
There are limitless scenarios that would render independent lighting of the background impractical. But when possible, that is the best solution.
When the background cannot be properly lighted, you can resort to photoshop: select all of the background; then using curves, choose the white point pen and click on the selected background. It will become pure white and the rest of the image will be unaltered. Shadows on the background will be preserved but if not neutral gray, will be altered in hue. Some practice (or very good luck) is necessary to acheive good results with this method.
 02/05/2007 09:36:39 PM · #21
This thread is soooo good! I have been wanting to ask the same question for a long time, but I felt silly to ask given I have no studio equipment except for a cool light I brought home from school and it seemed like something geared more toward the pros among us. Now I have some inspiration for this year. Many thanks for posting the question Elmakias. :) I hope to get away from "snap shot" photos and into more thoughtful set-ups.
 02/05/2007 11:15:08 PM · #22
For smaller objects (and you don't have a seamless background handy) try some white foamcore board... light heavily behind your subject, boost levels to remove major shadows and/or line where the 2 boards meet.







Ed: These were all with Foamcore boards and Big Lots! clamp light spots.

Message edited by author 2007-02-05 23:16:34.
 02/05/2007 11:39:26 PM · #23
Originally posted by Judi:
One word.

"Studio"


How about two words.

Exposure control

Have the light on the subject be two stops darker than the background. Expose for the subject. The background will be white.

If you want a black background, have the light on the subject be two stops brighter than the background. Expose for the subject. The background will be black.

All you have to do is add, subtract or control the light so that those ratios are correct and you can make anything white or black. It's all about knowing how your camera sees, compared to how you see.

Tune to taste. You might want a completely blown out background, in that case, 2.5 stops is closer to what you want and so on.

Message edited by author 2007-02-05 23:40:17.
 02/08/2007 03:58:21 AM · #24
Equipment

4 Cameras including a Panasonic GL-2
O'Connor Head Tripod
(2) 1000 watt Arri tungsten arc lights
(2) 750 Watt spots
(2) 300 Watt Spots
(1) Mole Richardson Softlite
(1) Chimera Softbox

I agree with the one word of "Studio," it sure helps, but I agree more with Gordon. Exposure control is the key. For the black back thing we usually light our subject very high and don't light the back at all, unless of course we need to see something. Then we damp down the F-stop until we get the look that we want.
For white, we just do the exact opposite. This is a great technique for commercial shots, but also makes a great set for a movie. For example, they used this technique in "The Matrix." Early on in the film Morpheus talks to Neo about the "Real World." They are in a totally white atmosphere. This is easy for stationary shots, but moving shots like this get a little tricky. If you are going to try something like this I recommend a long, wide hallway that you can put tracks in and a platform to roll the lights down the hall to follow your subject. Of course, now the "one word" switches from "Studio" to "Warehouse"

-Good Luck

Mserebreny
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 06/27/2025 03:05:09 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 06/27/2025 03:05:09 PM EDT.