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DPChallenge Forums >> Tips, Tricks, and Q&A >> White...
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 10/04/2006 12:58:10 AM · #1
How?

It just seems that no matter how much I try I can never get a good "white" in my photos.

How does one go about getting white backgrounds in their photographs? Shooting on a white background material usually results in greyish or yellowish tint. And if I adjust curves to whiten it I wash out my tones.

- Saj
 10/04/2006 01:00:13 AM · #2
are you shooting RAW? if not, are you using a grey card to set your WB?

what sort of lighting are you using?
 10/04/2006 01:03:39 AM · #3
Originally posted by photoheathen:
are you shooting RAW? if not, are you using a grey card to set your WB?

what sort of lighting are you using?


Very inadequate lighting. (Lighting is my next camera purchase.) But right now it's usually a combination of overhead lighting + 580EX flash.

I tried the grey card but didn't seem to be having an effect. Probably did it wrong.
 10/04/2006 01:03:57 AM · #4
Shooting JPEG mostly.
 10/04/2006 01:04:06 AM · #5
If you are using photoshop, use selective colour and make the white background really white. Pretty simple but it works pretty well without changing the rest of the colours in the photo. Now I just have to find a subject more appealing than rotten fruit

10/04/2006 01:06:20 AM · #6
Originally posted by theSaj:
Shooting JPEG mostly.


Well, I would suggest you start shooting RAW. If the background really is white, then that's exactly how it will be recorded in camera. Of course, given your lighting situation, the question remains as to whether the background really is white or not.

Shoot RAW, that's the best advise I can give you. You can then tweak the WB during RAW conversion, if need be. Usually you don't need to though, since the camera will record the scene exactly as you see it.

ETA: right, and selective color works wonderfully as well :)

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 01:07:13.
 10/04/2006 01:07:21 AM · #7
Originally posted by theSaj:
Shooting JPEG mostly.


If your lighting is a problem you should work in RAW instead since it's a lot easier to fix white balance issues in the raw converter.

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 01:07:34.
 10/04/2006 01:07:29 AM · #8
set your custom white balance before a shoot.

1. Get everything set up for the shot, save for the subject.

2. take a picture of the white b/g with all the settings you'll use for the final shot.

3. go to your menu, select custom white balance, and then select the picture you just took of the whiteness.

4. set the actual white balance to custom (on the top of the camera)

5. take a picture of the subject.
 10/04/2006 01:08:09 AM · #9
Selective color is illegal for basic challenges i believe.
 10/04/2006 01:08:36 AM · #10
Originally posted by tryals15:
set your custom white balance before a shoot.

1. Get everything set up for the shot, save for the subject.

2. take a picture of the white b/g with all the settings you'll use for the final shot.

3. go to your menu, select custom white balance, and then select the picture you just took of the whiteness.

4. set the actual white balance to custom (on the top of the camera)

5. take a picture of the subject.


I'll try that...
 10/04/2006 01:09:05 AM · #11
Originally posted by theSaj:
Selective color is illegal for basic challenges i believe.


no, it's legal
 10/04/2006 01:09:28 AM · #12
Originally posted by theSaj:
Selective color is illegal for basic challenges i believe.


No it's not. It's fine to use so long as you don't use a mask with it or change the blending mode.
 10/04/2006 01:13:39 AM · #13
Most important tip is to overexpose. If you're metering part of the background the camera is trying to make it gray. You'll need to add 2-3 stops of exposure compensation usually. Setting the white balance isn't going to change white to gray it's just going to give you a more true gray where the RGB values are equal.
 10/04/2006 01:27:36 AM · #14
Originally posted by TechnoShroom:
Most important tip is to overexpose. If you're metering part of the background the camera is trying to make it gray. You'll need to add 2-3 stops of exposure compensation usually. Setting the white balance isn't going to change white to gray it's just going to give you a more true gray where the RGB values are equal.


???

I boosted my shots until they were almost high key and still got greyish influences.
 10/04/2006 01:34:41 AM · #15
Originally posted by theSaj:
Originally posted by TechnoShroom:
Most important tip is to overexpose. If you're metering part of the background the camera is trying to make it gray. You'll need to add 2-3 stops of exposure compensation usually. Setting the white balance isn't going to change white to gray it's just going to give you a more true gray where the RGB values are equal.


???

I boosted my shots until they were almost high key and still got greyish influences.


Your lighting setup almost certainly shows major variation in light intensity on different portions of the BG ("light falloff") so you can't get it all white in-camera without overexposing like crazy, which is anyway a bad idea. If you really want a pure white BG straight from camera, you have to light it separately from the subject; that's a given. Can't do that with the lights you have described.

R.
 10/04/2006 01:36:56 AM · #16
Originally posted by theSaj:
Originally posted by TechnoShroom:
Most important tip is to overexpose. If you're metering part of the background the camera is trying to make it gray. You'll need to add 2-3 stops of exposure compensation usually. Setting the white balance isn't going to change white to gray it's just going to give you a more true gray where the RGB values are equal.


???

I boosted my shots until they were almost high key and still got greyish influences.


By "greyish influences" what do you mean? The RGB values were what range? You can always clean up very light gray values (240's-250's) through a combination of curves and selective color.
 10/04/2006 01:46:22 AM · #17
You can try this technique. Someone showed it to me to correct white balance but it may work for you too. You can try curves and when you select the dropper for the white point and select the background that is grey to set to white. Maybe this helps... Do you have a photo we can see?

Message edited by author 2006-10-04 02:30:01.
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