Lighting a WHITE backdrop

[Jeff H]

Ok, I need some tips for lighting a white muslin backdrop so that it appears white not grey. I will be shooting my subject full length so I want the floor lit up as well as the background. I can do this all day long with headshots, but full length I always end up with a dark or grey-ish floor.

I have 4 alien bee AB800 to work with here along with two 48" shoot thru umbrella's and a large octabox.

Any suggestions for light placement to achieve an all white back ground??
I'm wanting to light my subject like this:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j75/jeff1070/model.jpg


Thanks!

[Exit]

The setup is pretty simple. Set 2 lights on either side of the background with umbrellas shooting into the background 2-3 feet from the actual backdrop.

Main light is one or two flashes with softboxes. Your model should be 5-8 feet from the background to avoid any bleed from the background (this will washout the edges of the model).

Meter your main lights with the background lights off. Then meter the background lights with the mains off. The background should read 1-2 stops brighter than the main lights to get a pure white background.

[Titus213]

The setup is pretty simple. Set 2 lights on either side of the background with umbrellas shooting into the background 2-3 feet from the actual backdrop.

Main light is one or two flashes with softboxes. Your model should be 5-8 feet from the background to avoid any bleed from the background (this will washout the edges of the model).

Meter your main lights with the background lights off. Then meter the background lights with the mains off. The background should read 1-2 stops brighter than the main lights to get a pure white background.

That's about it. The only thing left out is just before all this - go buy more lights.:lol:

[richardyoung]

That is funny.. that has to be one of the most common mistakes.. when shooting is overexposing the background.. causing flair in the lens. and light bleeding around the model..

[datadump]

i foudn the HARDEST part of this setup was the labour of using an iron to flatten out the kinks in the cloth. my 10x20 sheet is huge.. dang it was a pita to iron the whole thing. i guess for white, a paper roll seems easier than cloth..