Studio looking headshots.

[Gladiat0R]

Been requested by a football club to get headshot photos with a nice clean white background. Seeing as I do not have a white backdrop I am going to use a white whiteboard (Is this ok?) Can you guys help me in ways to do this properly as i've never done this sort of thing before.

[Philco]

It would help to know what lights + modifiers you have available to use.

[Gladiat0R]

3 x sunpak 383's triggered by cactus triggers, 3 x light stands and 3 x white shoot through umbrellas.

[SkipD]

Been requested by a football club to get headshot photos with a nice clean white background. Seeing as I do not have a white backdrop I am going to use a white whiteboard (Is this ok?) Can you guys help me in ways to do this properly as i've never done this sort of thing before.A whiteboard (for writing on with a wipe-off marker) is usually much too reflective to use as a background, in my opinion.

You would be better off with something like a white bed sheet (with wrinkles ironed or steamed out) at least six feet behind the subject and lit with a separate light (or lights) so that it is illuminated with light a stop or two brighter than that illuminating the subject. That will force the "whiteness".

[DC Fan]

Zack Arias has a series of tutorials (http://www.zarias.com/?p=71) that will guide you through his process. Basically, he takes a white background and lights it with two strobes, then uses a third strobe for a face light. It'll take some reading, but it's time well spent.

[mattograph]

Zack Arias has a series of tutorials (http://www.zarias.com/?p=71) that will guide you through his process. Basically, he takes a white background and lights it with two strobes, then uses a third strobe for a face light. It'll take some reading, but it's time well spent.

+1. This guy is spot on here.

[slivr]

Beware that Whiteboard is going to have a hot-spot and/or specular highlights on it if the flash is too straight on to the lens axis, and using shoot-through umbrellas splash so much light around you'll have to work positioning them for best results. Don't know what kind of shadows you want on their faces in the images but with 3 lights and umbrellas you have a lot of options there.

You could test a simple two-light portrait setup such as:
1. Place athlete on stool several feet in front of white board (assuming its large enough to move them forward and still not show board's borders).
2. Place main light strobe with shoot-through about the same height as subject's head, 45degrees off to camera's left side ... and about 4 feet from umbrella to subject's face.
3. Second strobe/umbrella just to camera and photographer's right side, and farther back than the lens for your fill light. Either power it down for fill, or move it farther back to produce fill light in the shadows that isn't as bright as your main.
4. Finally - place the 3rd strobe behind athlete ... sitting low near ground and shooting up at an angle onto the white board. That'll blow it out to produce a white background, but if your subject is too close to that board - you'll get too much bounce light spilling harshly onto the players edges.

Alternative setup: Last year, our team used low lighting for the football players by having them take a knee, and a Q-flash with reflector was set on the ground slightly angled up towards their face, about 6 feet in front of the player. Camera was at chin-height to the player and just above the Q-flash strobe (so also 6 - 7 feet from player). Sun was behind the players and fairly high in the sky providing hair/shoulder light. You could duplicate that with your setup. This layout gives a slighly more menacing light onto the players faces since it's cast from below the chin ... but it was close enough on axis to their face that it didn't look like the old ghoulish vampire flicks of the 50's. So you could place a shoot-through umbrella on the ground angled up towards them ... place cardboard or scrim between umbrella and camera lens to prevent flare into your lens, then stand over the umbrella and shoot them against that whiteboard. Again - you'll probably need a light shooting at an angle onto the whiteboard to make it sufficiently blow out and overcome the shadow cast by the player.

Just a couple ideas.

[Magic_Puzzle]

I would grab myself a white sheet to drape over the white board to deal with any reflective issues. Sheets work very well for small head shots and you can use them for nothing unless you wife catches you sneaking out of your house with them.

[Wilt]

If you use a white board, shoot with it at a considerable angle to the lens axis, so that any surface reflections are not cast so that the lens sees them.

You must use separate lighting for the background, lighting the subject with another light. Otherwise you will capture the white background as a light gray or darker!

[sfaust]

Why not just do it right and buy a roll of white seamless paper for $25. You can hang it on a wall to eliminate the needs for stands, pole, etc. You'll have about 12 yards of it, so it should easily last for dozens of future shoots, probably at a cost of around .25cents per shoot when averaged out.

It's easy to light, no ironing, no reflections, and cheap. If $25 is too much, you can always buy a large piece of white construction paper at an art shop for a couple dollars and hang that on the wall.

[Gladiat0R]

and where can i get white seamless paper from?

[ed.]

and where can i get white seamless paper from?
BHPhoto?

[sfaust]

B&H photo in NY, Calumet, Adorama all ship. Most local professional photography stores will carry seamless as well.

[hawk911]

$25 for seamless? I paid $60 locally at an art store. How much is shipping though, on 15 lbs of paper:confused:

edit: BH price on 107" x12' superwhite: BH Super white 107" roll (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/45468-REG/Savage_1_12_107_x12_yds_Paper_Background.html)

[sfaust]

107" seamless is overkill for a headshot. I can get a 52" seamless at Calumet for $27. I've see it as low as $15. 52" is fine for a headshot which is what the OP as asking about. Shipping is $11 to my location, but I pick up my seamless locally at Calument, E.P. Levine, or Hunts, which are all a short drive for me. Some art supply stores also carry seamless, but are usually more expensive.

[hawk911]

sure- now that we've qualified what size roll ;) I may have to get some of the smaller stuff. As you say, 107 is overkill for simple headshots. (and it's awkward to lug around)

for the item I posted above, the item price + shipping was just about what I got it for locally so it's a wash for me.

[cmarion]

I agree the whiteboard will be very reflective and if it has been used it is probably no longer white at all. There are sure to be lots of previously 'erased' lesson plans and quizes still resident. Go with the paper, you'll have better results than with a sheet. Not that sheets are bad, just that paper is more of a sure thing.

[sfaust]

As you say, 107 is overkill for simple headshots. (and it's awkward to lug around)

I find I rarely need a 107" roll anymore outside the studio. I have a BMW 325 wagon, and a mini-van. The mini-van holds a 107" roll nicely. When I need to take the BMW (wife has the van for a gardening run, or I just prefer to take it, etc) I just throw in three shorter rolls and hang thenm with a slight overlap. I can still cover large machines, group shots, etc, just as I would when overlapping the 107" rolls to get a larger space. The seams are trivial to remove in post, while in contrast putting a 107" seamless into a BMW 325 wagon isn't ;) So I find myself taking 325 and shorter rolls more often when I'm not lugging around a full crew and stuffed van full of equipment.

[hawk911]

How do you hang them? Mine only hang on a single pole...

[sdipirro]

I don't know if it's possible to rent a Lastolite Hilite background yet (they're pretty new), but they're very portable and easy to setup for exactly this kind of shot. Here was my first test shot using one:

[sfaust]

How do you hang them? Mine only hang on a single pole...

I assume you mean for using multiple rolls to get a wider area... There are adapters (for lack of a better term that seems to escape me for the moment), that will take two poles on the same background stand. I can then alternate each roll between poles to give me a light overlap when I unroll them.

For doing headshots, obviously only need one pole. But you can also just tack it to a wall with tape, pins, etc, if you take care not to leave holes of damage the wall. A large white board is a perfect place to use some gaffers tape to hold up a 53" seamless, and leave the roll lying on the ground. I bring stands/poles, but try to improvise first to save on dragging out more gear if possible.

[hawk911]

gotcha- good ideas. Thanks

[Alexajlex]

The Zack Arias writeup is really good.