Secret to bright white backgrounds in photos.

Probably an old question that's been asked many times but I need help. I've been doing some studio shoots lately with white seamless paper background. Been trying different lighting techniques but background comes out looking grayish. Can someone provide some insight on how to get that nice crisp, bright white background? thanks ahead of time for your help.

I've shot with 2 lights and 3 with one facing background. but still looking dingy gray.

Rene

Try having two lights facing the background, one on either side facing inwards. That should even out the lighting for a start.

If it's still grey you need to up the power or change your ISO/aperture to let more light in. What light sources are you using?

Like photopanda said you need at least 2 lights on the drop to make it even. Those lights need to be about a stop or two brighter than the light falling on the subject in order to make them white,

Soliz387 wrote in post #10597018
Probably an old question that's been asked many times but I need help. I've been doing some studio shoots lately with white seamless paper background. Been trying different lighting techniques but background comes out looking grayish. Can someone provide some insight on how to get that nice crisp, bright white background? thanks ahead of time for your help.

I've shot with 2 lights and 3 with one facing background. but still looking dingy gray.

Rene

Did you set the one light facing the background to fire at full power (1:1) in manual flash mode? If it is in E-TTL mode it will fire at very low power.

You MUST independently light the b/g in order to make it white. The Inverse Square Law prevents lighting backgrounds with the same lighting unit as the subject, while having the b/g come out truly white.

What Wilt mentioned holds true,, you must light your white background to get it absolutely white to a point the white background burns out..

I use two 430EX off camera for main lighting and fill.. Mostly only one 430EX for main and reflector for fill.. I have an old Nikon SB-28 which I use to light my white background.. All flashes are set to manual exposure..

I place the SB-28 behind the subject aimed at the background, about one meter from the background..I take a flash meter reading from the main source and a reading off the background flash.. If for example my main flash reads f/8 I adjust my background flash from anything to f/4 to f/8.. You have to be careful not to set your background flash too high as you can get spill, even flair.. It doesn't take much for the background to go pure white.. I also use the little wide angle diffuser to spread a more even light..

Here is an example..

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photoPanda wrote in post #10597057
Try having two lights facing the background, one on either side facing inwards. That should even out the lighting for a start.

If it's still grey you need to up the power or change your ISO/aperture to let more light in. What light sources are you using?

This will also change the exposure for the subject and not only the background light..

Both the main flash and background flash have to be adjusted independently to get the best results..

The easiest way to shoot and remember how to get a white back ground is to shoot the back lights at 2 stops more power than you main light on the subject.

Mark

Same white background - different looks

More of his white seamless tutorials

White Seamless Tutorial :: Part 1 :: Gear & Space

Markk9 wrote in post #10599358
The easiest way to shoot and remember how to get a white back ground is to shoot the back lights at 2 stops more power than you main light on the subject.

Mark

I think the above statement needs modification and clarification...

If you are using REFLECTED light readings off the background, the readings taken should be +2EV higher (actually more, at +2 to +3EV, for pure white background) than reflected light readings taken of an 18% gray card at subject position.

If you are using INCIDENT light readings, the reading at the background should be at least the same brightness (if not +1EV) as the incident light reading taken at subject position.

Too much light has the problem of bleed over bounced flare around the subject, so you have to be careful to not cause this problem.

Wilt wrote in post #10600624
I think the above statement needs modification and clarification...

If you are using REFLECTED light readings off the background, the readings taken should be +2EV higher (actually more, at +2 to +3EV, for pure white background) than reflected light readings taken of an 18% gray card at subject position.

If you are using INCIDENT light readings, the reading at the background should be at least the same brightness (if not +1EV) as the incident light reading taken at subject position.

Too much light has the problem of bleed over bounced flare around the subject, so you have to be careful to not cause this problem.

For my set ups, using a hand held light meter, I set the subject at f5.6 or F8 depending on what I need. The light reflecting off the background using a using a light meter is set f11 for the 5.6 and f16 for the 8. I was taught this a long time ago and has always worked for me.

Yes, to much light will cause problems, just as to little will.

Mark

Markk9 wrote in post #10600720
For my set ups, using a hand held light meter, I set the subject at f5.6 or F8 depending on what I need. The light reflecting off the background using a using a light meter is set f11 for the 5.6 and f16 for the 8. I was taught this a long time ago and has always worked for me.

Yes, to much light will cause problems, just as to little will.

Mark

Not to be argumentative, but to be illustrative and educational to others...

If a white background is +2EV above 18% gray card (I just measured a MacBeth card with spot meter and the difference was +1.0EV), lighting the background at the same level as the gray card at the subject puts the white background at +2EV to begin with. So making the background lighting be +2EV brighter puts the white background at +4EV (as measured by reflected light). In practice, using 0EV for background light is not sufficient for pure white...it will be about 92% white. At +1EV it will be about 99% white, and at +2EV it will be at 100% (it actually will hit 100% white at about +1.5EV brighter than subject's incident light). 'Bright white' backgrounds can be a bit brighter (compared to the white patch on the MacBeth card)

I was not disputing what Mark posted earlier, but wanted merely for people to understand the situation in a more unambigous manner, since not everyone uses an incident meter.

Beautiful. Thanks to everyone. I knew this was the right forum to ask. Thanks for the great help guys.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10597078
Like photopanda said you need at least 2 lights on the drop to make it even. Those lights need to be about a stop or two brighter than the light falling on the subject in order to make them white,

This was basically what i did and it worked beautifully. thanks guys.

yogestee wrote in post #10597588
What Wilt mentioned holds true,, you must light your white background to get it absolutely white to a point the white background burns out..

I use two 430EX off camera for main lighting and fill.. Mostly only one 430EX for main and reflector for fill.. I have an old Nikon SB-28 which I use to light my white background.. All flashes are set to manual exposure..

I place the SB-28 behind the subject aimed at the background, about one meter from the background..I take a flash meter reading from the main source and a reading off the background flash.. If for example my main flash reads f/8 I adjust my background flash from anything to f/4 to f/8.. You have to be careful not to set your background flash too high as you can get spill, even flair.. It doesn't take much for the background to go pure white.. I also use the little wide angle diffuser to spread a more even light..

Here is an example..

Thanks for the great info. What diffuser do you use if you dont mind me asking?