I am often asked - by frustrated shooters - what materials they should be using to have a crisp, clean, pure white photography background.
Regrettably, that is the inappropriate question to ask! It in reality, is not the background material that gives you the uncontaminated white that you are in search of.
It is the source of the light!
Here's the case…you put up a dirt free white bed sheet or a piece of white paper - and you situate your model in front of it.
You set up a light source or - even more than one, and light your subject. All is looking excellent. You think you have got a suitably lit subject matter and a pleasant white backdrop.
Next, you take the photograph.
Anxiously, you jog to the photo lab if you're shooting film or to your computer if you are shooting digital. You examine the completed picture and ta daaa!
Your model is perfectly lit, however the background is a dull gray color. Not the sparkling, pure white you saw in the viewfinder!
Seem typical? If you've been having a tough time getting high key photographs…And you've been getting that dingy gray color (regardless of the materials you employ) here is how to repair the problem!
All light has a certain drop off feature.
With that I mean the further the light is from a subject matter, the less bright it is. Subsequently, meaning… when you've got a specific amount of light hitting your model, and you are using that SAME light to light your background, your light is further from the set than from the model. Hence, it will be somewhat less bright by the time it gets to your background material.
Whew! That is a tongue twister. In other words...
The reason you are getting that gray color is because there is more light hitting your model than is striking the photography background.
To get your background be an untainted, picture perfect white…merely hit it with MORE light than you are using on your subject matter!
Seems obvious after you comprehend it, but this is a major sticking point for many shooters.
The amount of "over-exposure" that's required on the backdrop is dependent upon the color of the backdrop material. If it is already white, you could probably get by with using enough added illumination to have an over-exposure of about half an f-stop. Perhaps even one full f-stop.
If the fabric you are starting with is gray…that's OK as well! Just hit it with in the region of 2 ½ stops (give or take) more brightness than you will be using for the subject matter.
Here is one that could blow a number of minds…what if your photography background substance is actually a pure black piece of material - or black paper?
It does not make any difference! Zap it with 5, 6 or maybe even 7 extra stops worth of illumination (in excess of what you might be using on the primary subject matter) and you will once again have a nice uncontaminated white background.
This can be a LOT of light and I wouldn't advocate starting out with a black set. If you start closer to white at first, it is a lot simpler. But, try it! It is a fun experiment and can educate you a lot about light!
The point is - with sufficient light, you can achieve a nice white photography background regardless of the type or color material you begin with.
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