Not enough lighting, or something else?

[helloyo53]

Hi everyone.

So I'm having a bit of a problem. I have started shooting pictures of objects against white backgrounds. For the most part, they turn out okay, I've had three accepted into photostocks.

However, I am starting to have a problem. A lot of the times when I take the pictures, the white background ends up turning grey. Here's an example:

Is it not powerful enough lighting, or is it something I can adjust on my camera?

Thanks for any help.

 

[SpeedTrap]

Simple, you just need to add more light to the background.

 

[davebmck]

Might be the white balance. What type of lights are you using. You might want to try setting a custom white balance for the lighting situation you have.

 

[wtdeane]

Definitely white balance. More light will just blow-out the grey, but not get rid of it.

Cheers!

 

[Dwig]

...
Is it not powerful enough lighting, or is it something I can adjust on my camera?...

Adding more light will not help. The problem, other than the slight WB issue, is the result of incorrect metering. When subjects are dominantly white, or black for that matter, light meters usually give the wrong exposure, shifting the tones toward a middle gray. You need to either manually set an adjusted exposure or dial in and adjustment amount (EV compensation).

In this particular case it needs about +1 EV, but when in doubt bracket.