Simple White Background for Portrait Photos?

[smackitsakic]

Does anybody have any simple, cheap ways to achieve a white background for portrait photos? I don't have an expensive setup, as you can see in my signature below this post, but would love to be able to take some white background portrait photos of my wife and I for Christmas this year.

Any tips/suggestions on how I can achieve this without having to spend zillions of dollars?

 

[Big Mike]

For the background to be white, it has to be brighter (more light) than the subject, so even standing in front of a white wall may not do it, unless you have extra light on the background.

The proper way to do it, is to have separate background lights that illuminate only the background and not the model. You then use your main light on the model.

 

[Derrel]

A plain white wall that is illuminated by a flash unit can make a white background. A white bed sheet tacked up and similarly lighted can also work. Failing either of those two things, two or three pieces of white poster board can create a white wall. And finally, a roll of seamless photographic background paper is white, and not too awfully expensive. What you need to do is make sure the "white" background is receiving more light than the subjects (you and your wife).

 

[smackitsakic]

sweet, thanks for the tips.

Any suggestions on how to light the background subject? Will a simple house halogen light do it well enought? Perhaps a handful of bright flashlights?

 

[KmH]

Any light will do it. But, you could be causing yourself problems by using mixed lighting, or using lights that have different color tempertures, and causing white balance issues.

Actually, to do in the camera is not all that easy. Zack Arias has a good tutorial on how to set up a white (high key) background so you don't get a bunch of spill.

Halloween, I hung a white sheet in the front yard to take pics of the tricker-treaters that stopped by for candy. I didn't light the sheet separately, but I did have 2 speedlights on light stands each with an umbrella.

I selected the sheet in post processing and increased the exposure of it enough to turn it pure white.

Actually, I selected the subject and inverted the selection.

 

[Big Mike]

Essentially, you could do it with any type of lighting...but the issue will be keeping all the lights consistent. For example, if you have halogen lights on your background, and on-camera flash lighting you up...they will probably be different color temps. Since you can only set a single white balance, one of those color temps will give you a color cast.
THIS seems to be the go-to tutorial for white background.

To simplify what Derrell & I were trying to say, to really get a proper white background, you need at least two lights and three or four would be better.

To maybe get something similar, you could shoot in front a big window when it's bright outside. Make sure to set the exposure for the subjects, not the bright window.

Or maybe go outside and use a snowy scene for your background...if you don't have snow yet, it shouldn't be long

 

[Derrel]

If you absolutely NEED to use incandescent lights for the background, then set the camera's white balance to Incandescent (usually somewhere from 2900 to 3,500 degrees Kelvin) and then use a Full Bastard Amber or a Full CTO type of orange-ish gelatin filter material over the flash unit. This will shift the flash's 5500 degree Kelvin light to a warmer, more "orangey" color temperature, which is what the camera's WB will be set for on Incandescent WHite Balance pre-set. That will equalize the color temperatures of the incandescent background lights with the electronic flash, well enough for "government work" (apologies to my friend who works in govt.).

Using hot lights for the background, you will often need to slow the shutter down quite a bit, say to 1/15 second or maybe even slower, in order to let the hot lights "burn in" and make an exposure that is amply bright. The flash-lighted people in the front of the set will be lighted by flash, which does not depend on shutter time to make its exposure, but instead is regulated by how powerful the flash burst is.

 

[KmH]

The above post has been reported for adjudication as spam.

 

[doziergraphic]

Stopped in to the local fabric store last night (felt strange, but was confident in my manhood!) and saw some 100% polyester fabric that looked like it would make for good backdrop material. There were two different styles that looked good - one was a suede-like black, kind of slick but not shiny, and the other was more of a 'broken' suede that had nice texture to it.

both styles were 5.99/yd at 60" in width. by my primitive calculation, that'd be $18 for a 5' x 9' backdrop (i believe it was washable also).

now to the experts - where am I going wrong here in assuming this would be good backdrop material?

 

[ChevyBaby]

I was once reduced to using some broom poles, gaffa tape and a VERY CLEAN white sheet as a backdrop in my house once. I used those lamps that you get on your desk (you know the ones?) to light the background. Extremely cheap.