Super white backgrounds

[i Kandi Photography]

This is one of my favorite Photographers. I cant figure out how she gets her backgrounds so crisp and WHITE! New Jersey Newborn Photographer EMA Photography - The Studio Blog » EMA Photography - The Studio Blog scroll down to 6th and 7th photo. Does it depend on the amount of space you have? My studio space is approx 13x17 and when i put the lights on the background to light it up it never seems i have enough room to move the subject up far enough to keep the lights f/ drowning them out. I just want to be able to shoot like this ! I love how white and clean the photos look! Any advice would be great. We have 2 softboxes and 2 umbrellas.
Thanks!

 

[gsgary]

This is one of my favorite Photographers. I cant figure out how she gets her backgrounds so crisp and WHITE! New Jersey Newborn Photographer EMA Photography - The Studio Blog » EMA Photography - The Studio Blog scroll down to 6th and 7th photo. Does it depend on the amount of space you have? My studio space is approx 13x17 and when i put the lights on the background to light it up it never seems i have enough room to move the subject up far enough to keep the lights f/ drowning them out. I just want to be able to shoot like this ! I love how white and clean the photos look! Any advice would be great. We have 2 softboxes and 2 umbrellas.
Thanks!

You need more lights, 2 lights need to be on the background then you need lights for the subject

 

[i Kandi Photography]

You need more lights, 2 lights need to be on the background then you need lights for the subject

The 2 umbrellas are on slave flashes..could we just use those on the background?

 

[Montana]

Yes, and experiment with the flash ratios of subject and background.

 

[rufus5150]

Rule of thumb: overexpose the background by 2 stops and light it evenly. On the rare occasion I shoot large things against a white background, I use 4 lights, but it's probably overkill.

 

[christopher walrath]

And one more thing to bear in mind. If you were to shoot a black wall at the meter reading you would get a grey wall. And if you were to then increase exposure by five stops it would near white. Think, a black wall looking white on a print. You want to try and keep your backdrop about three or more stops above your subject and, yes, a little more lighting on the backdrop never hurts either.

 

[KmH]

Check out Zack Arias' website.

Notice how he uses bifold doors to flag spill from his background lights off the subject.

 

[bdavis]

Zack's website rocks. He shows how to turn the background pure white and completely light the subject with one light. His DVD is also amazing.

 

[JerryPH]

ZA definitely has "sum rad skillz" and I love his DVDs, but that technique has been around for decades. If you blow out the background by 3 stops... doesn't matter what the background is... it will all be pure white.