On this video tutorial photographer Gavin Hoey takes a look at five common problems that you might effect your photos when shooting with a white background.
White backgrounds can be great (especially for cutting your subject away from the background more easily). However getting a perfect white background isn’t always easy and there might be all sorts of problems.
First you need to light both your subject and your background so that both be lit properly. You can put a light just behind your subject (this might not be possible depending on your subject but in many cases it is). The second thing that you can do is light your background from behind – this can be better – to do this evenly you might need two lights one on each side.
You will also need to properly balance the light on your subject and the light on the background – otherwise you might have all sorts of issues. If you have a light meter this can help you and Hoey shows how he uses his meter to test both his model and the background. Another interesting tip – you can use a reflective surface if your subject is on the ground (or even if you are shooting a product on a table) to bounce light and make your background whiter.
Of course you can fix some problems in post processing (Photoshop/Lightroom etc.) but it might be difficulty if your original image isn’t lit properly (you need the area around your subject to be white – the edges you can probably fix in post).
If you are into shooting with a white background – check out these video tutorials here on LensVid.
You can check out many more helpful photography tips on our Photography tips section here on LensVid. You can also check out some of Gavin Hoey’s other videos here on LensVid.