Crafting with Kids

I am regularly asked – by frustrated shooters – what materials they should be using to have a crisp, sparkling, pure white photography background.

Sorry to say, that is the inappropriate question to raise! It in reality, isn’t the backdrop material that gives you the spotless white you’re in search of.

It’s the source of the light!

Here is the case…you set up a sterile white bed sheet or a roll of white paper – and you position your model in front of it.

You set up a light source or – even more than one, and light your model. All is appearing nice. You think you have got a competently lit model and a pleasant white background.

Next, you take the photo.

Anxiously, you jog to the photo lab if you’re shooting film or to a computer if you’re shooting digital. You have a look at the completed photograph and ta daaa!

Your model is flawlessly lit, however the backdrop is really a dingy gray color. Not the sparkling, untainted white you saw contained in the viewfinder!

Sound typical? If you’ve been having a tough time shooting high key photographs…And you’ve been getting that dull gray color (regardless of the materials you utilize) here’s how to repair the problem!

All light has a certain drop off issue.

By that I mean that the further light is from a subject matter, the less bright it is. Consequently, that means… if you have a specific amount of light striking your model, and you’re using that SAME light to light your background, your light is further from the background than from the model. So, it is going to be slightly less bright when it gets to the backdrop fabric.

Wow! That’s a tongue twister. In other words…

The main reason you are getting that gray color is because there’s more light striking your model than is striking the photography background.

To get your backdrop be a genuine, flawless white…merely hit it with MORE light than you’re using for your model!

Appears obvious after you understand it, but this is a huge sticking point for many shooters.

The total amount of “over-exposure” that’s required on the backdrop is dependent upon the color of the backdrop fabric. If it is already white, you could get by with using enough extra light to get an over-exposure of about half an f-stop. Perhaps even one full f-stop.

If the material you are beginning with is gray…that’s okay as well! Just hit it with roughly 2 ½ stops (give or take) more light than you happen to be using on the model.

Here is one that could blow plenty of minds…imagine if your photography background stuff is really a pure black piece of material – or black roll of paper?

It doesn’t make any difference! Zap it with 5, 6 or perhaps even 7 additional stops worth of light (more than you are using on the primary model) and you will once again have a pleasant spotless white set.

It is a LOT of light and I would not propose starting out with a black backdrop. When you begin nearer to white initially, it’s a lot simpler and easier. Nevertheless, attempt it! It is a fun experiment and will teach you quite a bit about light!

The point being – by way of sufficient light, you can get a pleasant white photography background regardless of the type or color fabric you start with.

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For some more photography background information, check out this video:

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