How can I get a clean white background with two budget lights for e-commerce portraits?
Asked 12/14/2016
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I’m photographing a model for e-commerce images using two inexpensive lights. Right now I use one light on the background and one on the subject, but I often can’t get the backdrop to go fully white. Sometimes the side near the background light is white while the other side stays gray. On a budget, what’s the best way to light the background and position the lights to get a clean white backdrop?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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It doesn't matter if one side of the backdrop is getting more light than the other. You just need to expose in such a way that the dimmest part of the backdrop is completely blown out. You'll find this easiest to do if the flash lighting the backdrop is at full power (assuming it isn't too bright as to create a lot of spill back onto your subject). If the dimmest part of the backdrop is pure white in your resulting photo the entire backdrop will be pure white. There's no way for the brighter parts of the backdrop to be brighter or whiter than pure white in the resulting image.
Once you've got the exposure right for the backdrop you can then adjust the power of the other light to properly expose your subject at the same ISO and aperture.
Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user15871
9y ago
0
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With a white backdrop, the goal is not perfectly even brightness everywhere—it’s making sure the darkest part of the background is exposed to pure white. If the dimmest area clips to white, the brighter areas will also reproduce as white.
A practical budget setup is:
- Put one light dedicated to the background and raise its output as much as you can, as long as it doesn’t spill too much onto the subject.
- Expose so the darkest part of the background is blown out to white.
- Then adjust your subject light separately to expose the model correctly at the same ISO and aperture.
- Try placing the background light low, near the model’s feet, aimed at the backdrop to help reduce shadows.
- A larger seamless white backdrop with a smooth curve can also make it easier to get a clean result.
If one background light still isn’t enough, adding another inexpensive strobe for the background can help cover it more evenly.
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