How to capture a pure white background in photography.?

Question

I'm trying to take photographs of some figurines. I want the background to come out as white as possible (so as to be invisible on a white web page). What's the best way to do this?

I'm using a "light tent" but the background is still slightly greyish. Is this unavoidable, i.e. do I need to photoshop the background?

I'm not a photography expert. :)

Answer 1

The problem is the camera's light meter sees a scene as an average grey scene. So if there is a lot of white background, the camera will want to make the scene average grey. If you are able to, light the background with a brighter light then the figurines. You could try over exposing the shot by 1.5 stops or so, as another way of getting a brighter background. If you are still getting a grey background then selecting the background in photoshop you can erase it to white.

Answer 2

Increase the lighting so that the background is 1.5 stops brighter than the figurine. (Use a hand held meter if you have one.) Also, customize your white balance for the light you are using. As noted in a previous answer, a light meter measures grey tones-it in essence is trying to get everything to 18% grey (zone 5). You need to light the background so it hits zone seven - two stop hotter than the meter reads for your desired midtone (something on the figurine). If your figurine is made of porcline, then you have a white on white situation. You need to check that the whites on the figure do not fade into the white in the background-the easiest way to accomplish this is to set a light behind and to the side of the figure (outside of the tenting material, of course) to increase the brightness of the background.

If you don't have a handheld meter, use the built in one on partial rather than evaluative metering. Meter the figurine, and you may even want to open up a stop from that. Then the background needs to be even brighter.

What your doing is actually really hard. take your time and experiment with where you put the lights. I assume you're using digital so shoot, shoot, shoot until you get exactly what you want.

peace,

Answer 3

Hey,

Can you say "Avedon lighting"? This is the best lighting set-up for what you want. You would have to use electronic strobe to get it right. Would also need lightmeter, a main light source (one softbox or two umbrellas), two background lights (umbrellas)
(the background light should be 1 to 2 stops brighter than the main light to reproduce a white background) Background should be white.

This is the lighting they use for most shots we see in magazines like "Glamour" etc. Really great and captures everything. Very animated.

Hope this helps!!

Answer 4

The key to this is to get good distance between your table and the background roll or vertical portion of the scoop. Light that 2 stops hotter than your key with 2 x strobes at 45 degrees crossed over so you get an even spread on the bg. Any brighter and you risk bounce back into your lens which may cause flare. Flag the bg if needed. Light the subject with more strobes and modifiers to suit.

Answer 5

You need to light the background as well as the subject. Otherwise you get enough light fall off to make the bg grey. If you want it really white, make the background hotter than the subject by up to a stop.

You can do it in Photoshop or other imaging software fairly easily.

Answer 6

you know, for a webpage, its worth it to just crop it out so that all you have is the figurine itself. it takes 10 seconds and you will have a much cleaner photo with less frustration. esp if your not working with digital pics...low grade scanners (or just not scanning negatives) will do this to you photos.