Bright white background

[dgreene]

I have been trying to shoot on white and get my backgrounds bright white without a lot of PS. Here are a few samples of what I have been getting.
This is my daughter she is my Guinea pig. She loves to get in front of the camera and pucker.

I am even getting some bright reflections, as in the third.

[dgreene]

The ones I have been doing on black seem good but any critique is appreciated.

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

Hi,
You did not light the background on the white ones I suppose (although on the last one I see some light).

Use a flash on app 1 fstop over the keylight on the white background and it should become totally white (blown out) without too much overshoot on your subject.

Greetings,
Frank

[TonyK]

How many lights are you using? I ask because in the first photos she seems to be in the shadows.

It would seem, for what you are trying to achieve, you need a main light, a reflector for some fill and then a backgroud light. It is extremely difficult to get what you are looking for with a single light with a white background.

[dgreene]

On the white backgrounds I am using a umbrella on each side with the light falling on the background. I have a soft box up front. The first two were shot with the same setup as the 3rd but I had stopped the camera down a bit more than I did on the third.

Should I be lighting from the side or top.
Thanks for the help.
David

[TonyK]

The dark shadows on her face make me think you need more front lighting. Something to bring "pop" to the image. The background light(s) need to be stronger so they render better.

How are you metering your shots? If you do not have/use a flash light meter, I highly recommend one. Even the 308B (Sekonic) works for this setup.

[dgreene]

I use a Minolta Auto Meter VF. Is a umbrella ok to light the back up with.

[Freddycr]

Check this post to see the effect of an unmbrella-lit white BG (+ a little PS help)


http://www.photocamel.com/index.php/topic,11107.0.html

[dgreene]

Thanks Freddy.
Ill play around a bit more and see what I come up with.

[dgreene]

I have tried several things to brighten the back up and nothing seems to work real well, could my lights not have enough power to brighten it up I am using two Britek lights http://www.briteklighting.com/200h.html ? If they are not what kind of wattage do you suggest?

[fantasiesimage]

Originally Posted by dgreene

I have tried several things to brighten the back up and nothing seems to work real well, could my lights not have enough power to brighten it up I am using two Britek lights http://www.briteklighting.com/200h.html ? If they are not what kind of wattage do you suggest?

is your main light a stop lower than your background lights? if your main light is hotter....you want get the bright background...set your background lights full power and shoot your main a stop under..

Don.

[dgreene]

My main light is a softbox with a 440 watt light it has 3 settings full 1/2 or 1/4. I use it on 1/4 with the back at full.