White background question #eleventy billion

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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Yes, i know this has come up a lot, and i know i have asked about it before. But my question is a little more specific this time so i hope you don't mind.

I have got the whole white background thing pretty much nailed as far as head and shoulders shots go, but i am struggling with full length shots.

The trouble i have is feet, i'm fine when i have space between the subject and background, but i'm not sure you to deal with contact between the two.

I have three lights and find i need two just to light up the background behind the subject, leaving me nothing for the floor. Though when i have tried lighting up the ground to get the blown whites i am also over exposing the feet/legs.

I have resorted to getting it as best i can and then using photoshop to tidy up the background around the feet. But it's a bit of a bodge, is more work/time consuming than it should be and means i lose any shadows so it looks like the subject is floating in space.

Anyone got a suggestion/tips?
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Though when i have tried lighting up the ground to get the blown whites i am also over exposing the feet/legs.
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How exactly are you doing this, with the light pointing straight at the floor, or are you diffusing through an umbrella, or another method.
 
TG. said:
How exactly are you doing this, with the light pointing straight at the floor, or are you diffusing through an umbrella, or another method.
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Badly. :lol:

I have only tried it with a background reflector at it was already attached and to hand at the time. But i do also have soft boxes and a reflective umbrella at my disposal which i am yet to try.
 
I'll give you the answer, although whether you like it or not remains to be seen:)

The professional way of doing this is to have the subjects on a raised transparent platform, well off the floor and well away from the background, the floor is therefore lit separately, in the same way as the background - think it terms of your subject standing on a glass table fitted with bullet proof glass...

Any alternative to this, e.g. a Hi-lite, a paper background or whatever, is just a compromise. You may or may not be happy with unwanted shadows from forward facing lights, you may or may not be happy with unwanted light spill, the amount of PP work involved.
 
Edit: crossed post with Garry - saying the same thing I think.

There is no easy answer, unless you can light the floor separately, ie from underneath!

You just have to get the floor as white as you can, and then push it over the edge by tweaking in post processing (usually contrast). This is hard and even professionals often do it badly, but you can get a very acceptable result even though it might not be tonally 100% technically correct.

You'll still need to mop up some grey bits in post. The upside is that you usually want a bit of a shadow for the subject to 'stand on' anyway.

Some people have got a decent result using reflective flooring. Check out posts by Hodders and Edinburgh Gary.
 
Richard, you really must stop reading my mind:)
 
easiest way in post is lightroom's exposure painter, coupled with exposure grad for any unblown corners etc. Painter features automask, which does a very good job at stopping people's feet from going white, and producing very good natural and correct looking white seamless.
 
Hmm. I can make a glass floor easily enough. But i doubt i would have enough room height wise to get a light under it as my studio (read garage) has a standard room height ceiling.

So it looks like this is one of the times when i need to focus more on my editing techniques.

This is an early attempt of mine. Excuse the quality and chopped off foot, i just ripped it from facebook and, well there is no excuse for the foot. :lol:

31707_126435467383590_119168001443670_245223_7587913_n.jpg


I used the dodge tool to fix the floor area which was not lit enough, but i could not work out how to do that and keep some shadow, hence there not being any and it looking a bit crap.
 
If you have the background lit to pure white then just buy a couple of 8'x4' white gloss tile boards for the floor. Place them horizontally with the front one overlapping the back one so that the seam between the two appears seamless.

Then shoot from waist height and the tile board is white as it reflects the pure white background. You also get a reflection of the subject in the floor which grounds them.
 
Mark.A said:
just buy a couple of 8'x4' white gloss tile boards for the floor.
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I've been looking for these myself, any ideas where to find them ? :)
 
I'm not entirely sure white a tile board is. But if its just a white reflective surface i need then i can get white polycarbonate or whiteboard material easily enough.

I assume a clear bit of polycarb over the white backdrop will do much the same thing but with stronger reflections?
 
TG. said:
I've been looking for these myself, any ideas where to find them ? :)
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Not specifically as I don't use them. Don't B&Q have them? :shrug:

It's basically a piece of hardboard (about 8mm thick?) with a white gloss surface on one side.
 
Just had a quick search and someone on Flickr said that you can get white hardboard from B&Q.
 
I use an old shelf from an ikea wardrobe, it is essentially white laminated chipboard.

 
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