Headshots on White
If you want to commercialize your craft, one of the most essential skills in photography is capturing images on a blown-out background. Many firms will want headshots and products shot on pure white. To achieve this look, it’s essential to get studio lights. A backdrop is helpful, too, although you can just use a white wall as well.
The simplest way to create the blown-out, white backdrop is with a two light setup. Position one light in front of your subject, illuminating them, and then put another behind them, blowing out the background. You need the light behind the subject due to the inverse square law, as light drops off quickly from its source, meaning a white background will appear gray without it. But if you do put a light behind your subject, be careful not to blow out any of their hair, as that will be impossible to recover in post. If you keep your subject close to the backdrop, the white will not appear gray, but the backdrop won’t be blown out. The benefit of this latter approach is that you don’t have to worry about blowing anything out in camera and you can just bring up the highlights in post; the downside is that it requires more editing.
If you want to introduce more lights, you can have two lights hitting your subject. A simple approach is just to have lights at 45 45—that is, 45 degrees above your subject and 45 degrees to the side of your subject. Another popular lighting method is the clamshell, where you put a light above your subject’s face and a reflector below, making your subject the “pearl” in the clam. You can also put lights behind your backdrop, illuminating it evenly and eliminating any potential issue you face when you put a light behind your subject. To really ensure that your backdrop is evenly lit, you can purchase a light meter and check the intensity of the light across your backdrop.
When it comes to backdrops, paper is an easy solution that requires little cleanup. There are also traveling, collapsible kits with expandable backdrop stands and a fabric covering. A white wall will work, too, but you’ll likely have to do more in post.
A typical, upbeat look that many people go after is the high key image: a pure white background, lots of light, and few shadows. To accomplish this, make sure you use plenty of light positioning one directly infront of your subject, and adjust the others and any reflector you may have to fill in shadows where necessary.
