Creating Clean White Backgrounds

Discover Karl’s foolproof system for getting white right.

How to achieve clean white backgrounds: it’s a question every photographer needs to ask. This class has all the answers.

The crisp white backgrounds you see in professional images seem simple enough to create. After all, it’s just white, right?

Wrong! Achieving the perfect white background is harder than you think. There are very specific lighting techniques you need to master in order to get those results. Without them, you’ll end up ruining your shots with flare or overexposure.

In this easy-to-follow, step-by-step class, you’ll discover those essential techniques, plus the equipment you need to achieve a clean white background. You’ll also learn how to tell whether the background is overexposed using RGB values.

By the end, you’ll feel fully confident in your ability to get white right every time!

In this class:

  • Common problems when trying to create clean white backgrounds
  • Lighting setup and necessary modifiers
  • Positioning your lights
  • Considerations when working in small spaces
  • Measuring white values
  • Reducing flare
  • Key points to consider when introducing a key light

If you enjoy this class, try Packshots: White Background Product Photography and Shadowless Backgrounds for Catalogue-Style Images.

Questions? Please post them in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Hi Karl,
    I am about to embark on a large product style job in which I am capable of doing thanks to your wonderful tutorials. As far as I was concerned the job would be basic and have to be shot fairly quickly, so therefore I was going to do the pack shot style photography with nice white clean backgrounds. However, the client/ graphic designer has now supplied an image from a past shoot of theirs where apparently they used a light cube /tent with fairly flat over all lighting including the background. So I guess I will now have do an overhead soft-box style shot? However, they have requested that I provide an 8% back ground tone, which has completely thrown me as I have absolutely no idea what that should look like or how to achieve it. I now feel quite anxious and nervous to do the job now. Any suggestions please? Thank you Karl.

    1. Hi, 8% grey background request is straightforward – you just don’t put as much light on your pure white background until the measurement values in the tethered software read about R236, G236, B236 – in some of our packshot or product shot tutorials I demo this. Also I wouldn’t worry about the light tent option as you have far less control with that – it sounds like you will be find shooting using our packshot examples as a guide on a white acrylic and keeping the white background at those reduced values. If you email me an example of what your client wants I can take a look at it and advise further. Please email to [email protected]

  2. hello, i have a question.

    i noticed that when i make pictures, each time i look at my RGBY levels on the white background, i notice that blue id always higher than others, eg it is always over 255 while others are below.An hour ago

    can you please assist me. thank

    1. Hi, nothing can be over to 255? Are you running the RGB colour model for your readings (which we recommend). You should be aiming for R253, G253, B253 – if blue is higher on something that you think is pure white then do a test on a new grey card / colour checker and neutralise if it shows blue to be slightly higher on the white background that’s usually not a problem if it’s a painted background as some white paints have a bit more blue in them to make them look whiter but it shouldn’t be much. If the problem is worse than that check you haven’t got mixed / ambient light polluting your scene.

  3. ıf I want to take model from full body, the point where model stays wont be pure white in this condition. for e commerce photography how do u achieve full body portrait photo while the whites are pure white in all whites, whereas model is also correctly exposed?

  5. Can I do this using just 1 light
    Is there any video for lighting background white using 1 light
    Even for product photography or any other genre

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