How do product photographers create an all-white background for their products?

T

Tuolumne

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There must be a simple way to do this, but I don't know what it is. How do you get that all-white, product-isolating background when shooting a product - like a camera for instance? It can't be Photoshop, since photographers have been doing this since long before the Photoshop days.

/T
 
Kyle Cassidy once had a nice illustration shooting a kitty in an old boot with white back ground and a Leica Macro Elmar ... On a couch and a big sheet of paper.

Anyways, classically, it's a white back-drop; simple paper might do, with appropriate light.

Roland.
 
When we did it here we had a big piece of white flexible plastic, then with a light or flash used there was always a very nice white background, basically it does not hurt to overexpose the white a hair. Oh....also white wax paper works ok for it but can get messy.
 
Transilluiminated floor/background. One of the best ways is a sheet of glass or better still opal Perspex/Lucite (methyl methacrylate) with a 'sweep' made of tracing paper (Kodatrace or its successors) over the top. Illuminate from above and below; provide white 'bounces' each side; and ideally, poke the lens through a white curtain at the front.

Use the contrastiest lens you can get or veiling flare will flatten contrast mercilessly and you will get flare at the sides.

Cheers,

R.
 
Easiest to do if you have a bit of space between background and subject.

Light background and subject seperately, overexpose background 1-2 stops (lighting it as evenly as possible).
expose subject correctly.

Oh, and make sure the background is white to begin with ;-)

Thats about it.

Hope it helps,

Cheers

/Meakin
 
I use a light cube. Which is basically a fabric cube made from white nylon. This has the benefit of providing a true white background as well as minimising reflections. If you want to get technical you can light it such that there no perceived direction from the light.

You can also use coloured fabric inserts. I got mine from here (no connexion ....)

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Steves-Photo-Shop
 
Shooting Table made of translucent plexi and a strobe underneath.

Light box can be used in a pinch.

If it's a bigger subject - pull it out a few feet from the backdrop, and light the subject and the backdrop seperately - then you pump up the bg a stop or two over what you need for the subject to blow it out.

Don't forget the importance of retouching too. But obviously the closer you can get it in camera, the more time (and money) you save.
 
I use nothing more than a white or cream bed sheet draped over a dining table chair and then use off camera flash bounced off the ceiling! seems to work! see my latest ads
 
Cheapest way: buy a roll of white seamless paper; find a means or propping the spool-end up above and behind the table you plan to shoot the item upon; pull down enough seamless for it to cover the table surface, curving downward from the back; light appropriately (usually the hardest and most-expensive part of all this).

For A Few Dollars More: depending on the size of the item you're shooting, there are table-top light tents that allow you to work with as simple a lighting setup as a single (off-camera) flash unit. Some of these run for as little as $100-150. These are often used for shots of jewelry and somewhat larger items, and are a nice way to get nice, even light effects.

Best place to stop by for these and other ideas is here.


- Barrett
 
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Source: Dave Nitsche (www.davenitsche.com)

All you do is have your white, seamless background and illuminate it separately from the subject and then light your subject as needed.
 
Easiest way to do it is by making a light box. I made one by cutting out the sides of a cardboard box and taping up the holes with white wax paper. Mine doesn't look too different from this:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=281524

Don't shoot the (undiffused) light directly at the object, but rather bounce it inside the box to eliminate the shadows, either at the sides, above, or sides.

All these photos were taken with my DIY lightbox:
http://www.typicalfish.com/images/forsale/photo/

I've also seen some people have success from making a light box out of old 4L plastic milk containers.
 
A shooting tent and sufficient lighting (from above/back and sides) to eliminate all shadows.

Just beware the cheap shooting tents found on ebay. They're not much better than DIY solutions.
 
I use white canvas for a white background. Just point plenty of light on the large canvas, and the background will be white.
 
Shooting tent placed on glass.
Softbox underneath it set on +2 stops.
One strobe to illuminate your subject set on correct exposure (that's what you start with and then set the Under light).

Also, PS can do a great deal for you ;-)
 
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