White sheet backdrop?

Mardybum

Mardybum

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Rich Robson
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Hi, I posted this in another section, then thought this area was maybe more suited. Sorry.

I've been asked to take a few shots of our friends 18month old girl in a Christmas pudding outfit sat on a sledge, nothing too major, she just wants to do some personalised Xmas cards for close family and friends, so by no means is this a professional affair.

We have quite a big fireplace at home and was wondering if by draping a pure white cotton sheet over it and onto the floor it would create a sufficient backdrop ??.

Also, any tips on camera settings ? The room has medium light (I don't have any studio lights or anything associated).

Thanks for any help offered.
 
Best thing to do - try it out... with a stuffie bear or something similar. Obviously you won't be able to get an idea of how the light works with skintones etc, but you'll be able to see how the background works, and what the light is like generally. (y)
 
Without any lights you may struggle to get a white background but my suggestion is this - try to pose the girl/sledge as far from the sheet as possible and as close to a window as possible. This will give a soft even lighting effect and minimize any creases or whatever on your sheet.
As OutLore says, try it out with a friend to see how the light falls - try sitting the girl at an angle to the window to create some shadows, and if needed another sheet or whatever can be draped over the back of a chair (out of shot) to fill in the shadows.
A white background isn't such an important thing and yours will be some light shade of grey I expect - you may be able to do something in PP anyway.
Given what you say about it not being a professional affair the girls expression and smile sound like they are way more important than the background so making her laugh/smile comfortable are the things to work on.
Camera settings are not so easy to advise on, but be prepared to raise the ISO to give a decent shutter speed (camera shake will ruin more pictures than a little noise) and assuming you will be using a fairly wide angle lens then an aperture of something like f5.6 or f8 will keep most things in focus but this is just a guess.
You don't mention flash at all. If possible try to avoid it but if you have to then find some way to deflect the light (I am assuming the 400d has a pop-up flash) so tape a little white paper or card in front of the flash to force the light up towards the ceiling - again, something to try out in advance but it will vastly improve the results over direct on-camera flash.
Getting things like this sorted in advance will allow you to relax and work on the atmosphere rather than struggle with the technical side and this will help everyone to enjoy the shoot more.
Good luck !
 
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Some members on the other thread have mentioned about decorating the fireplace like Christmas and having that as a background instead of the white sheet (it would show up grey apparently). So, I'm going shopping for some tinsel and other bits at the weekend :)

Unfortunately the shoot will be at night so very little natural light will be available, ill have to work on the lighting somehow........
 
stevewestern said:
Without any lights you may struggle to get a white background but my suggestion is this - try to pose the girl/sledge as far from the sheet as possible and as close to a window as possible. This will give a soft even lighting effect and minimize any creases or whatever on your sheet.
As OutLore says, try it out with a friend to see how the light falls - try sitting the girl at an angle to the window to create some shadows, and if needed another sheet or whatever can be draped over the back of a chair (out of shot) to fill in the shadows.
A white background isn't such an important thing and yours will be some light shade of grey I expect - you may be able to do something in PP anyway.
Given what you say about it not being a professional affair the girls expression and smile sound like they are way more important than the background so making her laugh/smile comfortable are the things to work on.
Camera settings are not so easy to advise on, but be prepared to raise the ISO to give a decent shutter speed (camera shake will ruin more pictures than a little noise) and assuming you will be using a fairly wide angle lens then an aperture of something like f5.6 or f8 will keep most things in focus but this is just a guess.
You don't mention flash at all. If possible try to avoid it but if you have to then find some way to deflect the light (I am assuming the 400d has a pop-up flash) so tape a little white paper or card in front of the flash to force the light up towards the ceiling - again, something to try out in advance but it will vastly improve the results over direct on-camera flash.
Getting things like this sorted in advance will allow you to relax and work on the atmosphere rather than struggle with the technical side and this will help everyone to enjoy the shoot more.
Good luck !
Click to expand...

By deflecting the light upwards, will it still show on the photo ? Or would it be best to not use the flash at all on manual mode ?
 
Mardybum said:
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Some members on the other thread have mentioned about decorating the fireplace like Christmas and having that as a background instead of the white sheet (it would show up grey apparently). So, I'm going shopping for some tinsel and other bits at the weekend :)

Unfortunately the shoot will be at night so very little natural light will be available, ill have to work on the lighting somehow........
Click to expand...

Seriously - rethink the timing.

You can only work with what you have, so don't set off from a position of no options.

The single most important aspect of a photograph is the light. If you set up everything else but the light is crap - you've wasted your time and everyone else's. If you have no flash, daylight is your only option for a nice looking shot. If you choose to use domestic lighting in what is a tricky situation for you in every other way - what do you honestly think your chances of success will be.

A really experienced photographer could work with domestic lights and get a good image, but they wouldn't ever choose to do it.
 
To the OP.

I was in a similar situation to you the other day.

You will see my outcome in this thread here

I used natural daylight streaming through a window and a relatively high ISO to keep the speed up (kids move fast!)
The white sheet background is not pure white but I don't think it detracts from the image as the focal point is blessed with vibrant colours anyway.

If you need to know anything else feel free to ask.
 
Phil V said:
Seriously - rethink the timing.

You can only work with what you have, so don't set off from a position of no options.

The single most important aspect of a photograph is the light. If you set up everything else but the light is crap - you've wasted your time and everyone else's. If you have no flash, daylight is your only option for a nice looking shot. If you choose to use domestic lighting in what is a tricky situation for you in every other way - what do you honestly think your chances of success will be.

A really experienced photographer could work with domestic lights and get a good image, but they wouldn't ever choose to do it.
Click to expand...

Advice taken phil, it does need to be during the day to get me off on the right foot.
However we don't get loads of light through the window at the front as its north facing, but will the amount it does let through be enough do you think ?
 
stupar said:
To the OP.

I was in a similar situation to you the other day.

You will see my outcome in this thread here

I used natural daylight streaming through a window and a relatively high ISO to keep the speed up (kids move fast!)
The white sheet background is not pure white but I don't think it detracts from the image as the focal point is blessed with vibrant colours anyway.

If you need to know anything else feel free to ask.
Click to expand...

Stu, that is a cracking image, good work. !!
If mine turns out half as good I'd be over the moon !!
I replied to your Santa thread too if you get chance to reply there or here it would be appreciated.
 
Thank you!

My shot was handheld.
As for settings -
Canon 5D mk2 with 24-105mm lens.
Aperture f4
Focal length 60mm
Shutter speed 1/60th
ISO 500
Exposure compensation +2
 
When I do baby portraits, I use a home studio I bought. Fairly cheap at £200 a year ago. I got stands, umbrellas, lights and backdrops. I find the white backdrops quite hard to use as it allows light to shine through off windows etc. once I've played about with settings and that though they come out ok :)
 
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