High key white backdrops?

Hi folks. I am on the lookout for a white backdrop that will produce a clean, high key finish without having to use background lights. I usually use a roll of white paper and this, of course, produces horrible grey backgrounds. Same with fabric. I have blasted out backgrounds using levels on PS. I have also backlit a translucent background. Both worked OKish, but I would be interested to know about backdrops that can at least reduce the need to clean up in PS afterwards and are quick and easy to use (not asking much, am I?).

I read some time ago about reflective backdrops that produce a brighter finish and wonder if anyone has used them. Not the translucent type, that are backlit. I can do that with my trusty white shower curtain, but opaque sweeps that reflect the light back. Whilst I can't find the article I read (of course) a quick look through the interwebz seems to suggest that they might be made of vinyl. Some also talk about having granulated glass in them, presumably to increase reflectivity.

So, any thoughts on this and how easy they are to use (do they wrinkle and crease? Hate that) would be most welcome.

 

Thanks for all that.

With the first idea, yes, that is what is usually done in the real world, but as I said, I don't want to have to use any additional lights. For a start, I don't have them. For another, the more complicated it is, the less I am likely to use it, so would end up just avoiding high key or reverting to my dingy solution. So, yes, I need something different.

I do take your point about the potential for hot spots on a reflective surface. That could potentially be a problem. The one I saw had a grainy surface that would probably do a decent job of diffusing most of the additional light in a hot spot. If only I could remember where I saw it.

White fabric I have tried, and white card. Without additional lighting, the background is predictably dingy.

I have seen rolls of flexible vinyl that is advertised as being for high key backgrounds. However, they just look like simple white vinyl to me. This background is going to be my holy grail, isn't it?

 

gaiaswill, yes, that is exactly the type of vinyl sweep that I am now seeing. It says it is matt, which is good, but I don't know how well it works without additional lighting. Has anyone got one? Even the small ones aren't that cheap and I would like to know how well it works before committing. The words "wrinkle resistant" are a real draw, though. How I HAET ironing backdrops.

Reshana, I use through the lens matrix metering. It is what I started out with and I now have adjusted my mind set to predict what that will produce (most of the time...). I actually find that to be a pretty good mental discipline. So, yes, I dial up to get the right exposure for the doll. However, this still isn't enough to blow out the background. If I dialled up enough to blow out the background, I would overexpose the doll.

At the moment, I am in lazy photographer mode and only use one light, a tiny little halogen desklamp with a homemade diffuser and barn doors (read "polystyrene packing material stuck to a cereal packet with gaffer tape"). I don't use strobes at all. I realise I should, but I prefer continuous lighting so I can move things around and see exactly what it looks like before I take the shot. I have a Speedlight and should really use it one day... So, I know that if I backlit a transluscent backdrop, I would get a high key effect. I did this here, with a white shower curtain (do excuse how technically awful this shot is. It was one of my very early attempts).



I have also used plain, white paper, lit with one light, and then raised the white point in PS. The problem with that is that resin glares so very easily and it seems impossible to get a blown out background and still keep a well exposed subject, without going through all the rigmarole of selectively lightening areas in PS, with dodging or doing levels on a layer mask.



See how the resin is already begining to glare, whilst the background is still pretty dingy? This doesn't seem to be so much a problem when photographing other, non resin objects and blowing out a paper background on my eBay sales pictures is no problem!



What I haven't tried is illuminating the background from the front, with its own light. I am begining to realise that this might be my only realistic option. It means finding another halogen lamp of the same temperature. Or getting my "proper" lights out. I would be interested to see any set up shots and results by people who have done this. Anyone?

And thanks again for the input. All very useful food for thought.

 

Reshana and BridgetKeely, thank you for your answers. It does seem increasingly like I am just going to have to use a second light for the background. And here I was trying to find an easy way to get out of my black-background-with-low-key-lighting rut. I can do that with a desk lamp and a piece of white paper.

I have been looking at product photography tutorials. Some made me feel very reassured about what I already know about photography There was some useful stuff in others, though. Most just said "Get a white background and light it separately", so no escape from it there, either. One of the many things I like about doll photography is that it is both still life and portraiture and can use techniques from both. It really gives us a photographic work out.

And I do always shoot in RAW (see my tutorial in this section. Trying to convert others, having taken so long to get around to it myself).