Why White is Just ‘Alright’

In my early days of portrait photography I tried, like many, to emulate that high-key, white background look popularised by many high-street franchised studios. By my second second shoot against a white background I had nailed it. By my third shoot against a white backdrop, I was bored.

I have several issues with the white backdrop look:

Getting the right look is too easy

It’s not that difficult to set-up good lighting for a white background portrait. The whole backdrop and floor covering acts as one big reflector helping ensure that there is good distribution of light from the flash units. The fact that it is easy is the issue I have with it. The ease soon leads to complacency and stagnation of one’s style. This then encourages a production line style of photography which soon leads to a worn-out style of portrait.

Getting the right look is hard

On the other hand, I have seen prints of a professional photographers’ white background portraits that are appalling, with the backdrop nice and bright and the foreground subjects in shadow. In this case they have attempted to re-create this popular look and failed miserably. Many do an okay job of lighting it, but when it comes to converting the shots to black and white, they’re flat and missing contrast.

My Work Will Look the Same as Others’

The number of local photographers’ sites I have visited that feature white background photo after white background photo goes straight into double figures. Soon it becomes tricky to remember who’s who because they all look the same. Going further afield, it’s become a real commodity, to the point where it’s even become the equivalent of a supermarket ‘economy’ range.

The Standardisation of Clients

With the same lighting and same backdrop, clients can start to be treated like cattle. The shoot runs as it did with the previous clients and the clients before that according to what looked good last time. Stand there, *snap*, do this *snap*.

How I Do Things:

I prefer to approach each client individually, whether it be mixing and matching different backgrounds with different lighting setups in the studio or finding the right location and experimenting with the natural light to get something unique and interesting. It’s a challenge working on my feet to come up with the goods, but I feed off it with passion and excitement knowing I’m creating, not manufacturing, and I think the results speak for themselves.

This doesn’t  mean I won’t do studio portraits against a white backdrop, it just means I won’t be that excited about it. However, if I do, you’ll still receive fantastic shots!