I need to take a photo for a club competition. The theme is "White on White".
I have been thinking for a week to find an interesting subject to fit the theme to shoot. I though of taking photo of my white pigeons mating. I had them out in the weekend and waited to see some action didn't happen.
Do you have any possible ideas and possibly some tips and techniques?
High key images of white flowers with a white bg are always interesting. Just make sure the bg gets a few stops more light than the flower and shoot away.
Thanks Keith, I was thinking to use a light box for a BG. Then I can have the BG a bit lighter than the subject!! or jsut a white drop in the BG in a distance to the subjet and light it a couple of stops more than the Flower of other subject?
Lots to play with in that theme! My concerns with white-on-white are exposure, light quality and light direction. If you're using your camera's meter, it's going to try to turn the all-white scene gray, so dialing in an exposure comp of around +2 will work to bring it back up to white. I use an incident meter lots when working with white so that I can measure the incoming light sources individually and directly, but that's getting pretty specialized.
By "light quality" I'm talking about soft vs harsh, colored vs neutral, size, etc. The hardest to work with will be large and soft light because it will tend to hide textures in your subject. Small harsh lights will show textures best especially when glancing off the subject, but then you can get into the need to fill. I'm taking you off the edge into the world of totally managed or "studio" light, so I'll stop there without writing a book. Just be aware of the differences between large soft lights (like a bright cloudy day or sunlight through a window with sheer white curtains) and small harsh lights (such as direct sun or strobe far away), and manage its direction to show texture the way you want.
As for subject, holy cow. Salt spilling from a white shaker onto a rumpled white tablecloth, a white kitten on a white blanket, and of course anything white on snow if you have it. A white seagull against a white cloud would be interesting too. Compare all the white subjects and white backgrounds in your area and have a ball!
Thank you Hank, I wish I had received your input yesterday. I have pass the deadline to submit a photo.
I think you are absolutely right and I never thought that way. Well, I missed the deadline but I have learned something and that is important. Hope I receive more tips from you in the future.
Discussion
4 repliesI need to take a photo for a club competition. The theme is "White on White".
I have been thinking for a week to find an interesting subject to fit the theme to shoot. I though of taking photo of my white pigeons mating. I had them out in the weekend and waited to see some action didn't happen.
Do you have any possible ideas and possibly some tips and techniques?
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Mohammad
By "light quality" I'm talking about soft vs harsh, colored vs neutral, size, etc. The hardest to work with will be large and soft light because it will tend to hide textures in your subject. Small harsh lights will show textures best especially when glancing off the subject, but then you can get into the need to fill. I'm taking you off the edge into the world of totally managed or "studio" light, so I'll stop there without writing a book. Just be aware of the differences between large soft lights (like a bright cloudy day or sunlight through a window with sheer white curtains) and small harsh lights (such as direct sun or strobe far away), and manage its direction to show texture the way you want.
As for subject, holy cow. Salt spilling from a white shaker onto a rumpled white tablecloth, a white kitten on a white blanket, and of course anything white on snow if you have it. A white seagull against a white cloud would be interesting too. Compare all the white subjects and white backgrounds in your area and have a ball!
I think you are absolutely right and I never thought that way. Well, I missed the deadline but I have learned something and that is important. Hope I receive more tips from you in the future.