first birthday cake smash

[tomlinson]

So my son is turning one soon and I am super new to this so I'm not sure how they will turn out but I waned to do a cake smashing photo shoot I looked online some samples and got some Ideas, I see alot of peple do these with a pure white background and flooring, what makes it so bright and smooth looking ? is it possible for me to do this as well ? it it possibly something done it processing ?

[BigFuzzy]

Short answer is the bright background is bright because it is light by some source of light and yes you can do it if you have the right kit+knowledge of how.

Typically to get this sort of bright white background you need (at least) two light sources. One that lights the background and one (or more) to light your subjects. You need a light for the background to make it very bright so that it appears pure white with no details.

Also, yes some of this can be done with editing later, but I'm pretty sure (without you posting examples for us to help you with) that most of it is done with good lighting technique.

How soon is "soon"... I ask because if you're tyring to replicate this and you're "super new" you may really need to get busy learning how to try to replicate this. It's not enough for you simply have a camera with a pop-up flash. I'm not trying to discourage you or say you can't do it, but to do it well (as I assume you want to), you have to both learn a few things and get the right kit.

If you post a few examples of what you're referring to, me and others can more accurately advise you on what the photographer did in terms of lighting to achieve the photo you look and better advise you on what you may need.

I hope that helps?

[tomlinson]

ok well here area a couple samples of backgrounds I think you explained it right, but is there any way to do it with natural light ? the first one i can tell was done studio style.
on seecond pic i was wondering because i know these were done all natural light in living room cause they are of me and my son. can't remember how she did them tho. I know she used the window but you can only see bright behind, and then the baby one i want to know how to achive the balck background cause I know they changed the background colors too...any thought ??

[Swisstony10]

I think you'll struggle to get that high-key white-background look with natural light. The reason that the background looks so smooth and pure and white in those photos is because the photographer has deliberately over-exposed the background, which is going to be difficult to do without controllable light at a reasonable power.

EDIT - Hanging a translucent sheet in front of a bright window could give you a nicely over-exposed background, but you'd need to fire some light onto the subject from in front to prevent them from being a silhouette (as the photographer has done in your second picture) - if you're going all-natural, then you'd need to use a reflector for that.

When I use a white background, I usually use two or three lights (a studio flash head, and a couple of strobes with optical triggers on) so that I can get the whole thing nice and bright without getting any grey patches. It takes a bit of practice (or understanding of how your lights work) to do it without getting reflected light from the backdrop causing lens-flare and stuff, but once you know what you're doing with it, you can get some really nice results.

The black background is essentially the opposite - using a non-reflective black background (velvet works SO well for swallowing light) you shoot to deliberately under-expose the background (so you don't get any slightly lighter patches) and get enough light onto your subject (either with flash, continuous light, or natural light) to expose them correctly. If you're just getting into this kind of portrait photography, I'd suggest starting with the black background, because it's slightly easier to get good results from, and then go for the white high-key stuff once you've had a bit of practice.