Am I the only white shooter?

No, not white like that, but white backdrop shooter.

I’ve seen a lot of well respected, and some not-so-known photographers sound off on white backdrop shooting and as someone who LOVE’S it, I wanted to chime in yet again. If you’ve read my blog over the years I’ve spoke on how to get it pure white. Why I like white and gave diagrams on white backdrops. I have my reasons for shooting on white and preferring it over anything else, some of them I will explain in this article.

I’ve seen comments such as “I hate shooting on white because it’s too sterile” or “It’s boring” and everything in-between. I do it because it’s a challenge. Sometimes I can get it just right, others, I need to post help it. I’m not a fan of having things compete with my clients so shooting solid color backdrops is my thing. We all have our own thing, so don’t judge me! 😉 But back to business; I’m an ambulance chaser! For me, ambulances are magazines. In my research for this article, I went to my local Barnes and Noble and took a photo of the various periodicals:

See what I see? At a GLANCE I see 20 magazines that have either solid white or solid other color backdrop! I feel you, you think I got “Lucky” with that. That it’s only the women. So I scooted down a few steps to the Mens Interest:

12 White or solid color covers on that shelf. Crazy huh? Nope, not at all. But wait, there’s more! On a walk around the store I found many books by famous authors:

The reason I shoot on white is because I never know where an image of mines will appear! Back in the day, when I wanted to emulate a Playboy photographer I shot in hotel rooms. I submitted my work to a magazine and they wanted to run my work. I jokingly asked them about cover and they said they wanted the exact same look and pose of the model and if I did, they would have considered me for the cover. After that experience, I gravitated towards a solid backdrop color. I shoot in rooms and everywhere a client dictates, but I prefer a solid backdrop. Why? I never know where or who will commission my work.

Lots of photographers have vision of the finished product. This is for sure a tell-tell sign of a professional, but a business person thinks: “Where can this end up?” Using a deeper thought process is what seperates a photographer or artist, from the businessman. As photographers, we have to do and be both, if we like it or not.

(Technical Tuesday on Wednesday. This is how I roll, people!)