Milan, regarding the background – in this shot yes it was completely blown out… didn’t need any touching up. Not so in other wider shots using the same setup and it’s something I find challenging too, but as you said, isn’t hard to fix in post production. My main challenge is with floor shadow for full length shots. If you’re just battling the corners, as well as pumping more light, move your lights further from the background – this will give a more even spread across a wider surface. To avoid the splashback, also move your model further away from the background. And if the background lights are not well behind the model you may want to gobo them – i.e. put something between the lights and the model to block light from them falling on the model. This particular shot for me was probably the best lit of my set of shots from this shoot because of the tighter crop due to a longer lens.

Christine – glad you’re enjoying the blog and learning from it. I’m learning as I go too so it’s good to be able to share the info as much as possible.

I have been following your blog for several weeks now, but this little guy has finally inspired me to say hello. I really appreciate what you are doing here — I’ve been learning lots from you. Thanks!

In my own setup, 95% of the background ends up at 255 white, but in the corners I usually see just a little falloff. To get the corners fully white, I have to pump a lot more light in, resulting in “splashback” onto my model and vanishing blond hair at the edges. So, now I tone down the lights just a bit and just plan on retouching the corners.

Here, you have a nice clean background and even your model’s fine, light hair is clearly defined. Well done! Looks like I have to work a little more on my own setup.