A seamless background can make your project look like a million bucks, but lighting one can be a little tricky if you don’t know where to start.
Zach Arias offers up this lighting tutorial on DEDPXL to show you how to light for a seamless white, black, grey (virtually any color, really) background. If you’re a stickler for details like me, one thing you’ll appreciate is the utter thoroughness of the lesson. Arias breaks down not only the hows, but the whys behind every creative and technical decision he makes on his set. Check out Part 1 below. (You can also find out more in his blog post here.)
Now, not everybody can afford the equipment or the space that Arias is able to utilize in his tutorial, but there are certainly some cheap workarounds that you can use to get the same effect. If you don’t have the cash to spend on professional backdrops (Arias uses a Photo Basics 9×20 high key white fabric background), fabric stores carry all sorts of materials that cut down on creases and wrinkles and effectively distribute your light evenly. Muslin is usually the go-to, but velvet, fleece, and duvetyne work well, too.