{"id":5874,"date":"2017-03-08T16:54:29","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/?p=5874"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:53:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:53:42","slug":"head-shot-with-a-white-background","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/head-shot-with-a-white-background\/","title":{"rendered":"Head Shot Photography with a White Background"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Head Shot Photography with a White Background<\/h2>\n

Many companies commission head shot photography<\/a> of their staff members and ask that they are photographed against a white backdrop so that this can then be used as a PR photograph<\/a> for websites and LinkedIn.\u00a0 In this short piece, I am going to touch on the white background head shot, and how it can be achieved.\u00a0 I will\u00a0 discuss the snags, and why deliberately choosing a grey or off-white colour instead, might be a better option than pure white.<\/p>\n

OK so you have decided as many clients do, that you would like a portrait<\/a> with a pure white background so that it blends with the pure neutral white of a website, well that is MUCH easier said than done for a number of practical reasons.<\/p>\n

To achieve a pure white background headshot<\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. The size of room allocated for the shoot would need to be BIG, it is important that the white background is evenly lit independently of the subject, this is done with good effect with two lights at 45 degrees to the white screen (even this may not guarantee a totally even light).<\/li>\n
  2. The subject a few feet in front of the backdrop will need to be lit too, preferably with a large soft box to achieve a soft flattering light.<\/li>\n
  3. The camera should be in front of the subject (of course) with a mid tele-photo lens for a pleasant perspective and to reduce flare.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Diagram showing set up to achieve pure white background head shot<\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. \"Picture<\/a>The snag with that arrangement above? It requires an assistant to help carry and setup additional lights etc, it requires the room to be quite large and free of heavy furniture.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how many companies have this on offer (most have a large table in the middle of the room for meetings not unexpectedly).
      \n

      The Solution?…<\/h3>\n

      Photograph the head shot with a grey background and then ‘cut them out’ in PhotoShop<\/h3>\n

      Deliberately photograph the subjects against a grey or off white background and then cut the head shot out afterwards in PhotoShop. This method has a number of advantages over the first method –<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. The size of the room can be smaller and the background does not have to be lit at all<\/li>\n
      2. The subject can be closer to the background, maybe even casting a slight shadow \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter<\/li>\n
      3. The camera is in the same place for the same reasons as above.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        If the staff members are wearing white shirts\/blouses etc \u00a0then it\u2019s a much easier extraction from the background if its grey or similar.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Diagram showing set up to achieve head shot with white or grey background<\/h4>\n

        \"Alternative<\/a><\/p>\n

        The software these days is remarkable in its accuracy and precision, do you have frizzy hair? No problem every hair is identified and retained allowing your new background to come through, looking very natural.<\/p>\n

        In Conclusion…<\/h3>\n

        I recommend having a clear idea of the type of background you would like to see in the final head shot image.\u00a0 Can it be off white or an elegant grey? Or would you rather photograph the person and cut them out later?\u00a0 This would achieve a pure white background.\u00a0 A conversation with the photographer and discussion about the meeting rooms on site at the office would be\u00a0a good starting point.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Head Shot Photography with a White Background Many companies commission head shot photography of their staff members and ask that they are photographed against a white backdrop so that this can then be used as a PR photograph for websites and LinkedIn.\u00a0 In this short piece, I am going to touch on the white background…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[676,286],"tags":[1002,1012,100,580],"class_list":["post-5874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headshot_photography","category-tips-news-piranha-photography","tag-head-shot","tag-white-background","tag-headshot","tag-linkedin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.piranhaphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}