how do i create white backgrounds on my cultural africa photo tours?
I’m often asked by other photographers and travellers how I have created my tribal portraits with the white backgrounds. To take striking travel portraits you don’t need fancy equipment. You don’t need fancy lights, soft boxes and backdrops and you certainly don’t need the latest professional camera gear. There is definitely a time, place and use for all those things. However, most of the time when I visit tribal villages and remote communities on my Africa cultural photo tours I usually like to keep things as natural as possible.
Portrait from the Nyangatom tribe in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia
CONSIDER THE AVAILABLE LIGHT AND POSSIBLE BACKGROUNDS
I do use off-camera flash at times (especially when I know I’m after more drama or more of a WOW factor), but mostly use natural light. I do use a black sheet as a backdrop sometimes, but only if the natural light or surroundings won’t give me the look i’m after AND it is a set up “field portrait shoot” - I usually try to use the surroundings to get me the backdrop I’m after. Whether it is the darkness inside a hut or a cloud-free sky most of the time I can use what is around me to get the look i’m after. This all depends on the look you are after for your final image of course and there are definitely times that I will take travel portraits with more gear than what is naturally available, but I mostly prefer to keep things efficient and less complicated. This is especially true when visiting the tribes of Ethiopia on a cultural photography tour.
All the photos in this blog post are taken with natural light with minimal camera gear.
Portrait from the Karo / Kara tribe in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia
consider the comfort of the person you are taking photos of
The benefits of this is less time in post production as well as a more natural capturing process. The more gear you have around you and the person you are taking a photo of the more it starts to feel like a “production” rather than a natural capture. The comfort of the person you are photographing definitely needs to be taken into consideration. Some people are quite happy and often used to being in front of lots of camera gear, while others will find it quite overwhelming and may not be able to connect with you and the camera on a more “natural and relaxed” level.
Portrait from Karo / Kara tribe in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Of course a good professional photographer (that is respectful and used to taking photos of people) can get people to feel comfortable in front of the lens regardless of the surroundings and equipment, but the added bonus of keeping it simple is it is less to carry and travel with! The weight of camera gear is an important consideration with overseas travel so using methods with less gear to get the image you want is ideal.
Child portrait from Karo / Kara tribe, Omo Valley, Ethiopia
Use the sky to create your white background
For a white background I try to take a photo with nothing in the background - just sky. Sometimes getting low and shooting up at an angle can remove anything in the background. Of course you also need to keep in mind if this angle is the “look” you are after for your portrait. For example for wedding photos I wouldn’t take a portrait at this angle, but for strong and powerful and sometimes slightly intimidating portraits this angle can enhance who you are photographing.
Taken in the middle of a Nyangatom village I shot from a low angle to over expose the sky as my background
If you overexpose then the sky will be white. It is that easy. If there is still blue in the sky you can change the blue to white in the luminance slider in LR. Sometimes I can’t quite get an angle to block out all the background and I might use the brush in LR to remove those little distractions.
Some of the Mursi tribe villages in the Omo Valley of Ethiopia are surrounded by bushes and trees but I can usually find a place if I shoot low to get just the sky in the background.
Sometimes you can use other bright backgrounds other than the sky. For example a lake or river. The suns reflections on water can often be easily over exposed for the same effect. Then there are other times that you can’t position yourself or your subject to capture the background that you wanted and you can always change it in post production if you need.
The original horizontal image from outside the Arbore tribe village on my Omo Valley photo tour. I shot low to keep the trees as low in the frame as possible as I wanted to end up having. a white background.
The cropped and edited version for use on my Instagram page of this man from the Arbore tribe.
When I travel I usually take a variety of images. Variety of backgrounds and variety of close up and wide captures. Sometimes the background helps with the story of the portrait. However sometimes I just want the portrait to stand out without any distractions. There are many ways to get a white background, but using available backgrounds (mostly skies and large water areas) are my quick and easy ways for my travel adventures!
use editing software if you can’t capture the background you want
If you want a white background but couldn’t capture the travel portrait with the needed backdrop on your trip, you always have Lightroom and/or Photoshop to do any post processing to get the desired look. Although if you can make it easier for yourself when you take the image it takes a lot less time in post processing! You also need to be mindful of making the editing unnatural. Consider the lighting.
Some of my tribal portraits from my Omo Valley photography tours have white backgrounds mostly from my original capture. However sometimes I might take photos on my Africa photo tours where I want to capture a moment or tribal portrait where they are to keep things more natural. Then I just remove any background in Lightroom with the editing brushes in post production.
For instagram I find a natural green bushland backdrop does not get as much reaction and reach than a white or black background on my Omo Valley tribe photos. So sometimes I use the develop brush to overexpose the plants in the background to get a white background. However these are when I was in wilderness areas often surrounded with mountains or trees so I couldn’t use the sky or natural surrounds to naturally capture the desired white background.