Clipping Paths in Commercial Photography

In my 14 years of shooting commercial photography, I'm frequently being asked to shoot a customers object in front of a simple white backdrop. In most cases this is because the client needs to place the product on a white printed brochure page or web page and also because products often contrast well against a white background, bringing out their color, intricacy, and punchiness.

For a couple of subjects, the job of keeping a beautifully lit, well exposed and sharp product whilst making a flat true white background from corner to corner is indeed doable. By way of example, I've recently shot a collection of black boots for a client and because of the innate contrast between the black of the boot and the bright whiteness of the backdrop, the sought after effect was easily achieved with fairly straight forward lighting.