White on white is always tricky to photograph; things like a mass of white blossoms or a polar bear in a snowstorm.
The light meter on most cameras evens all the tones out to a neutral grey. If the bulk of your photo is white this often translates as a dingy grey, which could work, like in this art studio.
Two original jpegs of the white hydrangeas – the first was the exposure the camera gave me, and the second where the exposure was upped plus point 7. The lighter exposure was closer to what I actually saw but a lot of texture detail was lost.
I ended up working on the darker version and lightened it as much as possible. Although this photo isn’t RAW I was able to open it in the RAW panel of Adobe Bridge (free photo sorter) where I moved the exposure up to where I wanted it – the red indicates where the highlights are blown out.
The darker white hydrangea edited in RAW, cropped, with Recovery, Colour Balance and Clarity fussed over. And after all that work, a completely different version of the same hydrangea mostly backlit which I think I like more.
An experiment in editing a snow scene, where there is admittedly a mass of dark areas. But even so, the white of the sun was blown out with the rest of the photo too dark.
The final, using a lot of shadow/highlight and cropped.
This shot on the same mountain (Silver Star) was white on white and turned out without any work at all.
White sky with blown-out highlights that I could not get back no matter what I tried VS. running it through a Stackables filter that turned the white to pale gold. It’s a completely different feel – not sure which one I like best…
Two different ways of shooting cherry blossoms: back-lit and front-lit. The back-lit was fairly dark, needing a lot of strategic lightening with the lightening ‘wand’ and shadows put back in via Clarity.
More of the Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Before and After.
Batz Gallery 
Good timing with this post – I was taking photos of white Giant Argentine Flowers today!
I would love to see some giant Argentinian flowers- let me know when you post them.
What a great idea to use white on white with your challenge. I loved all the photos and loved more the way you described how you mastered it. Thank you for this, Elizabeth.
I am still working on mastering white. It is good to write it down- it helps jog the memory next time I come upon a āwhiteā situation.
You tackled this beautifully, and it is a hard thing to get right. I love your snow shots, always tricky.
thanks. Snow is always tricky , if only because itās hard to take photos when youāre wearing winter gloves.
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white on white is one of the most difficult photography challenges Elizabeth. You’ve tackled it beautifully and shown us different ways to do so. As always your images are wonderful!
I often use blog posts as a way of thinking aloud, my way to work through a problem. I’m not sure I’ve solved this white on white situation but I’ve learned a lot in the process…
An important problem you tackled here – thank you for a run through of possibilities! A marvellous header shot too, and I agree about the colour red. Impossible to get it right.
Iām always happy to work on projects, and then write down what Iāve discovered- it helps with the old memory.
Good idea. It seems I have left a lot of that behind since I retired from work. ..Too lazy and too much to do the last three years. I constantly wish for a more peaceful and slow life. I thought I would find that now…
It doesn’t snow much in australia and is quite a drive when it does.
Having to worry about snow is not something I will ever have to worry about. I love the header shot, it is amazing.
Snow is so beautiful. But cold. And sometimes difficult to capture in a photograph. But if you don’t have snow where you live you can always go and visit some snow…
This was a wonderful post focusing on the issues of white on white. Great photos and solutions! I struggle with white flowers.
Everybody struggles with white flowers. I have an even worse struggle with bright red flowers that seem to flare when photographed and I’ve never figured out how to deal with them…
I’ve been trying to use luminosity and adjusting the whites to reduce them a little and bring back more contrast.
It’s definitely a process – I will try your luminosity adjustments – it’s all a learning process…
Excellent. Snow can be difficult!
It’s funny how sometimes snow photos work – it’s always an experiment!
Interesting run-through
Indeed, I learned a lot in the process of putting my thoughts together…
You’ve provided some great tips for dealing with white subjects. The highlights are so easily blown out. I especially like the sequence of shots on the ski slopes.
Silver Star Mountain (near Vernon BC) is one of the most interesting mountains to photograph, in both winter and summer…