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Yesterday i was told that the white background of a high key shot should not cause max out the sensor behind the subject (the display blinks black and white to show channel clipping)
In contrast this article http://www.ephotozine.com/article/high-key-and-low-key-lighting-tutorial-13881 says:
I then put two lights (one either side) at even power on a white background and adjust the power until I arrive at just below pure white (checking with the ink dropper tool that the values are below 255 in each colour channel) then I add 1/3 stop in power to bring my light just above white, resulting in a nice pure white background. By shooting a test with just these lights and the subject in place I can then check whether I have a silhouetted subject or if I’m starting to suffer flare (if I have flare I can add flags or reduce the light ensuring I still maintain white).
I'm inclined to go for the latter aproach and "just" burnout the background - is this right?
When you reach 255 and Photoshop, that is white without detail. At that point adding more light will not make it whiter… it just gives you more light returning from the background which can cause lens flare, and can also wash the subject out and make them appear flat.
I probably go a stop and a half above on the background lighting, as above the models distance from the background is important, too much burnout can ruin a shot but not enough makes it dull and murky.
think the main thing is to have a smooth backdrop 
did a shoot at a mates house (for fun...) and the backdtop looked like ball of newspaper that had been unravelled. The back ground to the shots were very rough and shadowy - really can't be arsed editing any of the shots, even though some were nice poses
Quote: think the main thing is to have a smooth backdrop
Last year I picked up a white cloth roller blind, factory seconds, from a junk shop for a fiver. Once i`d found a way to support it on a pair of stands its been ace, never creases and when rolled up stays clean 
cool - can you tell my mate Mac where you got it
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