My Man in Uniform

Not-so-Secret-Santa shenanigans on Saturday night gifted me with this fella. What more could I ask for than my own armed policeman with a VERY large dog? Shame he's all of about 5 cm high :-)

I'd asked a question in the learners area on the forum about how some of you out there manage to achieve pure white backgrounds (no pesky shadows/reflections etc) and one idea posted was "I use my bath" ... tonight was a bit of an experiment in that direction but a) my bath is at the peachy end of cream and b) there was no natural daylight to help out so further experimentation is required. However, I can see it has potential as an emergency backdrop..!

Any other hints or tips welcome (preferably on the forum thread as there were other learners interested in the replies too) regarding "pure white" or "pure black" backgrounds... thankyou :-)