S@H - Change Your Studio Appearance With Instant Flooring
One of the comments I got when I started the Studio @ Home series was about flooring. I mean not *all* of our pictures are seamless white. Some pictures are taken with the floor and background as part of the picture.
We covered spaces and backgrounds quite a bit but never gave enough attention to that thing under our feet called floor. Here is a neat little way to create instant flooring that looks like hardwood floor, checkers, or almost any other cool pattern.
Most hardware stores in the US hold something called Vinyl Flooring Sheets. Donno how to describe those other that rollable floor.
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Lowes has a wide selection of those. The nice thing about them is that you can store them rolled and spread them on the floor based on need.
Yes, the photo at the top of this post (courtesy of Ron Uriel) was taken with a rollable floor like this. See the next two images below. This is not Photoshop, friends.
And you can see the "ugly" tiles just where the Vinyl ends
Here is how they store up. Nice and rolly
Another option (though not as fast) is to use laminated click hardwood flooring. Those take a bit more time to construct, but feel harder and do not have the softness that the vinyl floor mat has. They come as hardwood panels and you wanna look for those that have some sort of a click-lock system and do not require glue. This way the panels will not drift apart.
Featured Comment By Ron Uriel
Tacho, there is no damask backdrop in this photo. The back is a simple drywall painted white. I find the drywall very useful because it is also easy to attach various fabrics and backdrops to it using a staple gun. Here you have it: PVC for the flooring, Drywall for the backdrop.
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Comments
Glad to have helped.
I just call them PVC :-)
Anyway they are very helpful in the studio plus they are easy to clean/wash/roll/whatever.
the flooring
The vinyl flooring you speak of is called linoleum. It is very easy to clean and roll up.
linoleum vs vinyl
While sheet flooring is often referred to as linoleum, linoleum is a specific material which is made from linseed oil. Vinyl is a petroleum product. Each have their pros and cons, but sheet vinyl is cheaper which plays to the DIY crowd. Linoleum on the other hand is considered a green product and has moved back into fashion as a more durable and higher end sheet flooring product.
backdrop
Can anyone tell me the name and where to buy the damask backdrop of the above photography.
thanks
Drywall
Tacho, there is no damask backdrop in this photo. The back is a simple drywall painted white. I find the drywall very useful because it is also easy to attach various fabrics and backdrops to it using a staple gun. Here you have it: PVC for the flooring, Drywall for the backdrop.
In Ron Uriel's photo
Is that paisley background wallpaper or what? I was thinking about using wallpaper on sheets of wood to change backdrops unless you know of a more cost effective way to have different backgrounds?
Lino?
Is this lino, i.e. Linoleum? Or more accurately these days, polyvinyl. But in Ireland/the UK it's still 'lino'... It wasn't long ago every house had lino it in. I knew one family that 'tiled' their bathroom walls with it!
re: Lino
Yup,
My first encounter with this material was at my 70s built grandma house :) I love it then and I love it now.
i would like to know where to
i would like to know where to get the background that the girl is standing infront of. Not the flooring but the black background with the pattern.
On another note, awesome flooring idea.
Answer to Adam Sosa
Adam, the backdrop that the model is standing infront is a wallpaper which I bought in a wallpaper shop. Stick it on a plywood plate or any other hard surface - and you have a sylish useful replacable wall. Personally I like it better then those ordinary paper/cloth backdrops.
australia?
Does anyone know where to get hold of these in Australia?
Flip 'em over, and paint your own
i worked at a photo studio in atlanta and they painted and repainted, and repainted the back of these. poor mans cove. flatter and more durable that seemless paper. the reverse side is very matt. they used a variety of widths. 4', 10', 20'. if you do that, avoid the vinyl with the faux embossed tile effect. the embossing sometimes shows all the way thru for a grid effect, unless you want that. for storage just reverse roll it up. piece a cake. rock on diy'ers!!!
Keeping the roll flat?
How do you get the roll to stay so flat once rolled out? My experience with this material is that it always curles up on the ends when you unroll it - but in your images in the article, the sheets are flat and there's no obvious weights or anything else holding them down. Personally, I use the click style models and take them on location for pet photography, but the sheet would be a lot easier. Thanks
example: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalanharris/3888314773/in/set-7215762212367...
Reverse roll it to stretch the vinyl surface on the back side
Eventually they lay flat. It might help to flip it over and reverse roll it to stretch the vinyl
surface from the back side. I did not see an example on your flickr site but I did see a wonderful photo of a sweet pup!
Floor stay flat
Gaffers tape around the edges will keep it flat and remove without damaging the floor! Even if you just tape down corners!
bamboo office chair mats work
bamboo office chair mats work great as a wood floor
What can I use to clean white
What can I use to clean white vinyl flooring?
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