Some time ago, I was contacted by B&H to do a review on Impact's Collapsible Background (Black and White 5' X 7').
I love using collapsible backdrops on location as they give me some freedom with regards to choosing a background. While I prefer working with existing walls / plants / fences to crate appealing backgrounds, this is not always possible. And this is where the collapsible comes in handy. Click to continue ›
As many of you know, I moved to a new place a few months back. (And took down a ten ton wall when doing so). Now remember that story about Thomas Sawyer and the fence?
It starts as Tom got a punishment to whitewash his fence on Saturday. Bummer. However, Tom finds a clever way to both avoid the task and profit from it. He pretends that this whitewashing is so much fun that his friends want to take part in the mission. But our clever Tom, he charges his friends to whitewash the fence. How cool is that?
Anyhow, my story is kinda similar. I got the task from my wife, which is similar. But in my story none of friends paid me to build the fence and there's a very nice dinner involved.
While putting is fence up is definitely DIY, you must be asking yourself what it has to do with photography. Find out after the jump. Click to continue ›
Did anybody say obsessed?
OK, I'll admit it. Over the last month or so, I've been obsessing with home studio tweaks - backgrounds and seamless whites in particular. No wonder too. I'm about to enter my own kids place space studio in about a month now.
This setup has been around for over a year on the web. I can't believe it went under the radar. It's cheap, quick to build and kill and best of all it is continuous, so it is also good for video A-LA matrix style.
How do you take a lovely portrait like this, on a perfect white background? Of course you'll need a beautiful model. But how would you handle the lighting? Just throw about 10000 Watts/Seconds on your seamless white and you're good.
Or use a single strobe and 5$ worth of white Coroplast. Read on for the full details.
On the last post we saw how easy it is to set a "backdrop" for any small object.
In this post, we will continue to explore backdrop solutions, only this time the focus is going to be on full scale backdrops. The type that goes better with taking portraits.
The underlying principles remain the same: once you have a space to shoot at, you will want to remove distractions from the background. Again, you'll want to use a seamless backdrop removing seams in Photoshop is a painful and time consuming process. The standard width for most backdrop, muslin or paper is about 108" (although 53" is a common size as well). This width allows for some freedom in terms of subject placement and subject movement.
As with most simple things in life backdrop creation can be divided into two parts: creating the backdrop and mounting it.
One of the simplest mods that were featured in DIYP is the lightstand to backdrop holder mod.
It is fast to make, has some PVC in it - PVC ROCKS - and it is a can be a cheap and easy alternative for on location instant backdrop.
Martin Kimeldorf (Flickr) who is the master mind behind this simple-yet-genius contraption has been busy. Taking in the great reader comments on the original post, Martin has improved his original design. I was really happy when I got the note in the mail asking to share the new generation of the Light Stand Backdrop Holder.
In the following article, Martin Kimeldorf will show us how to make a backdrop stand that can be mounted on your I-carry-it-anyway lightstand.
I don’t like to carry a ton of photo stuff. The notion of trucking around 2 lights stands and a cross bar, with backgrounds, plus tripod and additional light stands for off-camera flash…well, it just ain’t me, not at my age. I went into my head-shed and tried to work with an existing light stand (costing $20 $45) and materials found at my local hardware and fabric outlet. I now have a lightweight, portable set up for less than 1/3 the cost of the commercial ones. Plus it is smaller than most being only 6 feet across. I can remain mobile.
This backdrop holder by Edward Holtzman is one the fastest-to-assemble / cheap-to-build / quick-to-store / don't-piss-wife-with-photo-junk projects I have seen.
Riding on the PVC wave, Ed created a three section foldable backdrop stand. The genius thing about it is the way Ed overcame the common problem of stabilizing the stand. And the really genius thing about it is that after you are done taking pictures, you can take the stand out to play football with your son.
There is no end to creativity - if you created a cool setup for your shot, and you want to share it with DIYP readers and post it on the site, drop me a note.
I love nothing better than a good PVC construction. This is why I was so happy when David Turman sent in this great PVC stand. As any stand it can double as a light stand or a backdrop stand. You can use the stand to mount the cool backdrop you already made, or "just" your store bought backdrop. David is doesn't talk much, but his picture by picture tutorial is priceless. David, the floor is yours.
Here is my version of a simple and durable PVC backdrop or Lighting Stand. All the pieces are cheap and readily available and assembly is easy. I bought all the pieces at my local Lowe's for about $11.00, so you can do 2 for about 20 bucks not counting the uprights. You might save even more if you buy a multi-pack of the PVC fittings.
DIYP reader, Jerry, made a great comment on the process of making a tie-dye muslin backdrop.
It appears that Jerry remembers those happy days from when Tie-Dye was in fashion, and hair was the best show you can catch on Broadway.
Jerry tells that back is those days Tie-Dye shirts were the thing to wear and making Tie-Dye shirts was a common art. (Well, Digital cameras were very expensive then - they cost was just about a time travel ticket plus 1000$).
To spice up the color of a fabric, Jerry spiced up the Tie-Dye process. After the dying process has finished, but before removing the cord and hanging out to dry, you place the fabric in a fixer container.
