If you can only get one backdrop for your studio, grey is what you want and here’s why
Jun 15, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Share:
When setting up a studio, one of the more difficult decisions that a newer studio shooter must make is which backdrop to get. More often than not, it’s which backdrops (plural) should they get?
Photographer Joe Edelman is going to make it a real easy decision for you with this very informative video. You don’t need to get a whole bunch of backdrops, especially when you’re just starting out with studio work. All you need is grey.
A grey backdrop can be made completely black by not putting any light on it at all, or it can be made pure white by overexposing it relative to your subject.
A grey background can also become any other colour you want it to be by using gels on your background lights.
You could also go with a white backdrop, which is what I personally prefer, as it can also be black, white, any shade of grey in between, or any colour you want with the use of gels.
As mentioned in the video, however, getting very rich saturated colours with very light grey or white backgrounds can sometimes take a little more effort to get perfect than when using something closer to middle grey, but it’s still possible.
Your only choice now is whether to go with paper, vinyl or fabric.
What’s your favourite backdrop? Do you only have grey & white, too? Or do you have a whole bunch of different colours? Let us know in the comments.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Join the Discussion
DIYP Comment Policy
Be nice, be on-topic, no personal information or flames.
3 responses to “If you can only get one backdrop for your studio, grey is what you want and here’s why”
I went with paint, my wall color is mid gray so I don’t need to hang a backdrop at all. Unless I want to; I also have some bright pink and sky blue seamless paper.
This is the color tester that he mentions: http://trycolors.com/
Thanks for sharing. I have this grey backdrop: https://www.dbackdrop.com/products/grey-solid-color-backdrop-for-photography-sc61?_pos=3&_sid=d746d9bdc&_ss=r
As you said, grey backdrop is perfect for studio photography. The one I bought is muslin fabric, which is washable and wrinkle resistant. I plan to try other colors.