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There is more than one way to make a custom backdrop for your photography. There is also more than one way to do it: it’s usually cheap, you can make it exactly as you imagine, and as many as you want.
In this video, Luke Cleland shares his method of making a DIY canvas backdrop. You don’t need any fancy ingredients or tons of money, you can make it at home and customize it to pretty much any shooting need you have.
There are plenty of cheap and easily available items that you can add to your shots and raise them to a whole new level. In this video from Adorama, photographer Gavin Hoey takes you to his studio to show you how to get three different portrait looks with a single gold background. He uses a $5 gold emergency blanket, so this is a pretty cheap, yet versatile trick to add some sparkle to your portraits.
How would you like to have an infinite number of different backgrounds for your portraits? What if I told you that you can? In fact, it’s very likely that you already have this “infinite background machine” at home? Any ideas what it might be?
If you thought of a TV, you were right. In this video, Joe Edelman will tell you all the benefits of using a TV screen as your backdrop, and he’ll also teach you how to use it to make the most of it.
For those of us born in the 1970s and ’80s, this new phenomenon of mottled, cloudy backdrops appearing in modern portraits is an odd one. You see, back when we were kids, we had horrendously cheesy family and school portraits taken in front of these bizarrely arranged patterns, so to us, it’s pretty weird to see these painted, cloudy backdrops now grace the covers of Vogue and Tatler.
Mainly, I do photography for fun, and I like experimenting with random stuff to get unusual effects in my photos. For my birthday last year, a got a brilliant shiny cosmetic purse from a friend. It instantly became my favorite traveling companion, but I also immediately saw the potential for using it in my photos.
There have been a few occasions this year that I have used this little purse for photography, combining it with the LED flashlight on my smartphone. And I must say: I’m surprised by the funky lighting effects you can achieve with just two everyday items!
Portrait photographers pay a lot of attention to their subjects, but sometimes they don’t pay so much attention to the background. In this video, Jeff Rojas will show you three key ways to make the best out of your studio background and make your photos even better.
Folding reflectors, softboxes and backgrounds are awesome. There’s no two ways about it. They pack down really small for transport or storage, they pop up quickly when you need them, and they’re really lightweight. As a location shooter, they’re perfect for me. Even my white balance card folds away like a reflector. Whatever helps pack the gear down into the smallest and lightest space possible is welcome.
But once they start getting to a certain size, they can become quite troublesome. Gravity kicks in, which then either becomes your best friend or your worst enemy. But there is a simple way to fold up these giant reflectors and backgrounds. In this video, photographer Jason Lanier shows us exactly how it’s done.
Guys! Check this out! I own a fair few Gravity Backdrops and absolutely love them to pieces, but the problem I have is time. Sometimes I don’t have the time or the space to setup the canvas backdrop, 2 stands, cross bar, and multiple clips.
So when I’m looking for a quick access but still believable test shot, I needed a cheap alternative to go to.
Check out the result! (I know it’s dark, that’s just my style :D).
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.
I just finished up a handful of promotional shots with actor Levi Fiehler and it went well. One of our shots was an odd editorial photo with a him sitting next to a head in a box.. because hey, why not?! I used a hand painted backdrop and a faux wood floor and I lit it dark and moody. I was happy with the way it turned out except for one factor. I wish it didn’t look like it was shot with a studio backdrop. If it looked like it was on location, the shot might work better. The only “giveaway” that it was done in a studio was the roll at the bottom of the backdrop. So I realized if I put a piece of wood molding along the bottom of the backdrop, it would look like a wall and a floor instead of a backdrop and a floor.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 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.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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