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My Solution For Creating Simple And Inexpensive Studio Backgrounds

Photographer Robert Mitchell (see bio below) came up with a clever solution for creating an almost infinite amount of backgrounds using nothing more than a wall and a bucket of paint. While painting and repainting takes some time, the results definitely justify the effort.

Every photographer that builds a studio or converts a room for use as a photo studio gives thought to backgrounds and backdrops. Seamless paper is available in a few widths and a multitude of colors but it’s not always interesting or appropriate and depending on what you’re shooting, seamless can be boring and ugly. The paper itself doesn’t cost that much and you can rig things to hold a roll without any serious investment in hardware, and for some, this is more than enough, and everything they need.

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Build A Background Wall On Wheels

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Black and white are the default background colors for many of my photos. There are several background systems (paper, fabric, roller blinds, etc.) and I wanted to have something that is easily changeable, portable and inexpensive for those two colors.

The result is a background wall on wheels. Both sides are papered with background-wallpaper and so they are easily repaintable. By default I have one of the sides painted white and the other painted black.

Size-wise the wall is 2m high and 1.8m wide, so I have enough space for portraits and full body images. The wall stands safely on its attached furniture castors and is still very mobile in space.

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How To Make a DIY Handpainted Backdrop

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With winters lasting for 6 months in Toronto, I find that outdoor shoots are put on hold for pretty much the entire time. Because of that, I try improving my studio work during the indoor hermitting season as much as possible. That way once spring kicks in I can go back to shooting outdoors at full power.

All of my previous studio work (which is limited) involved either a blank wall in my house or a blank wall in my house with a grey paper backdrop that I purchased at Henry’s for $40 CAD. This year, when I was asked to shoot an album cover, I knew it was time to figure out something a little more sophisticated. Cue in NEW BACKDROPS!

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Can’t Afford High End Glass? Use Those Bokeh’ed Backdrops

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Here is an interesting product for those who want to get that magnificent Bokeh right in the studio using cheap glass. Lastolite just came up with a new series of Out Of Focus Backgrounds. This is a pretty interesting idea that “enable photographers to create the out of focus look instantly, whether in the studio or a client’s home“.

Let me explains, one of the traditional ways to separate subject from background, is to set the camera on a wide aperture (say, f/2.8 or f/1.4) and focus on a close subject while letting the farther-away background to blur and create what some call ‘A creamy bokeh’ (Bokeh is that out of focus area in the photo).

Lastolite created two sets of background that are already out of focus. One set has Summer Foliage on one side and City Lights on the other. The other set has Autumn Foliage and Seascape.

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Two Great Ways To Make Sweet Looking Backgrounds

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Having your own portable background is seems like a great idea. If I had a big van taking a colourama might be an one solution but then it also involves stands and some set up time and the logistics to move it about.

I like to travel light, but have all the comforts of a studio, so the idea of a fold-able background that I can stuff into a bag and peg up on location with some string and just start shooting is genius to me. Inspired by the cloth backgrounds Tim Walker, Mario Testino and a whole other bunch of amazing photographers have shot with, I set about finding a nice shooting solution.[Read More…]

6 Awesome Home Studio Tips: Backdrops To Lights And More

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The folks at the slanted lens are anything but low value so it was kinda surprising to see that many of their setups are actually low-budget DIYs. The short below shows six of those tricks including a plumbing backdrop hanger, a ton of budgety lighting solutions (some of which we have covered in the past, but their softbox is pure budget geniusity) and my favorite, another use for a tarp.

[6 Tips for Setting Up a Home or Office Studio via theslantedlens.com][Read More…]

Clever Way To Store Multiple Seamless Paper Backdrops

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One of the more annoying things to store is seamless paper backdrops. They are big, bulky and you can’t lay them on the flow because they will collapse over their own weight and great folds. This means that the best way to store a seamless paper is vertically.

If you have a long wall that is unused (as no studios probably have), you can stick em on the wall with something like this foam system. Here is a much cooler way tough.

Photographer Rob Grimm made a rope and dowel system that can store a few dozens of backdrops in a neat and orderly fashion. Check out his video below.[Read More…]

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