Backdrop advice please...

kelly1

Hello all,

I'm looking at my options for a fairly decent backdrop. What I have in mind is a 2 stand with crossbar type support for hanging a roll.

http://www.barkerphotographic.ie/products.php?id=1341&cat=87

What I'm not sure about is what type of backdrop material to go for. Should I go from a paper roll or vinyl and I'll only be going with 1 colour to begin with, what would ye recommend? I'm thinking light blue might be good?

I had a look at what Barker's sell but €79 is a bit steep for an amateur like me!

I borrowed a foldable backdrop a while back and was terrible so definitely ruling that out!

Thanks.

Hugh_C

If you're going for the seamless look, as in the roll extending to the floor and under the model's feet, it gets filthy, really filthy really quickly, so I'd suggest a paper roll which can be torn/cut off once you're finished.

As regards colour, I personally think you'd be advised to go with something neutral like a mid grey, I've used the "Arctic Grey" and "Arctic White" a lot. You might get tired of the blue pretty quickly and there are 11m in a roll

hth,

Hugh

AnCatDubh

Check out todays blog post of Ronan Palliser.

Also google Zack Arias excellent work - for him there is only one background - seamless white paper roll (which is what ronan uses in the link above).

There's lots of diy jobs out there too if budget is tight. Check out diyphotography.net -- nearly sure i linked to it recently for similar questions

Kbeg3

I got that stand off Barker a while ago, works well. I only have a white paper backdrop but it works for what I need

kelly1

Thanks folks. I think I'll go with a grey background as I don't have backdrop lights yet. Actually I must check if I can get double-side paper. Maybe blue/grey.

damiendar

if you can only get 1 background get a grey one underexpose its black over expose it can be white use flash gels and its any colour u want....

oshead

These guys, Creativity Backgrounds do a fairly good deal on backgrounds.

kelly1

Thanks David. Is there a particular grey you'd recommend?

oshead

If I was to just get one then i'd probably go for a mid grey.

oozler

damiendar wrote: »

if you can only get 1 background get a grey one underexpose its black over expose it can be white use flash gels and its any colour u want....

Saw a link to my blog post above from this thread so thought I'd add my two cents...

If I were you I wouldn't buy a mid grey one... you'll end up needing to use lots of power to make it white if you want it to go white, and you'll have trouble controlling that light from spilling back onto your subject in a way that you don't desire unless you're shooting in a very big space. If you buy a white paper roll you can still make it go grey or black....

At any reasonable distance it'll go grey if you just don't light it (like the first shot on my blog post here: http://www.ronanpalliser.ie/blog/2010/11/08/boys-and-their-toys/ - in this case the subject is about half way between the main light (softbox) and the background (white seamless). Because of the way light falls off - the inverse square rule - the white background goes mid grey.

If you position your main light as close as you can to your subject so that the light-to-subject distance is much smaller than the subject-to-background distance, you can make the same white paper background go black as it doesn't get enough light to register in the exposure.

Here's an example not using any background roll at all, but just shooting in my dining room and keeping the main light close to the subject, so that relatively speaking the subject is much nearer the light than the wall that's acting as the background: http://www.ronanpalliser.ie/blog/2009/08/06/orchid/

If I had wanted to turn the white background black instead of grey in the first shot of the little boy I linked to, I would have moved the light closer to him (seems counter intuitive) and reduced its power (it's now closer to him afterall), which would have meant it wouldn't have been sufficient to light the background at all.

Yes you can achieve the grey-to-black and grey-to-white, but the grey-to-white in a controlled fashion in a small space will be difficult.

Gelling the lights for a coloured background is a good plan. If you're using flashes and not big lights look at the Strobist gel pack from The Flash Centre.

ttcomet

Just wondering if anyone had tried those vinyl backgrounds and if they thought they were any good?
As far as I understand they wont crease and are just washable/wipeable down if they get dirty. The downside is weight and price, any others?

oshead

The thing you've got to consider is this. If you plan to go highkey, then go white or another bright colour like yellow or pink. To do a proper white-white you simply need lots of space about 8ft from the background to the subject. If you want mid tones, then go with a mid grey or a mid colour. If you want to go low key, then go with dark grey or black. Think of it as horses for courses. Buy the right tools for the job and half the work is done for you already. The problem with turning white to grey is, often you end up with a dirty off white that looks kind of flat and dull. Unless that's the look you're after.

So, in conclusion, if you want to do solid blue background, then go for blue. You'll probably like it. Gelling it will not give you the same effect. By the time you get fed-up with blue, you'll probably have the money to get something new. If you buy specifically for what you need then you can't go too far wrong.

HighKickerPete

Check this out, was reviewed on the twip podcast last week. Amazing apparently. http://www.dennymfg.com/ProductDetailsNew1.aspx?PId=c568b1ad-1d03-4f8d-b53d-a619be7715dd&PTId=bb4f9904-5363-4151-926b-5fb6ab04dd88