CHOOSING A STUDIO BACKDROP (STUDIO BACKGROUND) TIPS

Today I would say that more than fifty percent of professional photos are taken in small studios or home studios. This is good because this means that people are using more the space. Building cheap home studios using affordable materials.

            In this post I want to share with you an easy way of setting up studio backgrounds. Many photographers use studio backgrounds also called studio backdrops. A photography backdrop is just a piece of fabric, paper or vinyl used to get a pattern or plain background in your modeling pictures.

I personally do not like using patterns background. In my opinion pattern backgrounds should change depending on the models outfit, makeup and the meaning that you of the photo. Unless you like to have a collection of hundreds different patterns it is easier to use a green screen and add the background using Photoshop.

Now I am a big fan of plains backgrounds. First because when using a plain background the photo is more focused on the model or the object that you are shooting. Second the photo does not look overfilled. Third because both you and the model look more professional.

What backdrops colors should I buy and why?

 Well we all know that the green color is mostly used in photos and videos with the purpose of been able to remove the background easy using Photoshop or any other software.

If you are a beginner or semiprofessional photographer you definitely want to begin with a white backdrop. Why? Because they do look professional and you will get great shoots. But why white? Well at first you want to learn how to play with the backdrops and the lighting of your photos, the color white makes it easy for you to notice the shadows and reflections in the photos. After you have an idea on how to shoot studio pictures then you can move on to other backdrops colors like grey, black and etc. always keep in mind that you should not use too saturated colors because your photos do not look good, they look out of contrast and overfilled. My favorite backdrops I would say that are black and gray because black gives a mystery emotion to your portraits and grey well grey just goes with everything.

Where can I buy good backdrops?

            Well basically everywhere. If you don’t want to deal with any issue I recommend you to buy them online on Amazon, eBay or any other site. But this are not the only options can make your backdrops out of anything. You can use fabric from Walmart (any other store) or you can just buy paint and paint a wall. Now be careful when choosing paint most paints are made to reflect the light and you don’t want that otherwise all the lights that you use will reflect on the background, make sure it is flat paint for example flat black it should not reflect any lighting. This is why I don’t like using a painted wall as a background. I rather prefer fabric or vinyl because fabrics and vinyl absorb light and don’t reflect anything.

            The size of the backdrops depends on you on how much space do you have. On average a regular home studio backdrop is around 8ft by 12ft. 8ft wide should be enough for you to shoot in different angles and poses and you sure need at least 12ft of height so you can have at least 8ft of height and around 4ft on the floor so you don’t leave the feet or shoes out of the picture.

            And that is pretty much all you need to know to get a nice studio backdrop. Set it up play with the lights and I guarantee you will get some great photos.

            If you have any questions feel free to ask them on the comments section. I will try to answer them.