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.
I thought it was going to be some boring old post, but it really compensated for my time. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
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