What kind material for backdrops?

[deonholt]

Hi there.

I have tried this past weekend to take a few shots of some stills. I bought black and white cloth to use as backdrops. But, it seems that they are not tightly enough weaved and I can see through. what are the best sort of cloth to use?

Thank you very much.
Deon

[Mike]

How close is the cloth? If it is background material could you move it back a bit further?

[deonholt]

Michael, thanx for your reply.

The pictures are mainly for tabletops. You can take a look at what I have done with my setup:

http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o15/DeonHolt/daglelies/

In other words, the subjects are not more than 1" away from the backdrop.

Deon

[Mark1]

You definatley need a bigger stage. I like to keep things at least 2 feet away. I can go up to 4 feet on my table. The farther away it is the better, to a point.

[deonholt]

You definatley need a bigger stage. I like to keep things at least 2 feet away. I can go up to 4 feet on my table. The farther away it is the better, to a point.

Ok, that makes sence.
Do I need to have a specific cloth for the black or white backdrops?

Deon

[Mark1]

Black velvet seems to be a good choice. Some felts are as well. But when you go to look at fabric,.... yes it has to be a very black....but pay attention to how shiny it is. Try to take it near a light. Are any of the fibers shining? If there is any gloss it will turn the black into gray in the shot. You will not find one with no gloss but take the one with the least amount.

[Mike]

If there is any gloss it will turn the black into gray in the shot. You will not find one with no gloss but take the one with the least amount.

I bought a fairly cheap light tent which came with 4 different coloured backgrounds recently. The black one (made from nylon I think) is a little shiny and came out looking quite blue! A quick WB change got it to grey though! I might try the felt option though as I think velvet would be a little too heavy for my tent to support.