Question about Studio photographers

[Epphoto]

What kind Backdrops are you guys using
I have seen so many Co. out there selling them. I dont know where to start and advise ?
Thanks again

[jeromego]

What kind Backdrops are you guys using
I have seen so many Co. out there selling them. I dont know where to start and advise ?
Thanks again
I use seamless paper.

[Epphoto]

Thanks Jerome
you have some nice pictures in your website

[TMR Design]

I typically use seamless paper too. Muslin and canvas backgrounds don't really suit the type of work I do.

[jeromego]

Thanks Jerome
you have some nice pictures in your website
Thanks EP

[Epphoto]

I typically use seamless paper too. Muslin and canvas backgrounds don't really suit the type of work I do.
Very nice and clean portfolio also my friend
Thanks for all your help

[TMR Design]

Very nice and clean portfolio also my friend
Thanks for all your help

Thank you. The best thing to do is figure out the type of work you want to do and go from there. Muslin backgrounds can be nice but unless you're going to own a lot of them I find I grow tired of the patterns and find the mottled backgrounds a bit dated.

I regularly go to a local fabric store and when I see something interesting or that I feel will suit a particular shoot or model I pick up about 9 feet. It costs almost nothing and if I only use it once it's no great loss. This keeps things interesting and fresh.

I'd rather work with a nice clean solid color that I can color with gels or project patterns on and find it more interesting and flexible. I'm much more concerned about the subject than I am about backgrounds when in the studio.

As long as weather is permitting I'll shoot outside and on location when I want backgrounds other than what I can shoot in my studio.

[Epphoto]

I do shoot outside also !! I'm a landscape and nature photographer
but I can not make a good income doing landscapes anymore :D
I had few people asking me for portrait work and I'm getting setup in Studio.I'm little last at the moment until i find my stile.
Thanks for your help


Thank you. The best thing to do is figure out the type of work you want to do and go from there. Muslin backgrounds can be nice but unless you're going to own a lot of them I find I grow tired of the patterns and find the mottled backgrounds a bit dated.

I regularly go to a local fabric store and when I see something interesting or that I feel will suit a particular shoot or model I pick up about 9 feet. It costs almost nothing and if I only use it once it's no great loss. This keeps things interesting and fresh.

I'd rather work with a nice clean solid color that I can color with gels or project patterns on and find it more interesting and flexible. I'm much more concerned about the subject than I am about backgrounds when in the studio.

As long as weather is permitting I'll shoot outside and on location when I want backgrounds other than what I can shoot in my studio.

[jdhart73]

+1 for seamless. I have White, Gray and Black and am very happy with these. I pay $45 for a 9" roll at my local photog shop.

[Epphoto]

any prefered colors expert White, Gray and Black ?

[jdhart73]

Like others have said you can make any color on the wheel with the white, gray or black through the use of gels and different lighting and shutter speeds etc..

I am sure some have some good examples. Rob does I know!

[Calbeee]

i like seamless paper a lot for what i shoot, muslin is not my cup of tea... yet
white, grey, black is generally good for most of the things :D

outdoor is a nice background too

[TMR Design]

any prefered colors expert White, Gray and Black ?

Most photographers stick with Black, Gray and White because you can use gels to create any other color or level of saturation. Unless you plan on working with another color for a fair amount of your work or unless you are working full length and want that color under the subject , you're better off with black, gray and white.

[[godfather]]

Gray could do the job.

[Ernst-Ulrich Schafer]

You know it really depends on what market your photographing for. I use muslins mostly. Silverlake offers some great ones. They also have a forum.

Here's one from them. Best regards, Ernst

[TMR Design]

You know it really depends on what market your photographing for. I use muslins mostly. Silverlake offers some great ones. They also have a forum.

Here's one from them. Best regards, Ernst

I agree that many muslin and fabric backgrounds look nice. Some are really nice. The problem is that unless you're going to have quite a collection (which gets freakishly expensive) then you fall into a 'look' where the same backgrounds start showing up in all your work.

While some might consider a solid color to be boring, there is more fashion and glamour done on pure white every day of the week than what is done on hand painted muslins unless the background is being custom painted or bought for that particular shoot.

I love a lot of the backgrounds I see but if I had a really cool one it would only be cool for a few shoots and then it would be recognizable and many images in my portfolio would take on the same look where people start saying "oh look, it's that background again".

In terms of keeping things simple and versatile I think it makes more sense to work on a solid color that can be made lighter or darker, more or less saturation, round or ellicptical spots of light, cookies projected, and lots of other effects.

I think the tendency is to want a really beautiful muslin or a scene in the background but the same scene over and over gets old fast, imho.

[Benji]

OTOH I've had seniors ask for a specific background because they have seen it in their classmates images and liked it.

I am amazed at the different looks one can get with one muslin. For example I have a hand dyed brown muslin that is dark brown with no light on it, medium brown with a background light one stop under the fill light, and light brown with the background light metered the same as the main light. Then I can turn the background 180 degrees and since it was hand dyed it now has a different pattern to it. Sure it is still brown (and green and gray) but it looks different. Then take it down and flip it over, so the back is now the front! It now has a different pattern than the other side because the dyes soak in at a different rate (I'm guessing.) So with one brown muslin I have at least 12 backgrounds, dark, medium and light, times two sides (back and front) times top up and bottom up!

Want even more backgrounds from the same muslin? Add some gels to it. Muslin is a lot more durable than paper (DUH!) and not all that much more cost wise. www.saycheesebackgrounds.com has specials on occasion where you buy one and get one free (if I remember correctly!)

Benji

[TMR Design]

OTOH I've had seniors ask for a specific background because they have seen it in their classmates images and liked it.

I am amazed at the different looks one can get with one muslin. For example I have a hand dyed brown muslin that is dark brown with no light on it, medium brown with a background light one stop under the fill light, and light brown with the background light metered the same as the main light. Then I can turn the background 180 degrees and since it was hand dyed it now has a different pattern to it. Sure it is still brown (and green and gray) but it looks different. Then take it down and flip it over, so the back is now the front! It now has a different pattern than the other side because the dyes soak in at a different rate (I'm guessing.) So with one brown muslin I have at least 12 backgrounds, dark, medium and light, times two sides (back and front) times top up and bottom up!

Want even more backgrounds from the same muslin? Add some gels to it. Muslin is a lot more durable than paper (DUH!) and not all that much more cost wise. www.saycheesebackgrounds.com has specials on occasion where you buy one and get one free (if I remember correctly!)

Benji

Yes but still... that look isn't that universal. Sure, if you were doing a lot of senior portraits or one type of work. My point is simply that if you want greater versatility I think you get that with solid colors. No one said a solid color background has to be seamless. You can get black, gray and white in muslin or canvas. No matter how much you color or change the quantity of light that falls on a muslin mottled or patterned background it still looks the same to me.

Again, it totally depends on the work you're doing. If senior portraits is your thing then that look sells but if you're doing fashion or glamour that look doesn't sell and if someone was looking at your portfolio and saw it once, that would be enough. No one would want to see image after image with the same background, no matter how much you altered the lighting.

That's why I always stress that the person asking give some thought to the type of work they want to do. The answer to that question could lead them in several different directions and only they know what's going to work for them and their style of shooting.

[RDKirk]

For studio portraits, three or four unpretentious muslins can go a long way. There's no reason for them to become boring, unless poor treatment of the subject allows the eye to wander to the background.

http://www.timkellyportraits.com

I'm on location a lot, and I've recently started using this Calumet On-Site Background system. There are two things I like about it. One, that it's easy to move around once erected; two, that I can have other backgrounds easily sewn to fit--just sew canvas corner pockets into any 8-by-8+ muslin background.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/MP0500/

[HeadShotz]

No matter how much you color or change the quantity of light that falls on a muslin mottled or patterned background it still looks the same to me.


Many times yes but not always, ever and never. The point Benji was making is if composed and lit creatively, it would be difficult to tell he is using the same one. It can have completely different looks done correctly.


Again, it totally depends on the work you're doing. If senior portraits is your thing then that look sells but if you're doing fashion or glamour that look doesn't sell and if someone was looking at your portfolio and saw it once, that would be enough. No one would want to see image after image with the same background, no matter how much you altered the lighting.

One example...Marc Hauser has used the same brown flowery muslin for many, many of his portraits and alters his lighting and composition on it. I am never bored looking at some of his images and rarely even notice its the same background. I have no problem looking at image after image of his on that background. Sincerely no offense intended, but one could say that about the 20 or 25 "girl standing center frame on an evenly lit sterile white background and floor" images in your portfolio. Nice shots, nice lighting, very well done but to me it's the same shot, same background repeatedly.

I do agree with you overall. Solid white, gray and black backgrounds should be staples in your background inventory. Solid gray especially can provide an infinite number of looks. But to say all mottled or patterned muslin backgrounds are inflexible, boring, repetitive and always look the same isn't completely accurate. Depending on the muslin and how they are used, some can be yes...but not all as shown in the examples of RDKirk's excellent post above.

[TMR Design]

For studio portraits, three or four unpretentious muslins can go a long way. There's no reason for them to become boring, unless poor treatment of the subject allows the eye to wander to the background.

http://www.timkellyportraits.com

I'm on location a lot, and I've recently started using this Calumet On-Site Background system. There are two things I like about it. One, that it's easy to move around once erected; two, that I can have other backgrounds easily sewn to fit--just sew canvas corner pockets into any 8-by-8+ muslin background.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/MP0500/

Many times yes but not always, ever and never. The point Benji was making is if composed and lit creatively, it would be difficult to tell he is using the same one. It can have completely different looks done correctly.



One example...Marc Hauser has used the same brown flowery muslin for many, many of his portraits and alters his lighting and composition on it. I am never bored looking at some of his images and rarely even notice its the same background. I have no problem looking at image after image of his on that background. Sincerely no offense intended, but one could say that about the 20 or 25 "girl standing center frame on an evenly lit sterile white background and floor" images in your portfolio. Nice shots, nice lighting, very well done but to me it's the same shot, same background repeatedly.

I do agree with you overall. Solid white, gray and black backgrounds should be staples in your background inventory. Solid gray especially can provide an infinite number of looks. But to say all mottled or patterned muslin backgrounds are inflexible, boring, repetitive and always look the same isn't completely accurate. Depending on the muslin and how they are used, some can be yes...but not all as shown in the examples of RDKirk's excellent post above.

Good points from both of you. I agree that when done well you can achieve very pleasing results and it doesn't have to be boring.

Headshotz, I don't take offense to your comments at all. If I was doing a different kind of work I wouldn't be sticking withe generic black, gray and white. I think we each find styles and niches that work for our target markets and what is good or right for one persons work isn't necessary good for another's.

[TMR Design]

For studio portraits, three or four unpretentious muslins can go a long way. There's no reason for them to become boring, unless poor treatment of the subject allows the eye to wander to the background.

http://www.timkellyportraits.com

I'm on location a lot, and I've recently started using this Calumet On-Site Background system. There are two things I like about it. One, that it's easy to move around once erected; two, that I can have other backgrounds easily sewn to fit--just sew canvas corner pockets into any 8-by-8+ muslin background.

http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/MP0500/

Do you have any images you can show with some of those muslins as your background. I like the idea very much but it's hard to tell exactly what those backgrounds look like based on the online image.

Here's another question about that background system. How does the center of the X mount to the light stand? Is it like mounting a strobe where it attaches to the stud on top of the lightstand and tightens down?

If so, here's a wacky idea I had. My studio is small and I really can't afford to lose space by using a tripod based light stand that distances the background from the wall. I was thinking that when I'm in the studio I can take the X and mount it to a stud on a horizontal cross rod going in between 2 autopoles that I use a a background support system. This would keep the muslin against the wall and give me back the space I would lose if I used a tripod based light stand.

Not sure if I explained well but hopefully you get the idea.