One background, which colour?

For starters I can only fit one paper background into my budget. I have a choice of White, medium grey or black.

Which of these is the best to colour with a gelled speedlight?

My initial thoughts were to go with the medium grey as I could easily make it white or black and thought colour would go well, but the guy selling here told me he thought black was the easiest to colour.

I don't have any backgrounds yet (other than a white and black sheet ), so I dont have a suggestion. I agree with what you said about the grey and being able to make it white or black... I haven't tried gelling much, so not sure what works best for that.

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Medium grey is easier to gell and in my opinion it is the best color to start out with when trying paper backgrounds......

jwp721 wrote in post #13718813
Medium grey is easier to gell and in my opinion it is the best color to start out with when trying paper backgrounds......

Agreed.

What do you plan to photograph? If you plan to do people then I agree with drvnbysound. Grey is a great color to start using. If you plan to take lots of photos of small products you can get a shorter roll of white. Many camera stores sell shorter rolls of background paper and they are great for smaller products.
It is hard to go wrong with grey. -Jim

Fantastic, I was inclined toward grey as well, thanks for the input.

Shooting mostly products, but the main bg is for people, I will be getting a smaller bg for products which will be white.

Just remember that the nice thing with grey seamless, is that with +3 stops hotter background light it will go white, and -3 stops set on the background light it will go close to black. Also easier to gel as jwp721 mentioned.

Medium gray will give you the most options. A lot plays into it though. What modifier(s) are you planning on using and how small a space are you going to be shooting in.

White paper and a black cloth

windpig wrote in post #13726182
Medium gray will give you the most options. A lot plays into it though. What modifier(s) are you planning on using and how small a space are you going to be shooting in.

I'm most likely to be getting the D-Lite 4 kit, so for starters, the small softboxes, but plan to add a couple of octas. For the bg light, I was thinking of using purely speedlights to either wash out or gel (at least for now).

I will primarily be shooting in a tiny 4x3 space but plan to temporarily move into a larger room which would allow for full body or group portraits.

tman2782 wrote in post #13730544
I'm most likely to be getting the D-Lite 4 kit, so for starters, the small softboxes, but plan to add a couple of octas. For the bg light, I was thinking of using purely speedlights to either wash out or gel (at least for now).

I will primarily be shooting in a tiny 4x3 space but plan to temporarily move into a larger room which would allow for full body or group portraits.

I'm shooting in a studio that is 3.25 long, 3 meters wide.
I shoot through a 78cm door that is exactly center of one 3 meter wide end.
I can shoot full length with a 2X3 frame with the subject up to 2.1 meters from the background. With subject 2.1 meters from the BG I can be up to, but no more than 3 meters from the subject and still keep the door frame out of the shot.

I'm using 135 degree varistars because the provide a nice coverage, but I've got pairs of other reflectors for other options.

windpig wrote in post #13730895
I'm shooting in a studio that is 3.25 long, 3 meters wide.
I shoot through a 78cm door that is exactly center of one 3 meter wide end.
I can shoot full length with a 2X3 frame with the subject up to 2.1 meters from the background. With subject 2.1 meters from the BG I can be up to, but no more than 3 meters from the subject and still keep the door frame out of the shot.

You give me renewed hope, although I don't have the luxury of a doorway to shoot from. I've run a few tests today and I can shoot full body in the room at 24mm on a crop, I'm not sure how much distortion that will throw in as I haven't checked for that. Good 2/3 portraits at 35-50mm.

Unfortunately I won't have much subject to backround distance which is what's bothering me right now. The temporary location I can move into is my living room, so it's VERY temporary and I have 4 cats to try and keep off set.

How do you control light in such a small space, don't the varistars throw way too much light all over the place?

Considering the price of the Eli modifiers, I'm planning on trying out the Fotodiox 60" octa and 22" beauty dish to see how I can work these around.

I'm mainly going to be focusing on product shots for starters so the place is not an immediate issue and I think I'm going to have to try and shoot people on location more.

It's either this, or move into a new place whic could be an option, but I hate moving!

tman2782 wrote in post #13731188
You give me renewed hope, although I don't have the luxury of a doorway to shoot from. I've run a few tests today and I can shoot full body in the room at 24mm on a crop, I'm not sure how much distortion that will throw in as I haven't checked for that. Good 2/3 portraits at 35-50mm.

Unfortunately I won't have much subject to backround distance which is what's bothering me right now. The temporary location I can move into is my living room, so it's VERY temporary and I have 4 cats to try and keep off set.

How do you control light in such a small space, don't the varistars throw way too much light all over the place?

Considering the price of the Eli modifiers, I'm planning on trying out the Fotodiox 60" octa and 22" beauty dish to see how I can work these around.

I'm mainly going to be focusing on product shots for starters so the place is not an immediate issue and I think I'm going to have to try and shoot people on location more.

It's either this, or move into a new place whic could be an option, but I hate moving!

We have four cats also, and you know how cats are

Contolling spill and power are the challenges working in small spaces. I've got a number of black panels, anywhere from 2.75 X 2.75 to 1 X 1 meter. I also picked up a couple of clips that allow you to attach a flag onto a reflector and adjust its' angel, kinda like barn doors. I have a set of barn doors that go on one of my 21cm reflectors. I have issues using large ungridded modifiers in my space without being able to put up black panels or material to kill the spill and all the uncontrolled light that bounces around from them. My ceiling height is 2.5 meters. I can do full length with a 36 X 48 SB and get even coverage with maybe .2 stop drop at the feet.

I'm also using manfroto autopoles, which are incredible in small spaces.

I hope this helps and the mannequin doesn't offend, she's a great subject, I get no arguing from her

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Thunder gray.

I agree Gray is the way to go. you can turn it white with direct light on it and turn it black with faster shutter speed.