Seamless curling in a little on edges--normal ?

Hello, just having started using seamless (5-foot rolls currently) I'm finding myself fairly clueless about achieving what I thought would be fairly straightforward: a flat solid background.

One of the issues I'm having is that the left and right edges of the paper are curling in a little--something that does pose a problem when lighting the background with anything other than perpendicular, straight on background lighting.

Do people normally tape the edges to the stand in a couple of places to keep it flat ? Or does this normally not happen ?

Thanks !

that's normal

I use the nine foot rolls and don't have that problem. If you are hanging the paper (and not rolling out to the floor) try rolling up a wooden broom handle or something similar at the end of the paper and maybe a little bit of weight will straighten it out for you

I have these help to keep things nice with Manfrotto Autopoles (somewhat similar to StanNJ1’s important idea of keeping it snug/taught)…
Manfrotto Background Paper Counterweight [Mfr# 062-2]:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Paper_Counterw​eight.html

Mary

happy2010 wrote in post #16520588
I have these help to keep things nice with Manfrotto Autopoles (somewhat similar to StanNJ1’s important idea of keeping it snug/taught)…
Manfrotto Background Paper Counterweight [Mfr# 062-2]:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Paper_Counterw​eight.html

Mary

That's exactly what I use also.

You can also use the weight of the roll to keep the background straight by reversing the setup. Just put the roll on the floor and use spring clamps to attach the paper to your cross bar. Quick and easy for many situations.

CAPhotog wrote in post #16522313
You can also use the weight of the roll to keep the background straight by reversing the setup. Just put the roll on the floor and use spring clamps to attach the paper to your cross bar. Quick and easy for many situations.

Yep.

Or, even without reversing the setup/roll, these hard to find but ridiculously inexpensive compact little clamps (with a lot of surface area for their small size) FLASHPOINT 3” Spring Clamps [Mfr# LTCA2]: http://www.adorama.com​/LTCA2.html
(equivalent ones which come with some of the Lastolite fabric background kits) which I find helpful primarily for muslin backgrounds, you may find helpful if judiciously applied on side edges, if first weighting down your seamless paper, or other options, aren't satisfactory for you.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, guys and gals.

I confess that I laughed at the pole solution when I saw it set up at the shop at which I picked up my seamless--I may have to resort to this, though, if the diy fixes don't work.

That's an ingenious solution, CAPhotog--I'll give that a try.

I do have some clamps laying about, but they aren't wide enough I don't think to grip the bottom of the paper in a helpful way. Our local photography shops don't have cheap clip options--I'll check the hardware stores, though.