background material?

I am in the market to buy my first background for general portrait shots. What is the going trend in regards to material choice? fabric, seamless paper, vinyl. I want to get some of the basic colors like black, white and gray/charcoal. Want it to last for the long haul. What are your opinions?

There are, of course, many options because there are many different preferences. What I like to use is a muslin that is a mottled medium gray (think "tie-dyed") that I can turn into almost any color I want by using gels over the light that I use to illuminate the background. By keeping the background out of focus and controlling the light intensity and color, I can fit the background to all sorts of moods in the portraits.

jlstan wrote in post #17809333
I am in the market to buy my first background for general portrait shots. What is the going trend in regards to material choice? fabric, seamless paper, vinyl. I want to get some of the basic colors like black, white and gray/charcoal. Want it to last for the long haul. What are your opinions?

If you're wanting something to last a long time, then fabric/muslin is probably what you want. Seamless paper has to be replaced (cut & rolled out for a new clean surface) after each few shoots. It just gets dingy, torn, etc. You have to make sure you store the paper properly (flat, not on its end) or you'll get little ridges in it throughout the whole roll. It's also a little harder to work with IMO if you're one person setting it up bc its heavier and more bulky. I used it for a bit, but was never super happy with it bc I set up and take down my backdrops in my basement, they're not permanently up. I've never used vinyl, so it may be a viable option of you're not planning on being mobile. Muslin is probably the most versatile. It's what I prefer to use, when I use a backdrop. They also don't take up much space if you've got a few of them, and they're easy to transport if you need to. If they get wrinkled, a little steam machine and some clamps work pretty well to get them out fairly quickly. If the background isnt going to be in focus though, I don't usually worry about it too much... especially if it's one of the mottled "the dye" type patterns.

I prefer white, bc you can make it any other color you want depending on how you shoot. But I have black and grey mottled as well.

I agree that paper is a bit of a nuisance but it's also easy and super smooth. Never used vinyl but I've read that scuff marks are not as easy to remove as the blurbs would have you believe. I have a black velvet too which I love and is easy to use. Depending on how big a space you have, you may get off with just having white and use your lighting and subject distance to manage the background. If you have suitable modifiers and/or grids on your lights (to prevent spill) you can easily get black backgrounds if you can separate the subject from the background sufficiently. As stated above you can use gels to colour white backgrounds too.

Thank you for the comments. I have been leaning towards the muslin and using gels sounds like a great way to multi use a backdrop. Great input

If you're just getting into studio type shots, this might be of some help. (Sucks the images are no longer available).

http://zackarias.com …torial-part-1-gear-space/

I prefer paper. Muslin is a pain in the rear to work with because it gets wrinkled very easily. Since you have to fold it to store it, you WILL get wrinkles. The larger the background the more difficult to get the wrinkles off. And yes, the wrinkles WILL shew in the photo, unless you aim the light directly at it and blow it out to pure white (which most of the times you won't want to do). I bought a muslin background over two years ago and I have never used it (other than for a quick test) because of this problem; I just can't see myself ironing a 10' x 12' sheet of fabric.

Paper is just a cinch to set up, shoot with, roll up and store (I keep the box it comes in: takes very little room just propped against a corner of the room). Sure, it will crease and get dirty, especially if your shoot requires the models to stand on it, but it's cheap enough to replace. A neutral grey roll of paper is extremely versatile: you can turn it black or white with your strobes, and even different colours by using gels.

jlstan wrote in post #17809589
I have been leaning towards the Muslim and using gels sounds like a great way to multi use a backdrop. Great input

You're using the wrong word. The word you used refers to a religion. The word for one type of material used in a fabric photographic background is muslin. No capital M and it ends with an n, not an m.

Also, regarding wrinkles..... I (and many others) store my muslin backgrounds by randomly crumpling them and stuffing them into a storage bag. The resulting wrinkles are totally random. I illuminate the background with a single light behind the subject so that there's no cross-lighting showing the wrinkles. In addition, I keep the background out of focus which serves to further minimize the appearance of the wrinkles.

Would keeping the muslin on a roll be a good preventative for wrinkles? Thats if a person does not have to worry about transporting it.

jlstan wrote in post #17809688
Would keeping the muslin on a roll be a good preventative for wrinkles? Thats if a person does not have to worry about transporting it.

Probably, but you'll have to iron out the wrinkles at least once, since it won't come in a roll, but folded up inside a bag.

jlstan wrote in post #17809688
Would keeping the muslin on a roll be a good preventative for wrinkles? Thats if a person does not have to worry about transporting it.

I've tried that and found that it's virtually impossible to completely avoid wrinkles.

With appropriate lighting and focus control, dealing with wrinkles in the background can be non-issues.

My iPhone keeps "autocorrecting" muslin to Muslim, so that may be part of the wording issue (I had to type it twice for this post alone). I keep having to correct my autocorrect.

If it's going to be set up and pretty much permanent, then a roll of paper may be easier to start with, of course I'm assuming this will be on a hard surface floor. If not, you'll need some sort of hard surface either on or under it. My basement has a thin layer of carpeting (no pad) on the cement floor, and it's just enough to destroy the paper when anyone or anything walks on it, so when I used paper I had a few sheets of white beadboard from Home Depot to put on top of it on the floor (I got the idea from the link I posted above). It doesn't show in the photos and helps the paper last longer. I suppose you could put it under colored paper, but I never tried anything other than white, and I liked the slight reflection I got from the board as well. Since now I need to be able to break mine down and store my backdrops, muslin works better for me as a whole, but paper works fine too if you have the space for a more permanent setup.

Actually, paper works just as well or better than muslin for a less permanent setup. My rolls of paper stay tucked in their boxes till I need them, once I'm done with them back into their boxes they go, and back into its bag goes the Savage Port-a-Stand. I also find the paper easier to carry when I have to go on site, though I do have to fold the back seat when the car rental place gives me smaller cars. But a 53" fits transversally on full size cars like the Passat. Now, the 107" rolls, that's a different story.

Anywise, it seems you're set on muslin.

I only have the big rolls, so I didn't consider a smaller width. The big ones are a bit of a pain to haul and keep lying around as you've said, especially now that I no longer have a pickup truck. I'd like them better if I could stand them in a corner to save space, but I tried that once and got a big wrinkle down the center of a roll where it kinked just a bit. Lesson learned!

Smaller rolls could work pretty well for travel, I agree. They're both solutions to the same problem. Just personal preference on how we get there.

I have both but always use paper. I use big rolls and always stand them up in a corner. Never had an issue with kinking or flat spots. I just follow the arrows on the box. Savage I believe recommends upright but I think the most important thing is to be sure the roll is tight before you put it away.