Shooting Head Shots? If you haven't tried these then you should.

If you shoot head shots, head and shoulder shots and tight portraits then you've got to check out this product from Savage.

If you're struggling with the cost and (in)convenience of large muslin backgrounds but you want that hand painted muslin look then I've got the product for you. I sound like a salesman but seriously, check it out.

I picked up a 40" x 60" Savage Background panel and after some playing and then using it on a shoot I'm completely sold on these things. Very convenient, easy to hang, relatively easy to store as long as you have a wall to lean it against, or a couch or bed to slide it under, it is a huge timesaver and also let's you swap it out easily without the nonsense of taking down a muslin and hanging another.

They are flexible but not thin even though the description uses the word paper. It's almost like a piece of linoleum but you can't roll it.

Another huge reason I love it is because they don't wrinkle or have creases. Unless you have a way to have many muslins hanging, free of wrinkles, or you have a steamer and the time to steam or iron then you're either going to live with it, post process it after the fact, or be forced to use a shallow depth of field to blur them out.

For the cost of one 10' x 12' muslin background you can get 3 or more of these panels. Again, it's for tight shots and won't replace large backgrounds for full length or large set shots.

Here are the 12 available panels:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …=12974&basicSub​mit=Submit

And here is a sample from a shoot I did this weekend.

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Hey Robert

Nice. I will definitely have to check these out. You can't beat the price!

mattograph wrote in post #6088283
Hey Robert

Nice. I will definitely have to check these out. You can't beat the price!

Hi Matt,

Nope! You can't beat the price and for $100 you can have 3 of them and a nice selection of backgrounds for quick and painless head shot setups. As with any background you can get so many different looks depending on how much light you use.

The shot I posted was a single light source and I just let the falloff take care of the background for me. Hassle free!

Robert, do you remember what the distance was from the model to the background? I really like the sample you posted and would love to know a little about your set-up as well as the camera settings. Looks like a key light to camera left in a square-ish softbox, maybe a reflecter camera right for shadow fill, and then maybe a light (or key light spill) on the background?

Just thinking I could turn my formal dining room into a makeshift studio, or even set this up on-site anywhere.

Thanks,

Jason

HI Jason,

I can tell you the exact setup.

Shot with a 1.5x crop body using a 105mm lens.
f/8, 1/160s, ISO 200
Subject to background distance is 6 feet.
Single light source. 36" x 48" softbox camera left. No fill source.
Background is being lit by the falloff from the main light at about 1/2 stop under subject area exposure.

As long as you have a van or truck you can transport and setup easily and you don't need a full blown background support system. You can rig it to a single light stand or a stand with a boom. It is 40" x 60" and doesn't roll or fold so that is the real estate it needs no matter what.

TMR Design wrote in post #6088485
HI Jason,

I can tell you the exact setup.

Shot with a 1.5x crop body using a 105mm lens.
f/8, 1/160s, ISO 200
Subject to background distance is 6 feet.
Single light source. 36" x 48" softbox camera left. No fill source.
Background is being lit by the falloff from the main light at about 1/2 stop under subject area exposure.

As long as you have a van or truck you can transport and setup easily and you don't need a full blown background support system. You can rig it to a single light stand or a stand with a boom. It is 40" x 60" and doesn't roll or fold so that is the real estate it needs no matter what.

Thanks Robert, that helps tremendously.

Not being able to roll it up does complicate storage and transport. How would you attach these backgrounds to a single light stand? Some kind of clamp I presume?

And as a bonus your photos look like you took them in the 80s! It looks like a good solution, but do people seriously still want that look in the background? What's wrong with a clean black or white background?

Wow Tim,

How opinionated of you. I shoot all the time on black and white and every other kind of background.

Who said there was anything wrong with clean black or white? I have a few hundred images from the same shoot that I did on black and white.

Lets see some of your images so I can make some ridiculous opinionated comments.

Nice find Robert, might be worth looking at for me. I've experimented with foam board for simple one color bg's and it works fairly well.

If you don't like my opinion just ignore it. I just didn't know people still used those types of backgrounds.

This photographer is outstanding and has portraits of some of the great world figures in all walks of life and what do you know, there isn't one shot on clean black or white. I suppose all his work would be considered dated as well. Interesting.

http://www.williamcoup​on.com/

tim wrote in post #6089233
If you don't like my opinion just ignore it. I just didn't know people still used those types of backgrounds.

Then you've had your head in the sand too long Tim.

Take a look at the site in my post above.

Golf Nut wrote in post #6088635
Thanks Robert, that helps tremendously.

Not being able to roll it up does complicate storage and transport. How would you attach these backgrounds to a single light stand? Some kind of clamp I presume?

You could do something with a Superclamp and a Justin clamp. A little creativity and a browse through the Grip and mounting section of B&H will probably reveal many options

Nice find, Robert!

I just bought a couple of Lastolite's collapsible, reversible 5'x6' backgrounds for my headshots and up to three-quarter length portraits on location. They are larger than these, and the muslin they use is a nice, heavy, crease-resistant fabric that really IS crease-resistant! (I know where to go for large muslin backgrounds now). They are pricier than these, but easy to transport and because they are larger than these, a little more versatile (IMO). Of course, you could buy five of these for one of the Lastolite backgrounds! (well, technically two since they are reversible ). Here's what I bought:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …lapsible_Backgr​ound_.html

and

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …lapsible_Backgr​ound_.html

Here is a test shot I took after I got them. My dog Harry in front of a grey mottled background (Washington I think it is), with a blue-gel thrown on it for effect.

Robert, your example is amazing! Great shot, for a colored background!

Anyway.......do you know how these are shipped? I would like to pick up a light one and a dark one (don't tell Tim!!).

Tom