can anyone suggest a source to buy a portable stand and muslin?

I have a Church directory coming up, and its time to buy a portable backdrop stand, and a muslin for it.

I have been using a pvc tube backdrop, but the one I used was a bit to flimsey and had to be tied to something to keep it stable. Plus it took to long to setup and didnt look the most professional.

I was hoping someone could recommend a good stand and backdrop. I think I found a stand on bhphoto a while back for $100 which im comfortable spending. I was hoping to find a muslin for the same price. I have been using bedsheets, but they wrinkle way to easily, even after they are ironed, the part that was ironed first usually has some wrinkles. Id rather spend a bit of money and save all those hours in photoshop fixing the wrinkles, which is why I want to buy a muslin. I realize muslins can still wrinkle, but I was hoping to get something a bit heavier so it wont wrinkle as bad or just wont wrinkle if possible. : )

Im not sure what color of a muslin to get. I think idealy grey is the best, becuase you can put filters on flashes to make the background any color you want. But for now im using four vivitar 285's for lighting, and im afraid of the color casting off onto the subject. so im thinking of getting a light blue muslin instead. I think its traditional for Church directories anywase.

http://stores.shop.eba​y.ca …Backgrounds__W0​QQ_armrsZ1
I got some nice muslin here

and I think that's a great deal on the stand with B & H.

Well the one stand is $110 from bh. It looks to be a good height and width at 9' long and 10' wide, or about that. Theres another one for $160 but it doesnt really give much information about it. It doesnt say how wide it is, but says its about 9' tall. I wonder who stable these stands are.

Get a couple of sand bags to weigh down the stands.

I too recommend Tim West for backgrounds. they have always been very nice people to deal with and so far all his backgrounds we have ordered have been very good. Colors have been true to descriptions.

there's one on the sell thread...

The stands themselves are pretty generic--nothing really to recommend one or the other, except build quality, which is difficult to judge online. Don't try to get stands that are too compact, because the more sections the less stable it will be when erected.

I would recommend, if at all possible, be sure to get a crossbar that has oblong holes rather than round holes. This makes a great deal of difference when you're raising and lowering it, because oblong holes allow you to raise one side at a time much easier.

I too will be doing a church directory.

I just got this stand http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ound_Support_Sy​stem_.html


It didnt come with instructions, but it is very very easy to setup and tear down and comes with a case.

and this backdrop http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …e_Muslin_Backdr​op_10.html

Here is an unedited shot with it.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Got some things to look into.

NeoSoulPhoto - it looks like the background has some wrinkles, are they part of the design of the muslin or wrinkles?

I would try ebay. They normally have muslin backdrops and stands for 100-150

msfvirginia wrote in post #9754508
Thanks for the replies everyone. Got some things to look into.

NeoSoulPhoto - it looks like the background has some wrinkles, are they part of the design of the muslin or wrinkles?

sorry for the late reply, no its not part of the design, it was just wrinkly from being folded up. It actually comes with a matching carrying bag.

I have a portable stand I bought from B&H, holds three different backdrops and work great.

As for the Muslin, check Amvona.com. They rotate a deal of the day and I just picked up a gray one for $40 and that included the shipping.