Backdrop help

[bcarbrey]

Happy New Year all,

I am putting together a small low budget home studio and am looking at back drops.

I am planning to construct my own hanging system.

My goal is to achieve a background that is like the one found in this video:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/guidedtour/small.html

I also want to have a nice drop in other colors but white is my initial goal.

In the interest of saving $$$ what makes a good backdrop?

What is the best material to achieve the above? and the best place to find it?


Thanks

[MiriamJ]

If you're interested in doing it yourself, you might try: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/10/home-depot-week-backgrounds.html There's also links in the comments further on down the page.

I bought some spray paint and canvas drop cloth, and was going to try it myself. Still thinking about it. I haven't seen any posts yet by anyone who's tried it with spray paint.

[Jeff JTPhoto]

I've made my own backdrops with pulldown window blinds. I am sure any kind of canvas would work as well. I bought the largest plain white blinds I could find, mounted them on a 1x6 board and hung by chains from ceiling hooks. The blinds were painted with a combination of blue and grey. If you do choose to paint your own, do not put the paint on heavy just a light spray from a distance works best.

[bcarbrey]

Thanks guys,

After doing some more research I was going to go to my local fabric store but I think I will stop by Home depot first and see if I can find any blinds or drop cloths!

Thanks

[MiriamJ]

Thanks for the advice, Jeff!

[Josée]

I've made my own backdrops with pulldown window blinds. I am sure any kind of canvas would work as well. I bought the largest plain white blinds I could find, mounted them on a 1x6 board and hung by chains from ceiling hooks. The blinds were painted with a combination of blue and grey. If you do choose to paint your own, do not put the paint on heavy just a light spray from a distance works best.

What a fantastic idea! Thanks Jeff! I'm assuming store-bought matte spray paint works best?

[Jeff JTPhoto]

What a fantastic idea! Thanks Jeff! I'm assuming store-bought matte spray paint works best?

Doesn't even have to be matte paint. You are putting it on so lightly that even gloss paint doesn't shine. Any store bought cheap-o paint will do.

[Kevin]

I've used latex wall paint (watered down some) and also acrylic fabric paint (again watered down) with good results. I've used plain muslin from a fabric store and bed sheets to start with.

I've tried using rollers, brushes and sea sponges. All produce different effects and varying amounts of effort. But the cost of diy is substantially less than purchasing new. And if you're creative, the sky's the limit.

[davespix]

Good advice indeed. I always use to think there was some magic Photo backdrop also.
But found a lint free or clean fabric was all that was needed. Hell let the kids finger paint the stuff for fun. Its a cheap and easy to replace alternative. Go to the used window place grab an old wood window shoot a strobe from the other side, be different.