In this video we're going to look at photographic backgrounds and even how to
make some of your own. Thanks to Squarespace for sponsoring this video.
Now photographic backdrops and backgrounds are obviously a key part to
any image, they can literally make or break your photograph so choosing the
right background is crucial but knowing which one is best can be tricky, but
before we delve in, let's take a look at some images on my website to see how
important backgrounds actually are. So here on my commercial website when you
actually study any of these individual images you can see how crucial the
background choice is, now whether that background is on location or in the
studio it's one of the key things that I really consider strongly before I even
attempt the photograph - because it's the background that offsets your subject or
your hero from the image. It's what juxtaposes your main subject out and if
you want to draw attention to your main subject it's absolutely crucial that
your background doesn't compete with your main subject, you need to think of
your background as the supporting cast and your main subject as the hero in
your movie. Now to help you make the most of your images, I'm going to talk about
some of the key points to think about when selecting a background and include
to DIY photography backgrounds that you can easily make yourself. So, what type of
backdrop is best for your photography? Well, whether you're photographing people
or products there is a wide range of photography backgrounds to choose from
from simple colors to mottled canvasses, the sky is really the limit. Now
different types of backgrounds include paper, fabrics such as muslin or canvas,
MDF sheets and boards, or pop-up backgrounds, or even infinity coves, or
cycloramas as I've got here behind me. Now some of the types of studio
backgrounds that you're most commonly familiar with our paper rolls.
Let's take a look at an example. So this image here was shot on a paper roll
background. Now paper rolls come in a variety of widths and are available in a
different range of colors, now the advantages of paper rolls is the variety
of them and their affordability but they can be difficult to store.
A further drawback to paper rolls is that they crease very easily which can
show up in your images as ripples and they're also not very portable. One of
the other things that I don't like with paper roll backgrounds is that they have
a tendency when suspended on a background to bend and warp over time
causing further ripples in the paper. This can be overcome by inserting one of
the metal supporting rods inside the core of the background to prevent it
from bending. The other type of backgrounds are fabric such as canvas
backgrounds or muslin backgrounds - let's take a look at an example of one of
those. This image was shot against a canvas background, in fact, we actually
made this canvas background ourself and I'll be talking about that a little bit
later. Fabric backgrounds such as canvas or muslin are popular due to their
variety and portability, canvas backgrounds are generally more bulky and
heavy than muslin backgrounds but can offer some great depth and color. Muslin
backgrounds are constructed from cotton and as a result are lighter than canvas
though they do come in a variety of styles too. One of the backgrounds that I
really like to use, because I do a lot of product photography, and also are great
for food photography, are wooden boards. Now I often use wooden boards for my
product photographs - let's take a look at a few examples. Here in this whiskey shot,
I've used a solid wooden board that I've painted to the appropriate color and
behind this watch shot, I'm using another solid wooden board but painted neutral
gray. You can find a great variety of wooden boards and they can be fairly
cheap to come by too. You can repurpose old tabletops as boards behind your food
shots and you can easily find pieces with real
character at secondhand markets or antique shops. If you're looking for more
creative and tailored looks you can even make your own boards which I'll talk
about later. The next background that I commonly use
is MDF sheets. Here in this example, I'm using two MDF sheets, one for my base
surface and one for my background and I've deliberately painted them in the
appropriate color scheme for this shot. I often use MDF boards as my backgrounds
because they offer a lovely smooth finish and you can easily paint them
with a roller to get the exact color that you want.
They can also be repainted later which means you can get more than one use out
of them too, but generally I get a maximum about
three uses before the texture material gets too rough. Most local hardware
stores will have MDF hard boards in many different sizes and they're fairly
lightweight to use, they can easily be stored and don't take up too much room
in your studio. Another type of background is a pop-up background - now if
we look at this image here, this was shot with a pop-up background. I actually shot
this image live a photography show as a demonstration on just using one light
and I used this mottled black background as the pop-up background behind my model.
Pop-up backgrounds are ideal for photographers working on location or in
small spaces, these collapsible backgrounds are available in a variety
of colors, everything from neutral grey to mottled blue and they offer a
reversible side too. They're lightweight easy to transport and affordable, however
they can be limited in size which makes them tricky to use if you're wanting to
do full-length portraits. The type of background you choose depends on what
you're photographing and careful thought should be given as to which background
is best for your shoot. Things to think about when selecting your background
include color, texture, and size. Consider how each of these will
work with your shot and whether they'll complement it or distract from your main
subject. Background choice color is very, very important, whether it's fashion
image,s or product images, the choice of the color of your background is going to
juxtapose your main subject out from the picture so it's very important to really
give careful consideration to the color of the background based on the subject
that you're going to shoot. You'll notice in many of my images, I'll either go for
juxtaposing colors that offset the main subject or I will opt for more neutral
backgrounds that do not distract from the main subject. Color is an important
part of your image, it can help set the mood and also guide the eye. Color theory
is something that plays a big part in my own work and for photographers is
something well worth understanding and when choosing your background think
about whether you want bright contrasting colors or more subtle hues.
Background texture is also an important part of the photography, sometimes a bit
of texture can really add to the image but other times it only serves as a
distraction. In this example you can see how the same image has been shot with
two different backgrounds while we're working out which one is going to work
best to juxtapose our subject and in this instance the textured background
was actually more valuable and that is what was used for the final image. Be
careful though with background texture because if your background distracts
from your image, you'll lose your viewer. Think about your product - does it need a
smooth clean background? or will it work on a more textured surface? In the blog
post at KarlTaylorEducation.com, you can see plenty of
examples of different backgrounds. Now whilst that textured background worked
well for this shot it wouldn't necessarily work well for other shots.
Here a textured background has worked really well but this has been created
with a special powder. In this image the background needed to be a gloss finish
to offset the blocks and the products. So the choice of background whether it's
gloss, matte, textured, or smooth, is very important into how it offsets your
subject. The next thing to consider is background size. Think about the size of
your background, if you're photographing a full-length portrait, a sheet of MDF
probably won't work unless it's a small child maybe, however, you can easily get
away with a sheet of MDF if you're photographing a bottle of whiskey or a
handbag. You don't want to rely on Photoshop to extend your backgrounds so
try to get your background right in camera. That being said, don't let
yourself be limited by the size your background either - get creative and see
what solutions you can come up with. For example I have a mobile wall in my
studio that I often paint different colors and if I need a bigger background
than say a sheet of MDF, I can use that mobile wall. Now photography backgrounds
aren't hard to come by you can find them online from companies such as Lastolite
or Colorama and remember that members on Karl Taylor Education get a 15% discount
on Lastolite and Colorama products. And there are other backgrounds such as
Savage, Universal and backgrounds available from B&H, Wex Photo, Amazon, eBay,
just to name a few. But for sheets of MDF or wooden boards, you just visit
your local hardware store and they stock a variety of different options this is a
great place to start if you want to get creative and start making your own
backgrounds. I also often repurpose old tabletops as base surfaces and backdrops
too. These can be easily found at secondhand stores or antique shops. Now
when it comes to making your own photography backgrounds you can make
your own with some pretty basic materials in our blog post on
KarlTaylorEducation.com you'll see two examples of how to make your own
photography backdrops these are done with basic supplies that you can find at
any hardware store. The first one was a DIY canvas backdrop - we made this one
using the following items: a large plastic sheet to protect the floor if
you're working indoors and then a blank canvas material which you can obtain
from an art store, PVA glue which will bring up on screen what the translation
is for America of that because where that question comes up a lot,
water and then a selection of paint colors for your base and then wash
colors and splatter effects on to the background done with a brush and
we have a whole video on how to do this. The other option is DIY boards - we've
used a selection of different wooden surfaces as backgrounds and bases for
our food photography classes and many of our members were interested in how we
created them so we put together a whole tutorial on how to make rustic looking
and different colored wooden board and authentic-looking based backgrounds for
food photography you can watch the full class on that at KarlTaylorEducation.com
- anyway I hope that gives you some inspiration for a variety of different
options on backgrounds and I hope it clears up some of the mysteries and also
explains why backgrounds are so important to our main subject. This video
is brought to you by Squarespace from websites and online stores for marketing
tools and analytics Squarespace is the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful
online presence and run your business.
Head to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch go to
Squarespace com/Karl to save 10% off your first purchase of a
website or domain.