advice on backdrops

luluG

luluG

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louise
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So it's taken a while but I have found the studio kit I want but now I need help with the final piece of the puzzle .... the back drop ! ......

What to get ?

If looked at muslin, paper, the lastolite highlight , and recently heard of vinyl ?

Basically I'm confused as to what is a good back drop , any advice/opinions to help with my confusion? Lol
 
They're all 'good' backdrops, with different advantages, what do you want to achieve?
 
I can see ur point there and that kind of the problem I'm having , I look at all the different types and I can see that they would all work so I tried looking at each ones bad and all i can up with is " muslin creases " which could be annoying Lol


- So I preferably want a black background and a white ( all types fit the bill )
-Preferablyy portable ( paper could be hard to transport)
- Not painfully expensive ( lastolite highlight would hurt the wallet)
-Size wise big enough to do a full length shot of an adult, and able to have it on the floor as well and wide enough to fit say three people on it ( again most fit the bill)

So basically I keep going round in circles lol
 
If you want to shoot white background, in confined spaces? (guess as you want to transport it) and you can afford the lastolite (even if it's painful) then get it, it'll save lots of time and hassle in the future.
 
Phil V said:
If you want to shoot white background, in confined spaces? (guess as you want to transport it) and you can afford the lastolite (even if it's painful) then get it, it'll save lots of time and hassle in the future.
Click to expand...

Just had a quick look at ur work ( it's amazing btw) is the lastolite what you use ?

I am really tempted to get one but funds will be a bit tight after I get my lights so iv been looking around ebay to see if I can find a cheep-ish one , no joy so far

If I can't find one the plan is to get an alternative until I can afford one (hopefully not to far in future )
 
luluG said:
Just had a quick look at ur work ( it's amazing btw) is the lastolite what you use ?

I am really tempted to get one but funds will be a bit tight after I get my lights so iv been looking around ebay to see if I can find a cheep-ish one , no joy so far

If I can't find one the plan is to get an alternative until I can afford one (hopefully not to far in future )
Click to expand...

Thanks
No, I don't have a lastolite, any white background stuff you can see on my site is shot in a large space and using backlit muslin, (learn from my mistakes :gag:) it takes me an age to iron and PP them too (and it's about 18ft camera to backlight - I could use longer). You can halve that space for a hilite, and remove all the ironing and most of the PP time too.
 
Phil V said:
Thanks
No, I don't have a lastolite, any white background stuff you can see on my site is shot in a large space and using backlit muslin, (learn from my mistakes :gag:) it takes me an age to iron and PP them too (and it's about 18ft camera to backlight - I could use longer). You can halve that space for a hilite, and remove all the ironing and most of the PP time too.
Click to expand...

That's the main reason I keep leaning towards the lastolite , I don't want to spend aaaaggggggeeessss in PP , I don't mind I bit of it but eventually it starts driving me slightly mad

My only other option I would go for other than muslin is paper ( I used this in college ) but buying one roll of black and one of white and a strong stand is getting almost as expensive as a lastolite Lol

You wouldn't happen to know if there is away to change the colours of the lastolite ? I know you can get a black bottle top for it but do u know if u can get other colours ?
 
luluG said:
...

You wouldn't happen to know if there is away to change the colours of the lastolite ? I know you can get a black bottle top for it but do u know if u can get other colours ?
Click to expand...

Dead easy, gel the flashes.;)
 
The pros and cons of each type of background are well documented on here, but as Phil says, if the solution that works best for you costs a few quid, it's best to go for it.

There's no perfect background solution- especially for white: you just have to choose the least worst option for what you want to achieve

Many push backgrounds beyond their original intention- some of the groups I have seen in front of HiLites make me shudder at the contortions people put themselves into, but it's an example of what makes photography intriguing.... ,it's making your gear work for you to set up a shot, and using the ingenuity and imagination that nature has blessed you with if the wallet can't do it for you.
 
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