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What To Use For Photography Backgrounds

Without Spending a Lot

By Darryl BrooksPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash

Every hobby has its particular gear and equipment. And if it is a profession, rather than a hobby, then, for the most part, you need to buy professional equipment. But for the hobbyist, and to a certain degree, even professionals, can get just as good results with gear that doesn’t carry the professional price tag.

I used to ride motorcycles. And of course, there is plenty of gear to be had. And just like with photography, the saying is, you can’t have too many bags. But a bag that has motorcycle in the name will start at close to $100 and the sky’s the limit. But find a similar bag that you can adapt to a bike, and you spend a fraction of the cost.

Here’s an example in photography. When I first started, besides my trusty nifty-fifty, I had two lenses; a 24–105 and a 70–200. The shorter zoom was usually on the camera, but I wanted the other zoom to be handy. Lens cases run about the same price as motorcycle bags. So, I went to REI (not known for bargain prices) and found an insulated water bottle case for about $5. It had a belt loop and a safety catch. It was insulated, which means it was padded and had a zippered top, easy to open and close with one hand. It fit my 70–200 perfectly and saved me at least $50.

Whether you are going to do product photography or portrait photography you need backgrounds. At the very least, you need white, grey and black. Other colors are optional but nice to have. But, as you can guess, something called a “photography background” is expensive. But if it is called, “some everyday thing I can use as a background,” it will be relatively cheap.

Let’s start with products. If you are a pro, or want to look like one, you need translucent photo cubes with replaceable backgrounds and a variety of surfaces. Enough stuff to do a good job on a variety of subjects is going to be $100 or more. Guess how much a piece of poster board costs at the Dollar Tree?

Wrong! It’s actually two for a dollar.

They can be curved to make a seamless background. They can be scored and folded to make a free-standing reflector. If you are doing food photography and spill some sauce on it, throw it away and blow another $.50. And they come in a wide variety of colors.

Plexiglass is a great surface for products. It’s slightly reflective, and if you put it on a black background, say a piece of black poster board from the Dollar Tree, it’s even more reflective. You can get it at photography specialty stores or hobby stores. The price varies wildly, and recently, I have seen the price come down at hobby stores. (By the way, hobby stores are great for background, material, props, and a wide variety of other ‘stuff.’).

But here is what I have done to get varied sized of plexiglass. Go to Walmart or Target and visit the frame department. Look through those crappy posters they sell (I apologize if you have one on your wall.) and buy the cheapest ones they have. When you get home, pull them apart and throw away the poster and the frame. What’s left is a nice piece of plexiglass, that costs less than $10.

For portrait photography, there is a traditional metal stand with rolls of fabric, plastic, or paper. You can start with one of these for around $100, but for quality, expect to spend a lot more. And if you are charging for portraits, you need to do so. But for the casual photographer, you just need a light, solid-colored background.

Here is one idea I have used a lot. Almost everyone has one. They are almost always a solid color, and many of them tend to be white or beige. Look around your home and see if you have one of these backgrounds. They are called walls. Great stuff.

If you need something a different color, or you need a seamless background for full body shots. Bedsheets and shower curtain liners are very cheap and versatile. Just know that both of these are likely to have creases in them. If you take care taping or pinning them up, you can stretch out most of them, and remove the rest in post-processing, but giving advanced thought to the material used is important. No linen sheets.

Another thing I have used often for a solid white background is a large window with sheers hanging in them. You will need fill-flash or strobes to balance out the light. Basically, you expose the scene so the window completely blows out to white, and then fill the subject with enough light for the correct exposure.

Cameras and lenses are expensive. But if you are a hobbyist, you don’t need to spend a ton of money on props and backgrounds. Get creative, visit the dollar and hobby stores, and find great, cheap, backgrounds.

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About the Creator

Darryl Brooks

I am a writer with over 16 years of experience and hundreds of articles. I write about photography, productivity, life skills, money management and much more.

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