Portable background width

I am wondering if I should get me one of those portable background stands, so I can bring along a studio background for on-location portrait shots at some events, but it seems kind of weird to bring along a near 3m wide (2.7m) roll of background paper for that purpose. (Thats near 100 inches or 9ft in imperial).

Are there narrower rolls to be had for a more portable solution that you know of- or are they impractical?

Ask your supplier - the rolls are also availible in half width (1.35m). You may also consider to cut the 2.75 width into portions you prefer, e.g. 1.8m : 0.95m. Any hacksaw will do.
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cheers, Peter
Germany

Thank you - I will check with them, they normally only list fullsize (2.7) - if price difference isnt that much, I will probably just split them myself

I used to have a huge Lastolite disk. Erected in ten seconds. Folded in 30 minutes. What a pain.

I have just bought, from my local Calumet, a couple of uprights and a cross bar.

I have two curtains of about 3 metres width each.

The cross bar system is adaptable to give me anything up to 18 metres wide.

Easy to erect. Easy to put away. Easy to carry.

Tony

Thats a nifty idea, Tony. I wasnt planning on stretching the paper to the ground, so a curtain would make sense, but doesent that give you issues with translucense and/or wrinkles? Do you stretch it?

As Tony mentions Calumet... if you just need a plain BG this holder will also serve you well:
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/MP0500/
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cheers, Peter
Germany

Tony's "uprights and crossbar" are the way to go. Make sure they will take the 9 foot seamless (or a bit more). I suspect you will find working with 1/2 rolls very limiting. You can do headshots on a 1/2 roll..... barely! Assuming you want some distance between your subject and background (reduced shadows, room for a background light, DOF issues) with a 1/2 roll you will be constantly adjusting your subject ("Just move 4 inches to your left......").

Hope that helps.
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Tom Ferguson
http://www.ferguson-photo-design.com

Pedro Dias said:

Are there narrower rolls to be had for a more portable solution that you know of- or are they impractical?

Click to expand...

Savage seamless paper comes in 26" 53" 78" 107" and 140" widths.

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Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video

I've used the Calumet background set up for about 4-5 years and it's been great.

If you've long term plans, I'd highly recommend the heavy weight version, it'll work on the half sized, 9 foot, and 12 foot rolls.

BTW - I've found the 1/2 size paper works quite well for head shots and 1 person portraiture





One Light, 2 reflectors, 1/2 width background...

A portiible background stand is only as important as YOUR needs are.

A pair of lightstands can serve as the uprights
or... some background stand uprights can serve as lightstands.

or... some can be adapted to serve as BD stands...and have a boom / hairlight or BG light hung as well. Be creative and resourceful.

You can also get collapsible backgrounds... 5x7 that triple collapse in to a circle and slip into a case. They are self-standing, good for headshots or couples.

henryp said:

Savage seamless paper comes in 26" 53" 78" 107" and 140" widths.

Click to expand...

No 78" paper - my error.

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Henry Posner
B&H Photo-Video

I'm not a professional, but I am learning from posts in this forum and I hope you will accept a suggestion from an amateur.

The Calumet background stand set looks like a good deal. If I lived in the US I would probably buy one. Living in Thailand on a limited retirement budget that isn't really an option. The only background sets I have found are massive and expensive ones for professional studios. I wound up making my own portable background.

I wanted a portable black background. I found a very inexpensive 1" diameter corrugated aluminum tube at my local hardware store here in Bangkok. It comes in either 4 or 5 meter lengths, I forget which. It is used for everything from mop handles to curtain rods or closet rods. I bought a 2 m section for something like the equivalent of $3-$4 US. I'm sure you can find something like it anywhere in the world. I know I have seen rectangular corrugated aluminum tubes sold for closet rods in the US.

I drilled a hole through in each end of the rod so that I could put a 1/4x20 bolt through it. I can now replace the normal strobe light mounting studs of two light stands with female spigots and simply bolt the rod to the stands. Alternatively I can either put in a pair of eye bolts, or just use the drilled holes, and hang the rod from something like a draperies rod with wire hangers or even string.

I bought a 3 m piece of deep black 65" wide fabric for less than $15 US. I glued seven Velcro hook tabs to the rod and sewed seven loop tabs in matching positions to one end of the fabric to hold it on the rod. I next added different colors of cloth, with the Velcro tabs, so it is easy to change the backdrop color. If To take the backdrop somewhere I can simply roll the fabric background cloth(s) of choice up on the rod and slip it into a homemade cheap fabric sleeve for protection.

Here is snap of the end of the rod with the black cloth rolled up on it in the fuzzy background.





The biggest problem with this portable background is the length - it won't fit inside a taxi for instance. I found that I could buy a PVC pipe straight joint that was an almost perfect fit. If necessary I can cut the rod in 1/2, glue the PVC joint to one side, and hand carry it in two 1 meter long pieces with a folded background cloth anywhere.

I also made a jointed 4 meter rod for the 12' x 10' ugly wrinkled blue muslin background cloth I already had, but did away with the Velcro. I simply bulldog clip the cloth the that rod.

I also considered DIY.

The point about the Calumet kit is that it consists of two uprights (they do lighter and heavier versions) and the cross bar is three one meter rods that join into each other. So, as long as the uprights contract to a meter, one meter is what you put into your taxi.

If you buy a second cross bar you can place your uprights more than three meters apart. For a reason I can't remember you don't actually get double the width - but you almost do.

You then buy two of their curtains and a couple of bulldog clips to make the join in the middle.

When you go to a job where you are certain you don't need the extra width you can leave the second cross bar and curtain at home.

Here is a shot with it in use:-
http://www.tonygamble.org/Annie%20Studio%20Web/_1050181.htm

Here is it being used in a way that was not intended!!
http://www.tonygamble.org/Annie%20Studio%20Web/_1050250.htm

If anyone is interested in the Calumet route I'd want them to check the measurements from the Calumet site. I'm going from memory and I might be slightly wrong.

Tony

Thank you Tony, and everyone else for insightful and helpful replies.

I have landed on a Manofrotto kit, M 314B which did the trick for me:



It packs into a neat bag, and can carry a full width paper roll for home work at the same time I can use the curtain idea for diversity, and I can shove it all into a taxi without special considerations

Oh, and PS, Tony:
That unintentional image was great!

I prefer using a 3 meter setup with 3 sections and supports which is relatively compact and takes about 10 minutes to setup and 5 minutes to take down. I use muslin cloth backdrops, with a black, white, and two color pattern versions that are lighter in the center for a quick and easy vignette effect. All fold into small plastic bins for transport and storage.

Lots of backdrop cloths available and you can get them in various widths and lengths and they are a lot more practical for location work than a paper roll.

Wrinkles are a problem only if the subject is close to the background and you are using a very small aperture and not lighting the backdrop properly. I normally have the background one or two stops darker or brighter than the subject for separation.

My experience has been, whatever background size you bring with you, what you actually need is 1-2 feet wider than what you have.

Seriously!

I consider 9-foot to be the minimum for most practical uses, short of simple headshots. This turns out to be fairly practical -- most cars can fit a 9-foot roll without having to leave a window open, and there are many choices for support systems.

Best,
Paul
http://upstatephotographers.com
http://nyphotostation.com