2 Best Colors for Backdrops

[LX93]

Can only afford to buy 2, one for subjects w/ light-colored hair & the other for subjects w/ dark-colored hair.

Suggestions, please...? Blue, light gray, green... I'm guessing not black and white.

 

[mayonaka]

Just buy white. Then you can gel the background light and make it any color you want. When you want it darker, move your subject further away from the wall and you can turn it any shade of gray or black if you want to. Just my opinion. I try not to waste money on backgrounds anymore, but I know the purists might still be inclined to. If you can't afford hand painted scenes and just want a color, gels on your lights work wonders and they come in tons of flavors too! I hope this helps.
--
http://www.bushidophoto.com

 

[LX93]

Gelling a white surface is an option I hadn't considered. But since I already have the Rosco swatch thing, it's certainly viable.

But I had been considering something like this for family shots, pet portraits, etc:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=16284&N=4289246374+4291233835+4289246421+4289301301

The advantage that I see to these kind of backdrops is that the splotches give a feeling of depth.

 

[BAK]

If you want to isolate people from theri environment, you simply need to decide if plain beats mottled, or not.

If you want plain, buy one white roll and one mediumgrey roll.

For mottled... if your clients are the kind of people who dress up in brown suits, probably with a shirt and tie bought together in a box with a plastic cover, brown is a fine choice.

Otherwise, onewhite paper roll and one light grey mottled background is a great combination.

Put strips of masking tape on the soles of their shoes, and the white paper spread on the floor will stay cleanl onger.

BAK

 

[mayonaka]

I made my own Muslin backgrounds out of plain white muslin like this. I died them in a giant bucket and can make an endless color supply as well. Google making your own muslin backgrounds or die your muslin backgrounds like I did and you'll find a wealth of information out there for this blotchy look. All you need are rubber bands, white muslin, dye, a bucket and time.
--
http://www.bushidophoto.com

 

[LX93]

BAK,

Your sense of humor never ceases to take some of the stress out of my day! I'll bet you could tell some stories...

Seriously, that brings up another question... I was thinking of muslin, not paper. Does that throw off the recommendation for white and light grey?

Of course, if I'm wrong in thinking that muslin is a better choice over paper, I'd want to know...

BAK wrote:

For mottled... if your clients are the kind of people who dress up in brown suits, probably with a shirt and tie bought together in a box with a plastic cover, brown is a fine choice.

BAK

 

[Lawrence Keeney]

I started out using muslins and canvas, but quickly switched to seamless rolls of paper. I use either super white or thunder gray paper about 95% of the time.
--
http://www.blackcanyonsystems.com

--
Lawrence

 

[Lawrence Keeney]

One more thing; I can make the thunder gray paper appear almost white, or almost completely black depending on how I light it. This paper is one of the best to use if you are going to use gelled lights on the background. I get much more saturated colors with the gray paper than with the white paper.
--
http://www.blackcanyonsystems.com

--
Lawrence