What is the best type of backdrop to buy?

[leanne]

I am looking to buy my first backdrop and I am wondering what is the better backdrop? Any suggestions.
Thankyou

[LensBaby]

I have many different backdrops, and I have to say that I think vinyl is the best way to go. It really depends on the look you are going for. I have a lot of paper rolls, but I find myself having to cut a lot of it off after a shoot. (Kids are rough on the paper) The vinyl I can clean off, and there are never wrinkles in it. My cloth (muslin) backdrops I rarely use unless somebody asks for them. This is just what works for me. It all depends on what you like,want, or can afford.

[leanne]

That really helps thankyou very much

[reval8r]

Canvas backdrops are my favorites, but they are the most expensive also. I use muslin and seamless paper too. Paper is the most economical and gives very good results. If you’re on a budget I would recommend a roll of thunder gray paper. You can use gels to change its color. Heavy duty muslins work pretty well, but the light weight muslins wrinkle easily. I personally don't care for the vinyl; they seem to get dirty really easy.

[jerryph]

Actually canvas is the 2nd most expensive. Black velvet is the most expensive and is almost like the black hole of letting light bounce off it. Very nice results.

My personal preference is less towards designs on the backdrop and what not, but simple medium grey. With a backdrop of that colour, I can, via camera/strobe settings make it anything from pure black to pure white. Place a gel over the flash and I can make the backdrop any colour I want.

Seamless paper is nice, but like Sue mentioned, has a relatively short lifespan. Cloth or material backdrops are much more expensive, however they last longer and are washable and reusable. What is a little more important of a consideration is backdrop mounting and width. For full body portraits you will need something between 7-10 feet of height and for the ability to blur the background, you will need 8-12 feet of width. So, knowing that information a 10 X 20 foot length is an nice length for full body portraits of anything from 1-5 (closely packed) people.

One thing that I do not like about paper backdrops is that it is slightly specular and gives a gentle sheen as it rolls up if wide lighting is used, but it is not terrible and sometimes adds to the picture. It also comes in a bunch of different colours, for example:

Black:


White:


Even Chroma green if you want to change backgrounds (though you can do that with any colour in PS):


Room size and lens focal length is also going to play a role. You want a lens above 70mm as the ideal length to minimize facial distortions like chipmunk cheeks if you take close portraits of people at 50mm and less. To do this, one needs a larger room.

If one wished to get more serious into it, a portable backdrop setup is likely the best option for those that want to go from place to place, but if you have a home studio, nothing more than a few strategically well placed hooks in the wall and a curtain rod are viable options for the practicing amateur.

For head to 3/4 body portraits of individual people, I picked up a Botero foldable backdrop from BH photo. Works very well too!

[LensBaby]

Funny ...I have no problems with my vinyl ...it scrubs up like new, but my paper is a short lived backdrop, and as far as my muslins - I hate them! I guess backdrops are subjective. I love being able to roll up and down quickly when doing a photo shoot. I hate the hanging of the muslin, and also mine are heavy but they still seem to get wrinkles in them. I like the smooth backdrop look.

[reval8r]

Actually, there really is no best backdrop. It all depends on the circumstance and what you are trying to achieve. Overall with portraiture I prefer canvas, they light well, don't wrinkle and have a nice upscale look in portraiture. My second favorite is gray seamless for the reasons Jerry mentioned. I don't worry too much about paper waste since it's very inexpensive and just something I figure in my pricing for doing business. I generally do not use a white or black background in portraiture. I will use white for babies and small children due to the nice open and airy effect it produces.

For black, buy it from a material store and make your backdrop. That's what I done and it was less than half the cost of purchasing it from a backdrop outlet. The only problem with doing it this way is it's hard to find a piece over 53" wide. I had my wife sew two pieces together. It works great with black velvet as you never see where the two are sewn together in the image.

[leanne]

Thankyou everyone, your info helps me a lot
Have a merry christmas!!!