Looking at a Backdrop...

Candid Arts

So I'm looking at getting a white back drop for portrait work. It is not going to be used A LOT, mainly indoors.

What are the main benefits and draw backs of Muslin vs. Vinyl? Vinyl is obviously a bit more spendy, but it seems more durable and will produce better results. The muslin that I have looked at as been pretty thin, to the point where I can see my hand through it. Doesn't seem like that would be a great product to use. I dunno...anyways... Thoughts? What about paper?

Looking at this possibly for Vinyl.

Or even this Paper.

Or this Muslin.

Another thing to note, is that right now where we would be taking photos, is on carpet... Which I think throws a huge wrench into things.

Art Scott

I prefer Muslins....tried and true for ages......but so far I have bought my muslin and painted it myself....saved a ton....now I see painted muslin's for less than I can purchase plain raw muslin for......all the vinyl backdrops I ahve seen look plasticy...shiny.....as to paper...I hated it...it gets expensive real fast....gets dirty real easy and can't be washed or cleaned in any way..........

ziggy53

Muslin, canvas, paper, vinyl, painted walls, ... lots of options for different applications. What is your application?

Candid Arts

ziggy53 wrote:

Muslin, canvas, paper, vinyl, painted walls, ... lots of options for different applications. What is your application?

Well as of now I'm just doing some basic portraiture. But right now, honestly, I'm not doing much. Looking to use it for Head Shots, possibly children and family portraits, some modeling type work, and I want the white background and floor area to double as a place to do product shots.

As stated, mostly indoors, and right now will be on a carpet floor. So our big problem is that putting something on the floor and having people walking on it, is going to damage whatever material it is, be-it paper, muslin, vinyl, whatever... I'm thinking this is going to be a HUGE problem and possibly should be addressed before even looking at getting backdrops, or even completely put off until I have a new space with hard floors.

ziggy53

If you are shooting full length shots and need to run a "sweep" background, then you're right, carpeting can be a problem. Generally you can use a couple sheets of paneling/plywood on the carpet. If you want you can even use white bathroom paneling "instead" of a white sweep. Basically you just need something like a "subfloor" atop the carpeting. Any builder/carpenter will know what to do. (All of this assumes that you cannot either remove the carpeting or find a better location.)

Muslin comes in various grades, so if the stuff you're looking at is too thin, find something thicker and with a higher thread count. "Grade A" is supposed to mean without defects in manufacture, but it's a pretty loose term. White muslin can be purchased at most fabric stores and you can get very long lengths that way.

Thicker than muslin is canvas, but canvas is also much heavier and more difficult to hang and stretch.

Vinyl is sometimes used for product shots, but I've honestly never used it for people stuff and never even heard of it used that way.

You do need to determine your width needs first and that depends partly upon the number of individuals in the shot (for portraits), the angle of view of your lenses and distance to subject. Obviously the background material needs to be wide enough for your particular situation, but too wide complicates hanging and use.

I used paper backdrops for years and the secret to keeping it clean is to use a protective strip of something for setting up the shot that you remove for the shot itself. I've used paper/plastic table cover for that purpose and table cover is fine for a product table sweep. I've used paper to simplify the background for a 32 foot wide by 10 foot tall display too. (Pieced together strips.)

Muslin is nice in that it drapes easily and it stretches nicely if needed. You can wrap it onto a cardboard tube if needed to keep the wrinkles down or you can fold it. You can also "embrace" the wrinkles as a texture effect and store it stuffed into a simple bag. It launders easily (just like bed sheets if it is finished properly) and tends to be inexpensive.

Unless you need a "bleached" background, a light gray is generally more versatile for product stuff and a beige works well for people. Sometimes a light blue is nice too for both product and people. Lighting levels and filters can alter the basic colors too. Gobos and other lighting modifiers can shape the light pattern.

Lots more to discuss but no more time.

Candid Arts

Wow. Thanks. Lots of great info.

Definitely can't get a new location or remove the carpet. I do have a place that I can occasionally use that has carpet, but it's high traffic carpet so it's pretty hard.

I am trying to get into more full length shots, but as of now I prefer closer tight head crops. My girlfriend however does more full length shots. So something fairly wide and tall... Looking at a max of 10' wide and about 8' tall. My lenses are in my signature, so you can see what I've got and their FOV.

The plywood is a good idea. Get a couple sheets of 3/8" plywood and just roll whatever fabric I get down onto it for the full length and product shots.

Well I guess we've got some stuff to think about and decisions to make.

Any more info is appreciated as well.

Thanks.