Portable Backdrop

Shooter84

I have just recently landed myself a job which requires me to do a lot of on site shots with a backdrop. I have done a little bit of searching to see whats out their but wanted to see if anyone has had any first hand experience.

Icebear

I have a couple of these Botero Backgrounds in different colors/patterns. I like them. So easy to schlep, deploy and stow. You can use them on boom arms or crossbars, leaned up against a wall, taped up on a wall, held up by an assistant, whatevs. Extremely versatile. They come in many diff sizes, and everything from Chromakey green to black with many color patterns in between.

angevin1

Shooter84 wrote: »

I have just recently landed myself a job which requires me to do a lot of on site shots with a backdrop. I have done a little bit of searching to see whats out their but wanted to see if anyone has had any first hand experience.

?Whats the application: tricycles or Airplanes? Size does matter.

Shooter84

Sorry I should have specified 10x10 or 10x20. I already have a few different backdrops and If I recall they are 10x20 but I'm looking for a decent stand system that's portable. I will be shooting head shots for a local hockey team but will also need to shoot group shots.

Dreadnote

Icebear wrote: »

I have a couple of these Botero Backgrounds in different colors/patterns. I like them. So easy to schlep, deploy and stow. You can use them on boom arms or crossbars, leaned up against a wall, taped up on a wall, held up by an assistant, whatevs. Extremely versatile. They come in many diff sizes, and everything from Chromakey green to black with many color patterns in between.

Somewhere I saw a guy who had a gel kit with a couple dozen colors or so that he would use to throw colored light on a light grey backdrop. If you combined that idea with the backdrops you linked here it looks like it would be the ultimate in portability. Have you ever tried anything like that? Do they make one in light grey?

Icebear

Dreadnote wrote: »

Do they make one in light grey?

You mean like this?
Yeah, that would be a versatile kit. You could just keep the little package of gels right in the bag the BG comes with.

Art Scott

Shooter84 wrote: »

Sorry I should have specified 10x10 or 10x20. I already have a few different backdrops and If I recall they are 10x20 but I'm looking for a decent stand system that's portable. I will be shooting head shots for a local hockey team but will also need to shoot group shots.

Actually for team 's I have never used a portable backdrop, even our semi pro hockey team Wichita Thunder, Area FootBall Team: Wichita Wild & the baseball team the Wichita Wingnuts are all shot seated in the stands or standing on field and shot slightly from above most years never in front of a BG.....the individuals are shot on the ice with the bg going very dark.

You can get a simple 1 bg portable stand for under $100 off ebay or you can get motorized ones for $500 or more.......

divamum

I also have a Botero which I use and like - it's black on one side and white on the other. If I don't light the white side (and control spill) I get a very nice grey due to light falloff. Similarly, it can be lit to become pure white if you light it high key. I have the 5x8; I'm considering getting the next size up (which I think is 7x10?) but I can't imagine handling one any bigger than that - I suspect it would get VERY unwieldy.

Btw, while these do wrinkle a bit - unlike the ones made of a knit fabric which stretches out the creases (at a considerable cost increase!) - I've found that placed the proper distance behind the subject and lit appropriately that it's not a big deal. Occasionally I have to do a little bit of bg cleanup, but only rarely (and usually when I was shooting too close to the BG to let DOF do the work for me).

Tim Kamppinen

I have a Botero #23, which I decided to pick up after hearing great things about from David Hobby on the Strobist blog. I haven't been disappointed. It works wonderfully for anything from 3/4 to headshots on location.

It's a 5x7' and I usually hang it from a light stand which takes most of the wrinkles out, and if you keep your subject a good distance away (4 feet or so) and shoot at a wider aperture like f/4 or greater, any remaining wrinkles become a non-issue because they're out of focus. The #23 has a slightly mottled pattern which is very subtle and non-tacky looking, and it's dark gray on one side and lighter gray on the other.

The color can be whatever you want it to be, just by putting a gel on your background light. You can also make it white (just pump enough flash power onto it to blow it out) or black (make sure there's no spill from your other lights hitting it) and any shade of gray in between. I like the pattern because it give it some texture/depth as opposed to a featureless background like seamless paper, but it's also not overly obvious or distracting.

For about $60 or so, you can't go wrong. However, since you mentioned needing a larger backdrop than 5x7, I will mention that I have heard more complaints about the larger Boteros. Some people report that they don't stand up well by themselves because they're too heavy for the wire frame to support, and many say they're pretty difficult to fold up by yourself. Your mileage may vary, of course. You can read the reviews on B&H to get more firsthand reports.