-
DIY photo shoot question
When I go home for Christmas break, I want to take my pole with me since I'll be there for about a month (and I can't bear to leave it behind in my apartment for that long!!!), but because we have spackled ceilings in the house and the pole is not freestanding, the only place I can put it is in the garage. My friend (who is an excellent amateur photographer) will also be home for break, and she's asked before if she could photograph me on the pole. I'd love to do a photo shoot, but the garage is really a terrible place for it. I was thinking lamps would help with the lighting, but the hardest part is the background. Any ideas about how I can do a backdrop that will be big enough and not awful looking? I have a black sheet, but it seems kind of small to use as a backdrop – I've tried to use it for that purpose before and it didn't really work…
-
11 Replies
-
Maybe a painters drop cloth? You can get a 9' x 12' for about $20 from the hardware store.
-
Any photo supply store has rolls of paper that are designed to be used as backdrops. They provide a nice smoothe uniform background, are 9.5 feet wide, and are inexpensive. It comes in many colors with black, white and grey being the favorites. You can hang them from a garage cieling using a ropre a couople of bike hooks or pretty much anything you can jury rig to support them. The great thing about the paper is that if it becomes wrinkled, dirty or torn you just unroll some more and tear off the old stuff.
-
Thanks! I'll try that! Inexpensive is good. 🙂
-
For lighting, forget the lamps and use natural light. Just open the girage door and let all that natural light come in to light up your eyes and create even skin tones. Just make sure there's not sunlight hitting you directly creating half in shade and half out.
-
that was my first thought, except that it will make the garage extra cold… but I think my mom probably has a space heater that might help with that – not sure though.
-
If your friend is an amateur photographer it’s likely they have a professional flash which should be adequate.
-
If your friend is an amateur photographer it’s likely they have a professional flash which should be adequate.
-
Sheets from a thrift store also work really well as back drops. If you want to get fancy you can buy a can or two of the speckled or glitter spray paint and use that to enhance the look.
-
Lighting is also an inexpensive way to play with photos as well. Red lights give of a glow that makes everyone look and feel beautiful. Try playing around with some lighting ideas…look through some of the photos and videos here to get a feel for the different moods different lighting projects 🙂
-
Do NOT use glitter! It will reflect light and just look like “spots” that will have to be retouched in Photoshop
-
thanks for the tips everyone!
@cupcake11 – haha don't worry, I won't! i hate glitter anyway – it gets all over the place and it never goes away! ;b
Log in to reply.