Backgrounds are easy to create. Honest.
Many times I hear people say they can’t take certain images because they don’t have the tools, equipment or gear they think they need. My reply to them? Be creative, be like MacGyver! Use what you have, and there are almost always ways to figure out how to do something without spending money on equipment and gear.
I don’t have backdrops/backgrounds to use
What? I don’t even understand that statement. Anything and everything can be used as a backdrop. Look around your office, your kitchen, your garage … pretty much anything is fair game.
Here are a few examples, hopefully, they will jump-start your creativity and get you searching for some backdrops of your own.
Cloth and clothing
I was shooting shells for a friend and knew the color palette I wanted to use, just so happens I have shirts in my closet that are in that palette, yes, shirts.
Aluminum foil
Aluminum foil is great for creating some shiny bokeh and crinkly, silvery texture.
Material
Any material — try whatever you have. I happened to have a bunch of quilting material around so grabbed a few of the pieces to see how they looked.
Glitter paper makes great backgrounds
You may have to go to the craft store to pick this up but it’s very inexpensive and fun to use.
A compact disc (CD)
CDs are really fun to play with. They create all sorts of rainbow colors and reflections on their own, but then add water and you get magical floating drops and even more colorful reflections.
I hope that these few ideas give you the creative push you need. Get creative, have fun with it, play and see what you can come up with. Here is another article on the making it work with what you have, this one has to do with lighting and still life set up.
Brilliant, I love it. You’ve got me thinking. :)
Great Sally! Thanks! Would love to see what you come up with.
I learned from my Dad to always carry a bit of Velvet or a old dark colored pillowcase in your camera bag. My Dad use to take pictures of antique whiskey bottles and medicine bottles that he would find in the desert and he would use the dark colored velvet to set them on to photograph them, he also used it to photograph wedding rings at weddings he would shoot, and any other little shiny objects.
I carry a Navy Blue pillowcase in my camera bag just in case I need a backdrop for something small.
Thank you for sharing that! Great ideas and I do know others who carry black or white foam core board with them as well to use behind flowers or other items. Great tip!