howdy do it: product photography backgrounds
Yes… remember Howdy Do It? Margot’s not here, but she’s been doing a few sporadic Howdy Do It posts of her own on Pitch. I was inspired to write this post today because I’ve been struggling a lot with my own product photography. I think I do an OK job with my West and Plum photos, but when it comes to photographing invitations for Hello Tenfold, I have a hard time getting an end product I’m proud of. I’d like to hire a photographer/stylist at some point, but right now it’s just not in the budget.
I started out with wood backgrounds, mostly because… well, we had just gotten married and there were a few fresh cutting boards lying around. The wood flattered some pieces, but not all of them, and I want consistency in my photos. After looking through a lot of invitation photography that I admired, I realized that many people photograph their work on top of fabric backgrounds. I’d tried this but I always had two big problems: (1) I don’t like ironing, and (2) I don’t have any great upholstered furniture, or even the right fabric scraps to make it work.
So, last week I went to a cheap fabric store and picked up half yards of five neutral linen fabrics. I ironed them and attached them to cardboard in the same way you’d stretch a canvas. I used 13×19″ cardboard cake boards for the base because I had them lying around, but you could also do this with wood and a staple gun. In case you haven’t stretched a canvas before, here are a few steps:
• stretch fabric across the longest side first
• put a staple in one side, then pull fabric taut and put another staple on the exact opposite end
• pull fabric taut and staple the third side
• pull tight (really tight!) and staple the fourth side
• once you have the first four staples, you just start going around and adding more staples. each time you add a staple, move across to the other side, pull taut, and add another staple. In other words, you should have an even number of staples. The more the better, I say! For the purposes of this project, nice and neat corners don’t matter so much. But if you have to have them and aren’t sure how to get them, I’d recommend watching this video.
Now I’ve got five neutrals to photograph with! I think I’ve finally figured out the best spot in the house and time of day to photograph with natural light, and my plan is to get some simple flowers to make the operation look more styled. Wish me luck! Here are some photos from the first attempt:
I think they look much better…
Responses to “howdy do it: product photography backgrounds”
twobrunettesshop
June 21, 2010 at 9:18 ameverything looks great!
Erin at Vale Design
June 21, 2010 at 10:15 amGreat idea Ellie! Thanks for sharing :)
denise
June 21, 2010 at 10:31 amagreed! i like this idea! :)
Teresa
June 21, 2010 at 11:44 amFantastic!! It keeps all of the fabrics so nice and neat, and ready whenever you’re ready to shoot — and they would store so nicely, too. Thanks for sharing this idea! :)
Katie Kregel
June 21, 2010 at 11:45 amSo smart…and the invites are lovely too! Thanks for the inspiration!
sue@solsticehome
June 21, 2010 at 11:48 amwonderful idea…thanks for sharing this. i constantly struggle with backgrounds. yours are a lovely!
Lauren Mira
June 21, 2010 at 11:51 amGorgeous! Great idea :) Love it!!!!
Bridgette aka Picked Fresh Daily
June 21, 2010 at 1:19 pmPerfect solution! I think that adding flowers will really give the photos a beautiful touch.
Trude
June 21, 2010 at 1:44 pmThese look fantastic! Thanks for sharing the tutorial! :)
matthew wengerd
June 21, 2010 at 2:30 pmThese are great! The photographs are so nice!
margaret
June 21, 2010 at 3:55 pmGood job Ellie, they are casual and elegant at the same time. Did no one answer your tweets about a how to photo class? I am still interested!
ellie
June 21, 2010 at 4:05 pmThanks!
Margaret—No, I haven’t found a teacher for that yet! Whitney Deal (from Darling Dexter) was toying with the idea but I’m not sure… I’ll definitely let you know if I hear of anything! There was so much interest, I’m sure someone will step up to the plate.
Make, Do & Send
June 21, 2010 at 5:12 pmThese shots look great! Ive tried photographing on fabric too but no matter how much i irone in the close up pics I can still see creases. Stapling to a board might be just the trick iv been looking for to get perfect fabric backgrounds! Thanks for the heads up :)
Frau Haselmayer
June 21, 2010 at 5:30 pmI think I might have to steal this idea! Thanks for sharing!
Amy B.
June 21, 2010 at 5:35 pmThis looks great — thanks for the tip!
Lisa Schroder
June 21, 2010 at 5:40 pmThat’s a great idea stapling fabric to a board for photography.
I have been using fabric background for my photography for years but never tried this.
Another great idea is to paint a piece of board using sample pots of wall paint. I gives you a great range of colors that you can change as often as you like or even match to a specific project.
ellie
June 21, 2010 at 6:11 pmthat’s a great tip, Lisa!
Lisa Schroder
June 21, 2010 at 6:13 pmThanks ellie : )
Ashlee
June 21, 2010 at 7:33 pmThose look wonderful! I too have been struggling with the perfect photo backgrounds…you can only use a poster board so many times… ;) Thanks for the great idea!
Sarah
June 21, 2010 at 7:54 pmSuch a great idea! I don’t know how many times I keep ironing the fabric in my photos. The photos look so good! I am constantly experimenting with different spots in my house and different times of day. Some days definitely come out better than others…! :)
Dear Evie
June 22, 2010 at 3:56 amThanks for the tips – your photos look lovely. :D
Tali Schiffer
June 22, 2010 at 4:31 amSo simple and clever! I never really thought of it… Thanks!!
erin
June 22, 2010 at 4:38 pmthanks for the tip! definitely going to try out.
Meredith Perdue
June 22, 2010 at 10:21 pmIncredible! I’ve actually just been using my Emersonmade table runner. This is much more efficient!
Tiffany
June 22, 2010 at 10:30 pmVery nice. I have a friend who is a photographer and he recently shot my products for me. In his research/experimentation he has found that to add depth to photos of 2D elements you should place little cubes under your flat pieces. (like these – http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=136). Doing this helps separate any elements you may overlay with a small shadow.
Tiffany
June 22, 2010 at 10:31 pmVery nice. I have a friend who is a photographer and he recently shot my products for me. In his research/experimentation he has found that to add depth to photos of 2D elements you should place little cubes under your flat pieces. (like these – http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=136). Doing this helps separate any elements you may overlay with a small shadow.
Rachel Wiles
June 25, 2010 at 1:23 pmThis post is just in time for me! A trip to the fabric store was on my list for this weekend and I had resigned myself to ironing. Thanks so much for sharing a way to avoid it!
Alicia
June 29, 2010 at 11:18 amthis was so helpful…i am grateful to you for sharing this with everyone!
matt smith
July 15, 2010 at 9:39 pmnow I am adding more things that i need to try, thanks for the great idea!
Jenna
August 19, 2010 at 2:02 pmI have another option..which I just tried this week. Not as cheap, but maybe slightly easier? I bought two 18×24 sheets of book binding cloth – $7 a piece. Then I bought two illustration boards from Dick Blick ($2.50/board). Then I stuck the cloth down with double stick tape. I’d prefer to use your method but I was in a rush and couldn’t make it to the fabric stores.
So, there’s my other method!
Simone
August 21, 2010 at 5:26 amFantastic idea. Thanks for going through the process. I usually get MDF board, and get sample pots, and paint it with the desired colors I am after. You can then lean them up like a wall, to give it a feeling that you’re in a room. It’s pretty cheap to buy the board in Australia, $3.50 and you can use pins to hang objects up :)
Nipuni
September 14, 2010 at 2:19 amOh what a great….Every time when I read a new idea from mint I wander why I didn’t get this idea before….