Best inexpensive backround paper roll for photography?

Hi everyone,

 

I am starting to photograph very small items such as jewelry, to midsize items, such as a 1 foot piggy bank, for resale. I am creating my own box for now, before I fork up the bucks for a professional one.

 

Savage has rolls of paper for background as low as 13.99. Would anyone here recommend them or something else?

 

What would be the best desktop lighting I could buy with baffles for the money? From what I understand, I need one for each side.

 

And if I were to ever buy a professional small kit, can anyone recommend one, or is jerry rigging one an OK way to go? Anything else to recommend?

 

Thanks in advance, and best regards,

 

Lisa

Edited April 4, 2018 by LisaImmarco

Savage has rolls of paper for background as low as 13.99. Would anyone here recommend them or something else?

Savage seems a well established & usually recommended American brand. IDK if what I bought under the "Hama" label in Europe is rebadged Savage.

Do you really need a roll for a 1ft piggy bank? Wouldn't sheets cut the cake? No clue about their pricing and supply chains, at work they arrive on pallets sometimes by entire truck load, straight from the paper mill.

Is paper what you really want? Sometimes a shinier material than the uncoated backdrop rolls might look better? - Flexible plastic can be tempting also wood surfaces... or a glass plate to place stuff upon.

Light: Can your camera sync flash? - If so, flash is nice to have. Nice output, repeatable and a way to get off your tripod which safes time.

baffles

Barn doors? - Buy used. I am no big fan of barn doors but if you want them get a studio light look alike and a can of exhaust tube spray paint in matte black. If you need a snoot, make one yourself from some sheet metal like used offset plates. Just keep your nose clear and some fire extinguisher at hand....

Biggest issue with light is an ability to move it around, to where you need it. desk lamps might be somewhat flexible and you can put them on furniture and ladders...

In the long run I'd go for some hotshoe flashes and at least a brollybox for one of them. I'd also acquire a white shower curtain, to serve as a difuser. big light sources can be nice to have, but prepare to end with 5 to 6 lights in total.

For small items (under 1 sq. ft. I use sheets from the variety store, mostly sold for kids' school projects, generally $1 each in solid colors - black or white being my typical ones. Also I occasionally use wallpaper samples, which are often free from outdated sample books from dealers.

The small rolls of Savage paper should work reasonably well for what you're hoping to do. Using the same paper will help to give your site a consistent look. Soft lighting will probably be the easiest to work with for high volume photo work. Flash has a lot of advantages, including a consistent color of light output which should help minimize bad color that needs to be corrected in post processing. The least expensive way to do this is probably a couple of battery powered flash units with brackets on light stands that would allow you to shoot through a white umbrella--you should be able to put this together for under $300 new if you're careful. I would also recommend a decent tripod if you're doing a lot of this--it makes it much easier to compose accurately and keep things level and square. Look for used tripods on craigslist--you can tell when you see it if it has been abused and is solid enough to hold your camera in position.

Jochen, SCL, and AJG,

 

Wow. Great tips from everyone, thank you. Lots to think about. New to this, street photography is my usual thing.++

 

Yes, maybe sheets- but a roll is nice because after a few times the paper will most likely crease and just cut off a new one from the roll. Shinier paper is a great idea, very reflective for jewelry and I am going to got to Wal-mart and check out contact paper for lining cabinets.

 

Shower curtain, wonderful way to diffuse light. Never thought of it.

 

AJG, will probably end up using a set up something like that. Never thought of battery powered, good itea.

 

Jochen,

 

Can you be a little more explicit about buying a studio look alike for barn doors? Otherwise, I'm going to hop in my car and might end up with something like this.

 

 

 

 

:)

Edited April 4, 2018 by LisaImmarco

Aye, (Click!)

Believe me or not, I once scooped up a similar single lamp with the barn doors painted white(!) and wished it's designer shared some of their drugs with me...

BTW: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Barndoors/ci/1180/N/3662541004?origSearch=barn+doors With my non-native English I had to look up "baffles" for my 1st reply.

On a side note: Get hold of a used copy of "Light Science and Magic" shoestring budged friendly and absolutely worth it!

Buy seamless locally because the shipping will kill any price advantage ordering over the net can offer.

 

I too suggest that before you take one photo, buy, read, and practice the material in "Light -- Science & Magic" It contains most of what you need to know about photographing objects.

 

And please don't practice on paying customers. Either practice on your own objects until you are confidant or give away "portfolio building sessions" to a few select customers.

. . . Flash has a lot of advantages, including a consistent color of light output which should help minimize bad color that needs to be corrected in post processing. The least expensive way to do this is probably a couple of battery powered flash units with brackets on light stands that would allow you to shoot through a white umbrella--you should be able to put this together for under $300 new if you're careful. . .

 

I am not sure, but I read this to mean or at least to include. that you consider Manual Hot Shoe Flash Units (aka 'Speedlites'), probably the less expensive third party brands.

 

Using Manual Flash for this type of repetitive work is not too onorous, because once you set the lighting rig the way you want it, there is not usually much fiddling with it when shooting the different Objects within a same relative size category.

 

Although Continuous Lighting is often initially less expensive, in the broader picture of the development of use, e.g. for larger items later on; and also regarding tasks other than table-top Product Photography, as well as Flash providing a consistent Colour Temperature, Flash is generally much more flexible for a range of Photography tasks.

 

WW

Buy seamless locally because the shipping will kill any price advantage ordering over the net can offer.

 

Absolutely. Paper weighs a lot and for the subject sizes you're talking about local craft stores, wrapping paper, etc. can supply ad hoc substitutes that work fine.

 

Fabrics can also be used, and a local sewing supply store can provide anything from velvet to white fabrics by the yard.

 

Where B&H (LINK) and the like come in is for much larger subjects and they also sell "lighting tents" (LINK)

Fabric remnants at big Cloth / Sewing Stores are quite inexpensive, as are clothespins and clothesline.

The issues with fabric for this include a sometimes prominent texture, optical brighteners that sometimes "glow" under the UV of light sources and the difficulty of getting rid of wrinkles. It can work, but it won't always be easy to get a good clean background that doesn't call attention to itself.

The issues with fabric for this include a sometimes prominent texture, optical brighteners that sometimes "glow" under the UV of light sources and the difficulty of getting rid of wrinkles. It can work, but it won't always be easy to get a good clean background that doesn't call attention to itself.

You described my problem in detail! what would you recommend in this case?

The issues with fabric for this include a sometimes prominent texture, optical brighteners that sometimes "glow" under the UV of light sources and the difficulty of getting rid of wrinkles. It can work, but it won't always be easy to get a good clean background that doesn't call attention to itself.

Factually, with digital - a simple test or two and "chimp" - any issues will be obvious. As to wrinkles, for small scale backdrops, most homes have a steam iron. Is it an ideal solution - probably not. Is it workable? Absolutely, and it is certainly inexpensive. Several yards of fabric in each of two colors came to around $5 U.S.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Sandy Vongries

I mostly photograph small items and tabletop stuff and use Elmer's foam boards from the craft shop. On rare occasion I'll airbrush it to a new color.

The OP will find the book, "Light: Science and Magic" very helpful with regard to both product lighting and backgrounds.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Light-Science-Magic-Introduction-Photographic/dp/0415719402/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523799344&sr=8-1&keywords=light+magic+and+science&dpID=51uDPZ5dO-L&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

 

Fabric backdrops must be very smooth or draped in smooth folds, or crumpled. There's no good way to deal with creases, regular folds and pleats. Paper is smooth and inexpensive for one-off use, but rolls are very heavy and bulky. If you want a mobile rig, backgrounds of light fabric, stretched on steel frames work well. They fold to 1/3rd the open size. Some have tailed to blend with the bottom edge.

@joshdawkins --that's why I have always used used seamless paper instead of cloth. If you're really careful you can iron cloth for small sets and make it work, but be prepared for some Photoshop time to smooth things out. Depending on your lighting, texture can also be a problem. The green screen idea can work, but you have to be careful not to have a lot of green reflected from the background onto what you're shooting unless, again, you want to spend some time in Photoshop to fix it. Your decisions frequently come down to time vs. money--if you're doing this professionally you add the cost of your materials (including seamless paper) to the invoice. If you're selling on eBay, it depends on how much you value your time. Seamless isn't that expensive and little dings that used to be a big problem when I shot transparency film aren't an issue when a few hits with the healing brush can fix them. My consumption of seamless paper went way down (sorry, Savage) when I switched to digital for commercial work.