Mobile Backdrop Options

Hi all.

 

Most of my work is events, doing presentation and awards evenings. I set up a small mobile studio with backdrop and lighting. In the past I have used material/cloth backgrounds but they are 1. A PITA to keep wrinkle free and 2. Difficult to keep stretched out, especially when they are set out seamless onto the floor. Having looked at various options to replace this I'm in a bit of a dilemma. My first option was to have a pop up screen which is easy to transport given the mobility of the business, but some shots, especially of groups tend to be full body or 3/4 and pop ups probably wouldn't be wide or long enough. There was also paper rolls, which I'm happy to set up, however, I'm worried that the floor of it would get trashed due to the "party" nature of the events. If anyone could have some input to help guide me it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Photos are either single subjects, pairs or small groups/family.

 

Thanks

 

Matt

When I worked for a long roll studio in a shopping mall, they had seamless plastic backdrop in white and paper in skyblue and some brown.

You can clean plastic, it takes an effort. the roll will be a tad heavier than paper so have sturdy stands to support it.

A pitfall might be a soft floor and ladies in stiletto heels embossing patterns into the backdrop.

 

Paper rolls are meant to be consumable. They are 11m long, so you can trash at least 2 floor parts until you need a fresh roll. - Dunno if that's cheaper or significantly more expensive than paying yourself as the cleaning lady.

 

Biggest cost factor with seamless paper is shipping. - Maybe you'll get it under control by bulk ordering a 3 years supply? - I here am better off hitting the pro store 2 towns away by train than mail ordering a cheapest roll.

I've used a lot of seamless paper over the years, and as Jochen says, it is a consumable. No matter how careful you are it is going to get messed up, especially if people are walking on it on a carpeted floor. It is also heavy and you need a vehicle big enough to carry it inside, since if it gets wet you're done. Do you know in advance if you're doing just single/two shots or will need to shoot larger groups? That might help with your logistics and deciding how much to charge for the job. As for shipping, I found that ordering in lots of two or more for the 9' width was helpful in keeping costs down on a per roll basis. Also, two rolls strapped together tend to survive the tender mercies of shipping companies better than single rolls.

you need a vehicle big enough to carry it inside

I'm not much of a motorist but the average European compact car like Volkswagon "Rabbit" takes the rolls easily, if you put the passenger seat in sleeping position.

If you're talking about 4 1/2 ' (1.5 m) wide rolls, there are a lot of cars that can hold them easily. The 9' wide rolls, not so much. They do fit in my ancient Volvo V70, resting on the dashboard.

For portable backgrounds, I use light materials in solid colors, stretched on a steel frame. The frame can be twisted into three loops and placed in a gag. When expanded, there are no wrinkles. A 5' x 7' backdrop folds into a 20" circle. I suspend it from a short boom with clips.

I meant the 2.75m (9'?) ones, loaded from passenger's foot mat to rear opposite corner of the car. I'm pretty sure my late Volvo 440 would have taken them too. If one has to roof rack them, brown water pipes might be a packing solution. When I picked one up on a 500ccm, I had fair weather (& no police watching or interfering).