Request for Advice with White Muslin Backdrops

Hello,

I recently invested in a small studio lighting and backdrop kit, but need some help please.

It's not a top of the line kit, but within my budget I got a Linco kit consisting of 10x20 ft Muslin backdrop with stands and 3 continuous light softboxes totaling 2400w.

 

My wife runs a dance school so I used the kit for taking shots of her students at their annual performance dress rehearsal day.

 

I'd also borrowed additional LED light panels from the video dept where I work as I knew some groups would be 9-12 kids and I might need more light coverage. I shot with a Canon 5D MkIII & Canon 24-70mm F2.8 lens mounted on tripod.

 

Here's where I ran into trouble and could really use some advice please.......

 

I clamped the muslin tight to eliminate as many wrinkles as I could, and taped it tight on the ground.

Once you start getting kids moving around, the ground wrinkled up a lot, and got quite dirty too.

In total I had about 65 kids moving through rapid fire for group and individual shots, some kids had 4 costume changes, so yes, a lot of feet moving around on the white backdrop.

I'm now in photoshop painstakingly removing wrinkles and dirt/scuff marks from every shot and its a huge time waster.

 

Is there any technique you could recommend to avoid this problem in future?

I had suggested using a black backdrop but my wife really wanted us to use the white.

Thank you kindly. I appreciate any advice.

-Matt.

Studios use a large piece of white acrylic or vinyl on the floor. It does not have to be a continuous to the background. There will be a seam line where the floor (white acrylic) meets the background. Its a lot easier to photoshop a seam line than wrinkles and scuff marks. Edited July 13, 2017 by michaelmowery

Also suggest some sort of doormat that subjects can wipe their feet on -- even a length of remnant carpet they walk on prior to entering the background area. That will also help keep the acrylic Michael suggested from being scratched as quickly.

After stretching tight the muslim, a hand steamer used over a couple of days will remove most wrinkles. On the floor, an inexpensive possibility is white tile board from home depot. It comes in 4x8 sheets. It has a gloss so also grounds the subjects with a shadow. You can over lap the front over the back second sheet and that results in a minimal amount of work to remove in post. Personally, I prefer a white roll of white seamless.over the muslim but if you can leave it up, steaming and tweaking muslim over days or weeks will work. Keep your subjects 8-10 feet from the back and use a wider aperture and that will help with the wrinkles. The tile board will extend the life of the white seamless and can be stacked against the wall between the stands if you roll up the seamless between shoots. Personally, I have a white and thunder gray on chain drives and with the white down most of the time, can just roll the gray ahead of it for up to 3/4 length. I am able to control spill on all modifiers so not only will the thunder gray go pure black giving a tonal range from pure white to inky black, both can be gelled to any color.