Portable Pet Studio Backgrounds

[aura_jane]

<p>I have not been in photography as long as most, and still have much to learn. I wanted to get some more experience and do some good at the same time, so I volunteered my services to a local animal rescue group to take shots of their adoptable pets for their website.<br>

Day 1 was great. I enjoyed it and got some killer shots. I had cute sweet animals the whole day. I liked the backgrounds and props I brought and they worked well, but I wanted to try new backgrounds to mix it up a bit so all the animals did not look alike and we could continue generating interest in these animals. So the next week I brought more backgrounds. The only other portable ones I had were a pink one only big enough for cats, and a huge white one that is very wrinkly. The white one works out well in a large room with all my lights set up, but I am working in a 4ft*8ft work area with pit bulls and such, so I can only bring one of my cameras a hot shoe flash and my lenses. I ended up getting 5 huge pitbulls from a rescue center that day. The white background looked awful. My black would be all wrong for almost all the animals, and I can't use my brown for the dogs, because the cats will never relax while using that background again, because of the dog smell. Most of the time the handlers are wearing these bright pink shirts that cast a pink glow on the animals when I'm bouncing my flash around the room. (Think worst possible conditions imaginable. I am hanging my backdrops over a door and using clips to attach it to cabinets and sinks.) My question is, how can I either use the equip I have to get better results next time, or what type of background should I buy for this situation?<br>

You can view some examples on my profile.</p>

[rob_piontek]

<p>Hi Aura - I think you're doing a pretty nice job so far. I really like the backgrounds in the 3rd/4th images and less so the white wrinkly sheet in the first. I'm sorry I don't have anything really specific to help. If brown works best then I'd get one for cats and one for dogs. I might suggest to try shooting at eye level if you can. When I tried my parents dog I liked this angle much better.</p>

[steve_murray1]

<p>I've had good luck with dark grey or dark blue backdrops when the lighting is mixed. In a pinch, king or queen sized bed sheets from a closeout store for ~$20 in these colors have worked for me in the past. Just make sure you roll them up instead of folding them after drying to keep wrinkles out. Not something to use for human portraits due to the size, but they work great for pets and product photography.</p>

[aura_jane]

Thanks so much Steve. I'll try that. I need something inexpensive as this is all volunteer work, and the dogs will destroy

nearly all backgrouds at some point.