Backdrop stand: How high?

[elle_m]

<p>I will be purchasing a backdrop stand, and it will be supporting anything from curtains and fabric to rolls of seamless paper. I will be photographing groups of people (usually no larger than 5 at a time) in front of it, mostly in-studio (at times on location, but rarely)</p>

<p>My question is: how high should the stand reach? There is a Manfrotto one that I'm interested in, but it only goes approximately 7 feet high. I doubt I'll be photographing anyone taller than 6 feet... but...</p>

<p>The other options are of lesser quality and are built primarily for muslins, which I do not use. However, they reach 12 feet. My ceilings are about 10 feet high.</p>

<p>I will need to be ordering the product in the next few days so as to have it ready in the next 2-3 weeks.</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

[mark_sirota1]

<p>Think about your compositions -- how far is the camera from the backdrop, and how wide is your lens? (This is generally dictated by the distance of your subject from the backdrop and distance between camera and subject.)</p>

<p>Once you've got that figured out, you can figure out how high the backdrop needs to be in order to avoid being seen in the frame.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Even inexpensive background stands should be able to get you up to ten or twelve feet. Seven feet would be severely limiting for anything other than head-and-shoulders shots.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>Marie -</p>

<p>My stands go up to 10 feet tall... and I've actually used them at that height for a christmas / santa shoot. </p>

<p>Most of the time - I get 1 - 2 feet over the subject's heads - so I have some room to crop and clone - if I need to. That means that I've got them set at 8 feet on average...<br>

Dave</p>

 

[ryan_zabrauskas]

<p>Get a good quality stands... you will regret getting cheap ones and a stand that does not get high as others suggested. Coming from a former photo student, I can't stress enough to go for the better photo equipment because it will save lots of time and headaches. Especially when the stands keep sliding down because they wont get tight enough to hold your back drop.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>I use medium-duty Manfrotto stands with three sections and a collapsible cross pole, reaching to about 8-1/2', for location work. That's as high as I need to go with an 8x12' muslin, even with people standing. However, 8' is barely wide enough for 5 people unless you put them in two rows, earlobe to earlobe. Even then, you will need to use a medium telephoto so you can stand back enough to manage the width of the background. At times you'll need a long pole to mount the background horizontally (using clamps or tape).</p>

<p>The tripod bases are fairly large, and can get in the way. That's OK for location work, but if I had a studio, I'd mount brackets on the wall. I've never traveled with canvass backdrops, and I'm not sure I'd care to. Do you have a panel truck so you can keep them rolled?</p>

[fullmetalphotograper]

<p>When I am not using colaspable backgrounds I use Manfrotto Complete AutoPole Expan Kit http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5209-REG/Manfrotto_2960_Complete_AutoPole_Expan_Kit.html.</p>

<p>Most of the Time I use I use collaspable background with one 13 ft stand with a sandbag for location work. I usally will go about 8ft on that set up. I use a large stand for stability.</p>