What Color Backgrounds

[AzMandella]

If you were to have 5 backdrops what colors would you consider esential?

[Asylum Steve]

If you were to have 5 backdrops what colors would you consider esential?

You mean, if I was stuck on a deserted island with only five backdrops, which ones would I want?

Good question... :idea:

Ok, now considering white seemless can be made nearly every tonality from pure white to black (depending on how much light hits it), that would be a no-brainer. In a pinch, it could serve well enough as a handful of different smooth monochrome bgs.

I'd also go with a warm and cool, such as deep red and blue. Sure, you can light white with colored gels, but to really bathe a bg in enough colored light to give it a deep hue is very tough. It's much easier to simply light a paper that has a rich color already. And if you overexpose these deep colors, you can get a much lighter shade...

Now, if we're just talking seemless paper, my last two would be medium earth tones, say green and brown. While not very exciting, this would probably cover the widest range of creative possibilities.

Of course, if you're allowing us to also have mottled muslin, then we have some interesting decisions to make.

If that's the case, instead of the earth tone seemless, I'd go with a medium brown and (maybe) green mottled muslin. These create classic portrait bgs, and can be easily dropped to a nice grey in b&w...

All things being equal, five really is not that many. You can see how easy it is to want more and start collecting backdrops...

[AzMandella]

I guess I should have elaborated. I will be buying Musilin. I have one seamless paper roll that is a marbled blue & white and a musilin studio grey. I wanted to get a few more and wondered which would be the most widely used and versatile colors to start with.

[Asylum Steve]

I guess I should have elaborated. I will be buying Musilin...I wanted to get a few more and wondered which would be the most widely used and versatile colors to start with.

Fair enough. Well, it really depends on the subjects you'll be shooting.

I don't shoot any seniors or weddings or anything that looks like Glamor Shots at the mall, so I can't help you with that...

The latest Denny's catalogue (http://www.dennymfg.com/) will probably give you a clue as to the newest and trendiest bgs for shooting young people...

I prefer classic portrait bgs that can be given a bit of an edge if need be. You already know two I would choose (in my first reply). I'd also go with a mottled pale red (soft pink) and maybe a light blue.

I guess a fifth would be a mottled medium grey.

For me, it's about having the versatility to shoot both cool and warm toned shots, as well as high and low key. Throw in some earth tones and some monochrome, and you're pretty covered...

[jorgemonkey]

I decided to cheat. I have a couple grey/white or black/white backgrounds, and if I want a different color, I'll throw a gel over my background light to change it to whatever color I want.

[Asylum Steve]

I decided to cheat. I have a couple grey/white or black/white backgrounds, and if I want a different color, I'll throw a gel over my background light to change it to whatever color I want.

That's just smart. It's always good to experiment and figure out how to do this. You can have a much wider variety of background fx without investing any more $$$...

But, don't forget: there's a big difference in many types of studio shots between throwing colored light on a colorless backdrop, and throwing creative white light on a colored backdrop.

The effects are not the same...