Ain't It Always The Way...Backdrops Drop Back - Try Manfrotto

As a famous iconic world beating award-winning* photo legend who works mainly in his studio ( because it has a reverse-cycle air conditioner, coffee pot, and biscuit tin...) I am familiar with backdrops. Familiar enough to use abusive language.

Paper or cloth, there are issues. The paper gets dirty, rips, runs out...the cloth sheets get dirty, attract glitter, feathers, lint, and wrinkles. A solid wall with wallpaper works very well for one or two shoots and then starts to intrude into every visual idea like a nightmare.
Eventually you long for the wide open spaces or macro work.

Mind you, there are times when the Superior paper roll backdrop or the Promaster muslin drape are perfect - fresh out of the bag or box they can provide a clean space behind the subject that subtly supports the point of focus. You need to move your lights so that this happens deliberately - ignore this and the back bit can overpower the front bit very quickly.

Worthwhile making sure that your chosen suspension system is also up to scratch in a structural sense - I dropped a 2.75 metre paper roll on a sitter once when the backdrop support system tilted over and it was only by dint of fast talking and an offer to bury the body at sea that I got out of trouble. You can be certain that I have secured the rolls ever since in a Manfrotto triple hook rack with the Expan holders. You can support the paper rolls on the portable stands as well, but make sure that the tripod legs of the stands are out there doing their job effectively.

If you're going out in the field the paper is replaced with muslin drape. If it is literally out in a field beware of the uneven surface under it and of the previous users of the field - particularly if they were cows. Some stains never wash out. If it is in a carpeted interior, pin or tape the drape down at the edges - people can trip over anything.

And sometimes you are lucky - I hauled out two cloth drops and sands for last night's costume shoot - and found that the venue had enormous freshly painted off-white  interior walls. Leave the backdrops and stands in the car? Don't mind if I do!

* I won a Posture Pin in Grade 2.

Reflect On This - Lastolite and Promaster

After all my ranting about using fill flash for weddings, I finally have to admit that it is not the only way to deal with lighting. There is an alternative. Pine-knot torches...no, just kidding. I really mean reflectors.

Observe the fine efforts of Mel, our organisational expert. She rounded up all the reflectors and backdrops and strung them out along a backdrop kit holder - you can browse all the different sorts with ease. You'll note a number of interesting surfaces there on the rack.

The standard white reflector is joined with silver or gold - either as a two-sided unit or right there on one surface. You can soften or intensify the reflected light, or choose to add warmth to it with one of the gold surfaces. There is even a black surface to act as a flag or light absorber for dramatic contrasts.

Note the green flash there in the middle - we have a large foldable backdrop made by Promaster for the blue/green screen technique. It is self-supporting and fortunately the surface of the screen is a matte cloth - this means that with careful lighting there should be very little bleed through of colour to your main subject.

Of course we alway have the triangular Lastolite reflectors with the integral handles - these are particularly useful to solo workers as they can be held safely in one hand and manipulated around the subject - or can be effectively propped up against the operator's knee for under-fill without rolling away down the nearest slope!

Last inmage is of the Redwing disc-holder. It goes onto a light stand or other support and clamps a circular reflector so that you can position it without needing an assistant to hold it.

Note that all the reflectors are eco-friendly and do not consume electricity in operation. You can also use the silver reflective ones to hide under when aliens flying saucers come over your studio. They are a popular accessory in Roswell, New Mexico...