Building Backgrounds

How we make our photo backgrounds…

Our Food stylist / Art director standing and laughing in a tool shed next to a work table with three glasses.

In this spirit we went for the weekend to a friends cabin and got to work building our own backgrounds. Connecting the useful with the pleasant…Lucky for us he is quite a handyman. The cabin is well equipped with tools, working table, saw and all the other utensils one would need. We simply brought the basic materials, some food and drink and were set for a great weekend!

Of course there`s plenty of other ways than building your own backgrounds. You could order some online, although that`s mostly only plastic fantastic. Ordering it from a professional carpenter surely will produce great backgrounds but these things can get quite pricey, too. Another way to avoid getting your hands dirty (without loosing too much money) could be asking a local crafts & arts school for support. An option which we took also for many of our wooden backgrounds. The downside there is that the outcome very much depends on the skills of the pupils so it is a bit of a gamble. In this case it is always advisable to give as specific directions as possible together with sample images in regards of the color and the structure/texture. Even then the outcome may not always be as expected…

However, if you want the real thing – you have to build the backgrounds by yourself and actually, making it is so much more fun than just ordering! Of course it does not have to be wood all the time – every material will do. We did some quite interesting pieces out of cardboard as well. Things like fabric and stone plates are very photogenic too. From time to time we get lucky and find something interesting like an old stained piece of metal or a stone tile… It always pays to keep your eyes open.

There are never enough good backgrounds. Whether bought, found or homemade. If you look closely through our images, I`m sure you`ll recognize some of our background creations.

Building photographic backgrounds. A hand with a painting brush is shown, blurred in the background a half painted piece of wood.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our food stylist/art director painting on a piece of wood.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a painting brush in her hand painting a piece of wood.
Building photographic backgrounds. A towel laying on a painted piece of wood.
Building photographic backgrounds. A hand holding a blow torch burning a wooden desk.
Building photographic backgrounds. A Painted wooden desks leaned against a wall in a garden.
Building photographic backgrounds. Paint buckets and painted pieces of wood laying in the grass.
Building photographic backgrounds. A speaker/radio on a table in the garden with a mower blurred in the background.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a painted piece of cardboard.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a can of spray paint in her hand painting a piece of cardboard.
Building photographic backgrounds. Painted wooden desks leaned against a wall in a garden.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a painting brush in her hand painting a piece of wood.
Buckets of paint, a blow torch, brushes and other tools and utensils laying on the floor.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director working on a wooden desk.
Building photographic backgrounds. A hand with a painting brush is shown, blurred in the background a half painted piece of wood.
Building photographic backgrounds. A hand holding a blow torch burning a wooden desk.
Building photographic backgrounds. A blow torch burning next to a wooden desk.
Building photographic backgrounds. A hand holding an electric emery sanding a piece of wood.
A garden view with scattered paint buckets, painted wooden desks and blocks of wood.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a can of spray paint in her hand painting a piece of cardboard.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a can of spray paint in her hand painting a piece of cardboard.
Building photographic backgrounds. Our Food stylist / Art director with a painted piece of cardboard.
Me and Ellen standing in front of some finished painted photographic backgrounds leaned against a garden hedge.

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