Building Backgrounds

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.