Today I’m revealing the painted background for Part III of my “Truth Behind the Still Life” series. Here are Part I and Part II if you missed them.
I’ve been talking about this darn thing forever! and it’s really no biggy … but it is a biggy … for me it’s the difference between getting a shot, and not getting a shot.
It goes way back to a post I wrote in February “Photography Backgrounds and Light” and how I love the colour of the walls in our condo, but I don’t love them for my photography. I finally decided it was time to follow up on a suggestion from Cristina Colli on painting a custom background.
Ta da! ( I know, it looks blue, but I’ll get to that) …
I dragged the hubs to Home Depot where we purchased a piece of 4′ x 4′ plywood. However, when we got to the car, we couldn’t fit it in … argh … so we had to go back and have them cut 4″ off one side. I would have preferred not to have had to cut it, but there was no other option. It’s still large enough to serve as a faux wall, and I cannot tell you how much easier this piece of wood has made my life!
It’s the old “go big or go home!”
So I now have no problem shooting a complete vignette with no distractions in the background. And yes, the background looks blue but after applying one of Kim Klassen’s LR presets, then desaturating the blue tones, it works very well:
kk_Lilly by Kim Klassen
I used an ordinary, everyday, white acrylic paint and slapped it on … then added another coat with the grey tint …
… leaving one side white …
It also works beautifully for top-down shots:
So there you have it; one big piece of plywood, acrylic paint (white, and grey), and a little magic in Lightroom.
Here’s a screen grab of the Color Panel. What’s great about desaturating only the blues is that most of the time there are no blues in my flowers or props that are affected.
So there you have it, the complete behind-the-scenes of my still life photography in Arizona. I hope you find it helpful and inspiring.
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what a great – and simple! – idea… thank you so much for sharing this “behind the scenes” tip!
Thank you Mary! so happy you found it helpful!
I found a stack of business cards from conference I attended several years ago and among them was yours. I’m so glad that I decided to check out your blog as your photos are truly inspiring and your tips are something that even I think I can utilize.
Hi Sarah, thank you so much for stopping by!
The conference must have been Blissdom in Toronto in 2013 … I attended it with my daughter Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs.
Oh gosh, this blogging world is amazing … and I’m so happy you found my tips helpful.
I wrote about the conference here https://www.keepingwiththetimes.com/veni-vidi-vici/ if you feel like checking it out.
Again, thanks for stopping by Sarah and for commenting :)
Great series! Love your painted board.
Thank you Cathy, and thank you for stopping by!
Love it! Makes me want to paint! :)
Thank you Kelly!
So clever! Love all your photos Barb and getting this little behind the scenes peek.
I agree. Clever as heck Barb.
Thanks for sharing. I now think I can do away with books and start with paint. :) hmm maybe not.
Have a lovely week ahead.
Lisa xo
Oh Barb, you are such a clever gal! Since I first started seeing yours, I’m always looking for ideas for my backgrounds. Yesterday I went with another gal on a photography road trip and found two wonderful pieces of flat weathered wood on a beach. You’re always so darn inspiring!
Great idea Barb!!
Barb
Thank you for this series. It is great. I love the background.
Ann
I definitely find these posts helpful and inspiring, Barb, what a series! :)
In my opinion, props belong to still life photography and it’s just important to find an acceptable way how to make them available without spending all money we have or making our home a garbage collection. I like your attitude!