I just saw the post on the Worst Photo Backgrounds and thought it was good info to know what looks cheep and tasteless..So to keep up with the new trends I'm asking the masses what they like as backgrounds for now ?

Mike

after seeing that thread i googled
make photographic backgrounds
and
make photographic backdrops

saw some great articles, the best i've seen were made by mike -who owned a school photography company.. i worked for mike on 9-01-01, hell of a day to be telling 600 kids to smile, we were located in norcal and had accounts in socal, so we were adjusting to the new post 911 airports too.. at anyrate

mike would buy his own muslin and spread it out in a parking lot near a laundromat at night, he'd splash latex paint on the cloth the slop it around, let it sit, the bring it into the laundromat and wash the excess paint away.. dry, and fold

i have't seen better in any cataloge, if one has a home depot nearby and they have an 'oops' section in the paint dept you can get a gallon for $5 and quarts for $1

mike always used 3 colors, but when he told me how to do it he said start out with 2 colors til you get the hang of it...

whole project was $20, he'd repaint the older backdrops he had, change colors so the backdrops were always different from year to year.. he'd do four at a time with the same colors so the backdrops would all be the same color for him and his three photographers that year... so you would look in the yearbook and see the matching backgrounds


of course pretty soon the only background you will need is




because the background of your choice will be added by software

blah blah blah

So what is your favorite photo background?

Laguna Beach... over a dozen on the photo page...

Anything with water,and preferably in the water

Motel room sheets.  Still on the bed.  With a telephone in a corner.

-D

the richest natural light I can find

Water is always a great background.

My second choice is grass and sky.

We have a paper backdrop system at the studio here, and I prefer the Thuder Gray color backdrop because it has a dungeon-y look to it (neutral and yet dark... I shoot mostly Damsel-in-distress, so it works).  We do have a bunch of other colors, including a magenta/burgundy backdrop that works really well for photographers shooting nudes.

I think the beach is the best background but that is only because models look great there !!

Mike

Any thing that aeint wronkled!

i did a portrait of a 11yo girl in front of a old school building.  it just looks so natural , like she just got out and paused for a second on her way home.   i printed a 11x14 of it to show off and its still on my wall 2 summers later.   my close second is a still inland lake , entire background is silvery shimmering water.  on my wall too !!!!

Something real no fake backdrops for me, ever.

Blue plastic tarps, preferably with fold lines on 'em.  You know, the kind you can get at Wal-Mart.  Oh, why don't they make 'em in different colours?

Abandonments..

I'm pretty partial to rundown, burnt-out buildings that have junk strewn everywhere like this one:

I don’t have a “favorite”.  In studio I more frequently use black, secondly, white crinkle.  I once had some stage sets I built; photographers would ask where I found that shed, barn, shack, etcetera.  I like backgrounds that look natural; landscapes, yardscapes, building exteriors or interiors.  Everything depends on what I’m shooting.  I’m an artist; I’m not dictated by conventions.  I use what is available; an artist takes what s/he has and makes something of it.