I’ll take cliche blogger backgrounds for 300 please, Alex! Doesn’t really matter what the question is, my answer is ‘What is marble’? Ok, maybe the marble backdrop is cliche and overdone, but it is still my favorite. It gives just enough subtle texture to the photo without being overwhelming enough to distract from the main content. However, we can’t all afford a marble topped vanity to shoot our blog photos on. So here are some more affordable alternatives that I use.
Foam board. I originally didn’t use backdrops for my photos and relied on the bokeh from my DSLR I got way back in 2007. Unfortunately after overusing the poor thing to death, it just isn’t performing the way it used to. Cue switching to using my iPhone for the majority of my pictures and gaining a need for some backdrops. I picked up two of these for less than $5 at Target. They also double as light reflectors if you decide to use a different background, store easily behind bookshelves/desks/etc, and are wipeable to an extent.
Once I used the foam board for a while I wanted to upgrade the look a little. I ordered a $10 thing of marble patterned vinyl on Amazon and got to work. The vinyl came in a tube similar to wrapping paper, the backing is on a grid, so making measurements and cutting it to the right size was easy peasy. I applied it on the foam board just like you would a screen protector on your phone: lined up the edges and adhered a little at a time – using a yard stick to smooth out any bubbles. Was it perfect? No. But it was good enough and mostly only user error. Especially with the lining up edges part. You also might be able to find this labeled as contact paper or shelf liners. I only did one side each of the foam board, so it left the back side as a white background option/light reflector when I’d need it.
The marble vinyl was a great success, but I noticed if I tried to shoot anything not in natural light, that there would be a horrible glare. Which really took away from the photos. I ended up looking for a matte vinyl backdrop and found this one for less than $20 after promos on Etsy. I bought it from MyBackdropShack, they have a bunch of backdrop bundles available and a variety of sizes. Great quality for the price and fast shipping, I highly recommend them.
Here’s a close up of the backdrop. No glare. Wipeable in case you get mascara or want to swatch on it. Not to mention it’s simple to store, you can roll it up like a yoga mat, but I hang it from some push pins via binder clips.
Then I got a bunch of amazon giftcards for my birthday and decided to shell out for a piece of marble tile. Surprisingly it wasn’t as expensive as I thought to get just a 12X12 piece, which would be perfect for smaller items or at least Instagram photos. It ended up being about $11 including shipping. Though it goes up substantially with size. I chose to get a piece of honed marble (as opposed to polished) because the glare would be much less. This has been the one I’ve used the most lately. (I specifically bought this Honed White Carrara Marble here).
Beyond backgrounds, I’m also pretty fond of using the whiten tool on my aviary app in post processing to get rid of some of the warmth. Do you have any background tips or tricks that you use?
♡Em
