The Choice of Backgrounds

The Choice of Backgrounds

One of the most common FAQ received, especially during high school senior portrait season, is “What kinds of backgrounds do you have?”

Our primary background is modeled brown tones.  We chose this background because for the traditional yearbook image, standard family portrait, and classic engagement session…it works great!  We chose brown because most people have neutral tones in their living rooms where we want our images displayed.  When your background melds with the surroundings of the clients space…the only thing people really look at is the people in the image.

Most schools and chain studios choose a traditional Masters blue background as their standard. (Masters refers to a style of background painting that has a hot spot in the middle and works its way through a couple tones to a dark painted vignette.)  The blue background has been a mainstay in studios, and yes, we do own one.  Blues will match more peoples clothing than brown…thus great for proms, children’s portraits, press portraits, and school pictures.

Having a solid black and a solid white background is an essential investment for every photographer.  The larger the background in these two colors you can get…the more uses you will find.  The big black background is easy to drape over a couch or chair to do family portraits on, the white works great for maternity images, baby portraits, and is amazing for fashion forward senior portraits.

Our red/maroon background photographs very regal.  We tend to use the red background with a Victorian style fainting couch or a black high stool for a more cosmopolitan look.

Paper backgrounds have become a primary investment at the studio.  Paper Paper Paper!  Animals and babies have a tendency to drool and create other messes…paper is fantastic for both situations.  This is where I invest in funky colors like bright yellow, orange, crimson, and cherry red.  For local high schools I tend to purchase paper backgrounds to match the school colors.  Paper reflects well, adding a colored gel to your background light will have a gradient effect, thus you can use the lighter of the two school colors for the background and the darker color as a gel and get a unique look for your seniors.

By building your collection you will be able to offer a plethora of different looks for your subjects without them even changing their clothing!

Tip of the Topic:  Black turtlenecks.  Why is a shirt a tip of the topic?  Because the second most FAQ is “What should I wear so that I don’t clash with your backgrounds?” The answer is always Black.  Black turtleneck shirts are the easiest piece of clothing to photograph on all backgrounds…including a black background.  It covers all the skin other than the face so when you look at the image your eyes automatically go to the subject’s eyes instead of their clothing. Black shirts with blue jeans, black socks, and dark shoes are always the suggestion for families.  Even if the shirt is a tank top, the solid black will force your eyes to focus on the person’s face instead of their clothing.  A large part of capturing fabulous portraits is choosing the right background, having your subject in appropriate clothing, and having viewers focus on the expression of your subject.

Enjoy the capture!