DIY Photography Background

This isn't a tutorial so much as a general description of this simple project, mainly because it was so easy that it didn't even occur to me to put it on the blog until my wife asked, "Are you putting this on the blog?"

By then I was almost finished, but I figured I'd snap a few shots of the final stages and share it here with anyone who's trying to find a super quick and inexpensive way to add a little diversity to their photography backgrounds for food or product shots. 

Because I had deconstructed a falling-apart shelving unit in our utility room, I had a pile of 2 x 4s just hanging out in my garage. So I spent zero dollars on this project, which was the perfect price point for me. 

Using a circular saw, I cut the boards so that they were all an equal length - 5 of them. My process was about as haphazard as you could get. I cut the first board about how long I thought I'd like it to be, and then I used it as a rough guide for the other cuts. Once those were done, I cut two other pieces a little shorter to work as the cross supports. 

I set down the support pieces parallel to each other about a foot and a half apart, covered the tops of both of them in wood glue and then laid each of the 5 equal length pieces perpendicular across those two support pieces. 

Then I put a heavy board on top of the whole thing (one of the shelves in the shelving unit I took apart), put some more heavy stuff on that and let it sit overnight so the glue could really do its thing. 

And it's the first time I took a picture: 

Fancy work space, huh?

The next day, I used some leftover white paint to give it a quick couple coats in the morning.

Then I came back in the afternoon and sanded it down very lightly with my power sander (but you could just use sandpaper) to give the paint a little softer look. 

And that's it. Aside from the time for the glue and paint to dry, I spent about an hour and a half on the project. 

I've been enjoying trying to improve my food photography game - it is not my strongest area, for sure, and having very little natural light in our house doesn't help. A portable background that I can carry outside or to whichever window is getting the best sun in that moment is quite useful. 

p.s. I've come a long from here (wheat-free yogurt pancakes).


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