If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you know that I shoot pictures with my DSLR camera all the time!! 🙂 For posts like this or this, I like to have a nice, clean-looking backdrop. Today I wanted to share a DIY project with you – it’s quite simple, but it can make a big difference in your photography!
See this photo below? I don’t actually have a marble countertop in the house. 😉
Side note: this is an AMAZING book!!
There are ways to get lovely photos even if you don’t currently have your “dream kitchen”…or dream countertop or surface of any sort! (I shared my general food photography tips in this post and talked a bit more about how to get good food photos when you don’t have your dream kitchen.)
Here’s how you can get that lovely look anyway!
Gather:
- 1-2 foam poster boards (I got mine at Walmart)
- Contact paper in your favorite pattern or texture (I ordered this white marble one and this rustic wood one from Amazon — not an affiliate link)
- Scissors
What to Do:
- Decide if you’d like 1 or 2 poster boards. The reason I say this is because I only made one “marble” backdrop and I’m thinking I’ll probably make a second one, so that I can prop one of them up vertically as a true vertical backdrop while I shoot an object that’s sitting on the horizontal “marble” surface.
- Roll out the contact paper and lay it against the poster board (without yet peeling off the backing) to measure and trim off what you don’t need.
- Then, peel off the backing and carefully smooth the contact paper onto the poster board. I found it’s easiest to control wrinkles by starting with the roll of contact paper close to me and smoothing the contact paper onto the board down away from me.
- Finally, grab your camera and a small object like a succulent or pen, and start snapping some photos! 🙂
What’s your favorite thing to use as a photo backdrop? What’s your favorite photo backdrop look?
Such cute ideas! I love it!
Thank you, Sheridan!!
I love the idea of making backdrops! The wood and the marble are so fun! I will have to try this sometime soon. Right now, I just use a blank white foam board!
🙂 Ooh, you know, I’ve never thought of using a blank white board, but that’s really smart! White is such a crisp, bright color – it would make a good backdrop!
So smart!!
Thanks, Chelsea! I’ve seen these suggestions before so I finally decided to try this craft!
This is such a great idea – and great for keeping photos looking clean + uniform!
Definitely! That uniformity is really great when it comes to things like Instagram feeds! Thanks for reading along!
I never thought about poster board! I will be doing this today!
Ooh, wonderful!! I’m glad you really liked this DIY, Liz! Hope it turns out great!
This is lovely! I just recently learned that a lot of people use a marble back drop and don’t actually have marble countertops. haha! 😉
Yes!! It’s wonderful that we can essentially “fake” (or just create) that nice, clean, luxurious look with just a poster board!
I use them for my shop products. Currently, I’m using a white poster board. But I love this idea and definitely want a wood grain backdrop.
That blank white poster board is a great idea too! I like my wood grain one – the contact paper actually has just a little bit of texture, which helps it look a little more real. 🙂
Yes! I finally ordered the marble contact paper last week but I still need to stick it to my boards. I LOVE the rustic wood one — I may need to get that one next!
So fun, Brittany!! I hope you have fun with that craft! 🙂 It’ll be fun to watch for that backdrop in your photos! 🙂
Great idea! I am always searching for a good wooden backdrop but I think I will need to make one like this…
Thank you, Lauren! Yes, these are so handy to just whip out when I need them for a little photo shoot! Thanks for reading along!
That is freakin’ awesome! Now to find where I can get contact paper like that. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Inez! I’m so glad you liked this post! I did link to the exact ones I bought in this post – Amazon.com worked really well when it came to searching for contact paper!