Cleanable Photography Backgrounds for Food

[Ilan]

Hi,

I'd like to shoot some photos of food on white and black backgrounds. The food will be directly on the background (no plate) and will often be sticky and covered in sauces.
I'm trying to figure out what I could use as a seamless background. I could go the paper route and replace it after each shoot, or I could go for something made of plastic...

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I could buy?

Thanks!

Ilan

 

[Scatterbrained]

You could get white vinyl. I have two 4ft x 8ft sheets of white vinyl wall board that I use. It cleans up easily enough. Or you could get white acrylic. I don't know how the acrylic would hold up if you put anything on there that was too hot though.

 

[ImckeP]

The vinyl is great, have to agree with Scatterbrained.

An alternative, if you have a large enough area, use a piece of cloth as your infinity curve and place a piece of clear glass on top of it for your workspace, the line that the glass will form towards the back of the photo should fade out and merge into the infinity curve.

 

[Ilan]

Thanks for the replies! This is what I'm looking at right now... Foba TT Plast Plastic Background Sheet F-F6001 B&H Photo Video

Do you think it will work?

I am also going to build a homemade shooting table for it.

 

[bratkinson]

A retired chef friend of mine told me countless times..."Presentation...Presentation...Presentation.".

So I have to ask...why would one want to photograph food items on something other than a plate, platter, or bowl?

Just some food for thought.

 

[tirediron]

Thanks for the replies! This is what I'm looking at right now... Foba TT Plast Plastic Background Sheet F-F6001 B&H Photo Video

Do you think it will work?

I am also going to build a homemade shooting table for it.

I too am curious about the 'no dishes' thing. As for the material, paper is 100% out; anything wet will wick through the paper and cause unsightly stains very quickly. As for whether that will work, try it. Many plastics are not impervious to things such as beet-coloured sauces (Commercial sweet & sour sauce), and you may well run into staining/wicking issues. The other problem I see will be containing wet/liquid foods. White crockery on a white background would detract little from the image, and make things MUCH easier... just dessert for thought!

 

[astroNikon]

I certainly would not want to go to a restaurant who's food photos just shows a clump of food on top of a table.
The plate design is a large part of the presentation of the food.
It's part of the expectations of how the food will be served.

It's like serving nice wine in dixie cups versus wine glasses. Yeah, I'm sure a date would love that.

I'd like to hear more about the concept of no dishes too.

 

[Ilan]

The photos are not for a restaurant but rather for a website to show people/inspire them with modern food techniques (molecular gastronomy, which is the combination of chemistry with food).
I could use plates, but I would prefer to use just a plain white (actually more light-grey) background for branding purposes.

I guess I'll try out that plastic then. Thank you!