Grey Seamless Paper - Where to Buy (Canada)

kirbym2 · Oct 4, 2011

Hi All,

Any tips on where I can pick up some grey seamless paper in Canada. Haven't shot with seamless before, but used a cloth backdrop on a recent shoot - really don't want to repeat all the cloning and processing I had to do to get the right look.

Also, is grey the way to go? Should I go with an actual colour? I'm still unsure of how to use grey to change the background to white or black. How do I isolate the background from the subject? Any thoughts on this would be great.

Thanks!

KmH · Oct 4, 2011

I can't help with where in Canada to get seamless paper. Does Vancouver have a telephone system and business telephone number directory? You could look in the yellow pages under Camera and Photographic Supplies.

Gray seamless paper is made black or white by using strobed lighting (flash). A gray background can also be made just about any pastel color you want by putting colored gels in front of any light you point at the background.

When strobe lighting is used the shutter speed controls the ambient light exposure in the scene. Lens aperture controls the strobed light exposure

By setting the shutter speed to the camera's flash x-sync speed, and setting up the lighting so little of the strobed light falls on the background, you can make the gray background black.

Going the opposite way, a longer shutter speed, and setting up the lighting so ther is lots of light on the gray background, the gray can be made to look white. When going for a white background you have to be sure light doesn't bounce off the background onto your subject(s) in a way you don't want.

Basically, you need to have a good understanding of how light, and your camera work. The angles are important so some skill at shooting pool also helps.

BuS_RiDeR · Oct 4, 2011

I buy my seamless paper at Ivan's Camera in Moncton. They have the same prices (or better if on sale) then Henry's (online). Also, Vistek (online) has pretty good prices...

I've bought a few things from Henry's and have always been satisfied. I've never bought anything from Vistek, but apparently they are fairly reputable.