Lastolite Knitted Backdrops - Alternatives??

[gs.davies]

Hi all,

I need to get hold of a 3m wide backdrop urgently, and as usual, I'm trying to do it on the cheap!

The Lastolite knitted backgrounds are ideal, but at nearly £150 for the long length (12 foot), they're MEGA-expensive by the metre.

I'm happy to spend £££ on stuff like glass, bodies and other stuff in the optical chain, but seriously, a sack of cash for a backdrop?!

So, does anyone know of a fabric which is available 3m/10ft wide, is crease resistant and can be dyed with common-or-garden fabric dyes? I understand that Jersey material is very similar to the Lastolite product and I do have a nice long piece of that but it's only about four feet wide, fine for headshots of couples, useless for the group of thirteen I've got to shoot next Wednesday!

Are there any alternatives which aren't so eye-wateringly expensive as the Lastolite products? I've considered plain old muslin, but I hate ironing at the best of times, let alone in the precious short time I'll have before shooting a group!

Ideas folks, or am I just being a tight git??

Gary

[gs.davies]

I guess no-one has any experience with these backdrops then.

How about muslins? Are they really THAT bad to get crease free on a location shoot? I'll have about an hour's set up time before the clients arrive..

[scootermcq]

Yup, muslins suck for that. Even with a steamer, it is hard to get them looking good. If you want to be cheap, why not just get a 3 meter seamless paper? Here they are $60, so around $30 pounds..... sure they do not last for ever and after a group shoot it will be 3 or 4 feet shorter (because of foot prints), but a good quick fix that is not too expensive.

Look around for a better price, but here is an example in the UK....

http://www.photography-backgrounds.c...11-metres.html

[gs.davies]

I'd have been all over the paper rolls except for the portability issue.

I drive a Mini and there's no way of getting a 10 foot roll in there! Also I don't have space at home for it (the garage has another very old Mini in it so I can't turn that into a studio...) oh, an my supports probably won't take the weight.

I've managed to borrow an eight foot muslin from a friend, not sure I'll get all thirteen people in front of it. Failing that, it's a muslin and some judicial lighting and photoshop I think!

Anyway, here's hoping for a nice sky outside on the lawns on Wednesday next week when I have to do this shoot....

Gary.