Behind the scenes of blog photography: backgrounds

I wanted to do a Behind–the–scenes post for a while. Now I’m thinking of two posts for blog photography, one dedicated to backgrounds and another one dedicated to props. I’m not sure if I will continue with something else, but if you have any ideas, leave me a comment, I would love that.

As a food blogger, I need a lot of backgrounds for my pictures. I can’t have the same background of my solid wood worktop in every single recipe, it would be strange. I obviously don’t have 4 more wooden tables with different colours lying around in the house, nobody does. Hence the need for backgrounds.
I would use the same backgrounds for this blog too, as you can see in my post about the Chalkboard bundle, The Konjac Sponge, and ASDA Wonky Veg Box.

In the beginning I was using wallpaper samples, glued to cardboard. That is a good option, I still have and I still use them from time to time. Most of the time now I use these planks of wooden flooring. They are big, as you can see, comparing to the fireplace or the big mug in the next picture.

I bought 4 packs of flooring from reduce to clear at B&Q. I got them for a couple of pounds each, a really great deal. I don’t think anybody understood why I was so happy when I saw them at the reduce section. I waited beside them until my husband got a trolley, so nobody would get them. Didn’t have to fight for them, as unless you are a blogger or a photographer, 4 packs of flooring that are different in size, colour and thickness will not be a great impulse purchase.
At home, my husband cut the planks, so they could fit in the cupboard and he assembled them together, using wood glue for the joints.

I like using them more because it’s much more hygienic, especially when it comes to food. For this post I photographed them on the floor. But when I take picture of the food, I put the background on the table. As they are pieces of flooring stuck together, I can wipe them clean. It’s less likely they would be stained, comparing to other types of background, as they have that coating on them.
I also love the fact that they are so big, that was the intention, to have them as big as a table.

The only downside is the weight. I keep them upstairs and I take the pictures of the food downstairs. So this means that my husband or I have to bring them up and down the stairs. With wallpaper it would have been easier. I can also go up with the food, but it seems like more of a hassle.

These are my old backgrounds. As I said, I still use them. I took pieces of wallpaper and glued them to cardboard. Initially I used them without the cardboard, but they would crease and it looked less nice. On every cardboard I have two pieces of wallpaper, one on each side. They can be used for years, if the boards are properly stored.

As it’s wallpaper, it can be wiped, but I avoided wiping with a damp cloth and preferred a dry kitchen towel.

I bought this from Hobby Craft and I store all my boards in it. It’s very handy and I have it for 3 years if I’m not mistaken.

I would love to hear what you think of my behind-the-scenes post. Are you a blogger? What type of background do you use?