I wanted to do some seamless white shots… so I bought some pure white paper… but I didn’t have any way of getting that paper off the ground… so, looking into my options…. I could buy a background support system for $150… too expensive… I could buy 2 light stands, 2 super clamps and a pipe…. totaling somewhere over $100… too expensive… But in addition to that… I had an interesting space constraint. The room itself isnt that big… so this background has to go behind speakers and a giant heater. So, I can’t have wide legs from the light stand holding this stuff up. The perfect solution… buckets of concrete.

Building Bucket o’ Concrete Background Support System

STEP 1 – Make a trip to your local hardware store and buy the materials

STEP 2 – Cut posts to length (if necessary). These posts were 8′, and that is probably the perfect height for the stands but unfortunately our ceiling is only 7.5 ft, so I ended up cutting these to 7ft.

STEP 3 – Sand and seal. Take something like 100 grit sand paper and sand them down! Then spray with polyurethane.

STEP 4 – Place post in bucket (its easiest to clamp the posts to scrap wood to keep it in place) and pour in dry concrete mix. Then add water and mix.

STEP 5 – Let dry. Depending on what type of concrete you use… it may take a few days for it to be ready for use… mine said wait 24 hours before subjecting it to stress.

STEP 6 – Attach hooks, insert PVC to roll of paper, place roll on stand.

STEP 7 – Take awesome photos!

This works for any background but I went with white. You could probably also have multiple rolls of paper if you get multiple hooks and PVCs… but I’m good with my white for now . Plus, it doubles as an excellent projector screen!

If you’re shooting seamless white, Zack Arias has a good tutorial .

Materials/Approx Costs
(1) Bag of Concrete – $2
(2) 2×3 studs – $4
(2) buckets – $6
(2) hooks – $12 (should’ve found cheaper ones, but whatever)
(2) screws (for the hooks) – cheep, had some lying around.
(1) PCV pipe (for background paper) – $3

Total: $27

Some test shots:

Camille’s Halloween Costume

Roomies

Patron

Camille