Portable high key backgrounds?

[DerekW]

I currently use 9 foot rolls of white seamless for high key portraits and am thinking I'd rather not have to lug rolls around to client locations. There has to be something more portable.

Can anyone recommend an easier solution that will give me the same width? Is white muslin my best bet?

Thanks in advance,
Derek

[David Hughes]

Lastolite do a big pop up background that you can illuminate inside to give a great high key background - or even a massive softbox. Folds down to a circle about 3 foot across.

[DerekW]

I was looking at those earlier, but wasn't sure if they would be wide enough for a group of, say, 3-4 people.

[Gary_Evans]

There is another thread running about these here: Lastollite Hilite Backgrounds

Mark Cleghorn who has made a lot of posts is very well known in the UK for his lighting techniques and seminars, so if its good enough for him ...........

However, being one to always plough my own furrow, these were taken last weekend: Gallery 5628 Background is a white cotton sheet 9' wide and backlit with a single 36" umbrella set to overexpose the background to burn the creases out.

[Tony_Gamble]

Gary,

A year ago I bought one of those large Lastolite backgrounds that folds to a disk and expands to about 10 by 8 feet (probably not exactly, but you'll know the one I mean).

I hang it from a single support and really never feel it is stable enough. I find that the metal ring that keeps the material flat soon develops bends - so the background becomes wharped a bit.

I would like to find out what is available so I can buy a loose cloth background that I can suspend from a top horizontal bar which is turn is helf up by two stands. However, I'd want that horizontal bar to be telescopic, ideally so that it can be around ten feet wide, but collapse down to no more that three feet.

Have you seen such a system?

Rgds

Tony
London SW6

[Gary_Evans]

Hi Tony,

I use one of the Jessops portraflash range, as this will pack down to a very compact 32" and open up to about 9.5'.

Its designed in two halves each with an inner and out pole that collapse in on themselves and the two sections are joined with a simple inner joint with a push-button that clips into holes in the poles. This almost certainly has a proper name that I dont know!

However, I have removed this and replaced it with piece of dowling from any DIY store which no allows me to use a background upto 12' wide.

Hope that helps

[Tony_Gamble]

Thanks Gary,

I'll look at the Jessops catalogue.

Tony