White Background for Blog Photos

Hello beauties! I hope you are all great. It has been such a long time since I did a post with a tutorial for blogging or some tips and tricks for blogging, so when writing a post about what to use as a white background came to me, I thought it would be really useful. 

I know some of you may not have a white background anywhere in your house. You don't own the famous dresser from Ikea or have the alex drawers, but beauty products look great when the photos are on some sort of light background. Well, I'll tell you a secret, I don't have those either. I don't even have a proper white wall or table at home. So I came up with an idea of how to get everything to work for me.

When you are looking for a white background, you have a couple of options. If you have another secret option, please let me know in the comments.

The lightbox

The lightbox is an easy way to get bright photos. There are 4 colours of backgrounds you can use {black, blue, red and white} so you have different options but for blogging I prefer white backgrounds.  The lightbox is also foldable which makes it easy to put away till the next time you need it. This item isn't expensive but in this selection, it is probably the most expensive option. You can order the lightbox on ebay for approximately 13 euros. Here are some links of where to get it: max-digitaldslr, mxqtech, eforlink.

How to setup:

This can be done anywhere that is comfortable for you. Basically all you do is get 3 lamps {left, right and on top}, put your product inside and take the pictures from the space left in the front. Because the light is coming from all 3 directions, it covers all the shadows and the photos come out bright. A bit of editing will probably be needed, but it will be easy and fast.

Corrugated cardboard/ simple cardboard

You can also use cardboard which is sold at all craft stores and costs less than 1 euro or get corrugated cardboard. The difference between them is the corrugated cardboard is harder than the simple cardboard. So you will need to get about 3 of them in order to cover all the possible angles you may need. Also, I think the corrugated cardboard is more expensive. On the other hand, 1 simple cardboard is basically enough if you are taking pictures of small items such as beauty products. The best part is you can always throw the cardboard away once it gets stained and get a new one since they are very cheap.

How to setup:

Corrugated cardboard: Align one cardboard with the wall and the other with the floor. This will create a 90 degrees angle which is great for taking pictures of products standing as opposed to using 1 sheet and placing the product on it making it look a bit more 2 dimensional.

Simple Cardboard: Place one end of the cardboard on a vertical surface {for example your closet} so that the bottom half of the cardboard goes flat on the ground. Then stick it to the vertical surface using a lot of paper tape {using paper tape is best when sticking it to a surface from which you would like to remove it later as it doesn't leave glue residue on that surface}. Use something heavy to hold the other edge to the ground and start taking your pictures.

White bedsheets

Another option is to use a white bedsheet. If you have a white bedsheet which still looks pretty good but is torn in such a way that there is still enough space for beauty products, you can recycle that. Or you can buy one if you find a place that sells them really cheap. The white bedsheet needs to be quite opaque in order to cover the colour of the item you will be putting it on. This is my least favourite option as I just don't like how the fabric looks in pictures, but it also works. And if you put the product away from the background, you can make the focus on the item and the background blurry.

How to set up: 

Iron the sheets to make them smooth. Then, as with the cardboard, find a way to attach it to a vertical surface while letting the other half drag on the floor or table

So to summarize all my babble, my first option to use would be a cardboard which should be available in any store that sells art/craft supplies. I got my from Janis Roze. I suggest get a couple at once so you can always change them if you notice one is dirty. My next option would be to get the lightbox because no tying or sticking is required so it is very easy to use. One thing I am not sure about is if you can wash the background somehow {just in case you smear some lipstick or get some eyeshadow on it}.

What do you use for your blog photos background?