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8 CHEAP, Yet Effective Items to Use a Background for Your Blog Photos


If you're a perfectionist like me, photography is the aspect of blogging that probably takes the most time. Even though it takes forever, let's be honest, seeing your final photo in a post is the best part. We all know how important photography is, but sometimes you can get just plain bored and feel like all your photos are looking the same. Just in case you're in a rut, here are eight objects that you can use as a background for your blog photos that cost less than $10.

001. Computer Backgrounds- free, assuming you have a computer: 
The great thing about using computer backgrounds for photos is that it is highly customizable, and free. Just make sure you're using royalty free photos so that you are not held accountable for copyright infringement.

002. Colored Paper - $1, Dollar Tree  
I first used color paper as a background when I wrote a post about the Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca Eyeshadow Palette here. You can find colored paper at your local craft stores for fairly cheap. I managed to find the paper I used at the dollar tree in a pack of 6, which was an amazing value and a major plus was, some were metallic; we all know metallic and sparkles are always a win.

003. Counter, Desk, Table or Vanity- free, assuming you have one already 

Don't forget to use what you have! Chances are you have some type of flat surface somewhere in your house, whether it be your room or your kitchen. Don't be afraid to make use of it!  Believe it or not, flat surfaces such as counter tops and tables make great backgrounds (see it in action here). 

004. Flooring Tile - $4, Home Depot / Lowes

Before you get confused and wonder where this post is headed, let me explain. You know those oh so very popular marble backgrounds you'll see in plenty of blog photos? Well, most people will admit to using contact paper found on Amazon, but why not use tile? A tile is usually under $10 a square foot and you only need one square foot tile to get the job done. There is a variety of different types of tile (marble, granite etc), you can grab depending on your personal preference. My favorite thing about using a tile is that you can set it up on your floor and then store it under your bed when you are done. They may seem fairly fragile, but unless you are literally picking it up and throwing it as hard as you can onto the floor chances are you aren't going to break it while placing a product on it to take a photo. I was able to find the tile shown in the picture to the left at my local Home Depot for $4 and in the process, was asked a ton of times if I would be needing more. When I said no, I got a few confused looks when I picked up only one tile instead of a whole pack, but hey, to each it's own. Check out my Month of Mask posts, here to see how I used flooring tile as my back drop. 

005. Foam Board or Painting Canvas - $1-$7, Dollar Tree  & Walmart
Foam Boards and canvases are one of my favorite objects to use in backgrounds as well, due to how easy it is to customize it. I simply use a white foam board to get those crisp white backgrounds, but I started off using a painting canvas. Unfortunately the painting canvas I bought the first time around was more of an off white (found this at Walmart), so I moved on to foam boards, but both are equally good and I like them both for different reasons. I loved the canvas because if I spilt a product on it, I could easily wipe it away with a baby wipe, whereas I couldn't do that with the foam board without smudging the product and making a mess. The great thing about both of these is that you can customize them with the background color you want by either adding spray paint or regular paint (See photos using this method here).

006. Magazines - free, if you get a recurring monthly subscription    
I get free magazines sent to my house monthly (thanks to way too many Forever21 and ELF online purchases) and use these for backgrounds and sometimes props in photos. What I love about magazine pictures is that they are usually full of vibrant colors and those vibrant colors are awesome to use to complement or contrast the color of the product you are photographing. Also, I love that I can choose to either bring the magazine photo into focus or blur it out and the vibrant colors still pop. If you look closely at the photos to the left, in the first photo I let the model and her green shirt  be in focus and in the second photo I made the model and her green shirt out of focus; such a simple change that still brought a bit more color to the photo  (see how I incorporate magazine photos into my posts here). 

007. Marbles - $1, Dollar Tree
I genuinely have a love/hate relationship with marbles; they are cheap and with enough patience make amazing backgrounds. Key word, patience. With all of the products I've mentioned already, they are fairly easy to just plop down on the floor or table and get to work, but Marbles take so much more work. If you've ever played with marbles at any point your life, you know they either bunch up together, or how I like to describe it, they all run away from each other. It took me about 25 minutes just to get the marbles to set still for this shot, but honestly through the frustration, I was so pleased. The photos for my Magic of the Night blog post came out beautiful and they are still one of my favorite photos I've taken to date. With marbles, there is a bunch of different colors out there and if you reflect light on to them it comes out absolutely stunning. I found the marbles in the photo at my local Dollar Tree (can't you tell I love the Dollar Tree), but I'm sure there are various different colors you can find on Amazon, at local craft store like Michael's, or even a store similar to Walmart or Target if you check the section that is dedicated to Vase Fillers (see it in action here). 

008. Paintings/ Photographs - free from your house, assuming you already have some 
Why not take down a photo you have hanging up on your wall and use it as a background? Quick and simple, yet effective. I've tried this in my NYX Liquid Swede Swatches post here, and loved the result.

That's it! All of the above options have been tried and tested by me and I've been very pleased with the results of them all. What are your favorite items to use as a background for your blog photography?

8 CHEAP, Yet Effective Items to Use a Background for Your Blog Photos 8 CHEAP, Yet Effective Items to Use a Background for Your Blog Photos Reviewed by Unknown on Sunday, February 21, 2016 Rating: 5

4 comments:

  1. I love using magazines and tiles, they are such affordable ways to change up your blog backgrounds!


    xx, A Little Dose of Makeup

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are awesome and affordable ways of utilizing items for backgrounds for your blog! Magazines are very trendy and are a great idea too :)

    Mel | www.thegossipdarling.com

    ReplyDelete

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