5 Easy Food Photography Backgrounds.
1 Painted Canvas Backdrop
One of my favourite food photography backdrops for a magazine quality look is a painted canvas.
Painted canvas backgrounds have beautiful textures that create a rustic vibe. They may have an organic look, but they feel elegant at the same time. Luckily, they’re quite easy to make, and we’ll show you how to make them step by step.
First, buy a canvas painter’s drop cloth at your local hardware store. These are large pieces of canvas you use to protect your floor while painting.
Canvas drop cloths are ordinarily quite large. But you can cut them up to get four food backgrounds out of one stretch of fabric. You can even get eight if you paint the other side, too!
Buy paint samples at the hardware store. You can get two or three examples in a similar tone for each backdrop. That way, you get different shades that can match any food you photograph.
2. Ceramic Flooring Tile
Another beautiful yet simple backdrop is porcelain or ceramic tile. You can get it from your local home improvement stores like Home Depot or Homebase.
Ceramic tiles are inexpensive and look great. Also, they are easily wipeable, which is a bonus in food photography when you are dealing with drips and spills.
It will help if the tile you choose isn’t shiny. Backgrounds for 720p food photography that create too much glare can be too distracting.
Also, choose a neutral colour and avoid backdrops that are orange-toned. These can be unflattering to food. The perfect colours to choose are grey, black, and white. But you can also try brown tones like chestnut or taupe.
Food is often warm in tone. Shooting on a neutral or more cool-toned photography background enhances the food subject. Warm tones tend to compete with the subject.
3. Paint Your Wooden Backdrops
Painting your own wooden food photography backdrops can be a lot less costly than purchasing them.
Buy some thin plywood sheets at the home improvement store. The bigger stores can also cut larger pieces into smaller ones so that you can get more mileage out them.
However, ensure that the pieces are at least 2×3 feet to accommodate most of your set-ups.
You can purchase paint samples, but craft paint will also do. Make sure that whichever option you choose is water-based.
Select three or four colours in a similar colour family and pour them in the middle of the board. Take a large sea sponge and dab the paint all over the board to create a blended and subtle mottled effect.
Finish with a thin coat of matte, water-resistant sealer. Doing so prevents wear and tear. It also ensures the food will not stain the backdrop after repeated use.
The beautiful thing about plywood is that it is lighter and easier to store. Other types of wood used for food photography backgrounds such as pine or spruce are quite heavy in comparison.
4. Craft or Construction Papers
Coloured or textured craft or construction paper can make pretty 720p food photography backgrounds. They are also low-cost.
If you enjoy colourful food photography, using craft paper can be a great option.
You can source large pieces of craft paper or construction paper at your local craft supply store. But you can also check out sites like Amazon for packages of paper offering a variety of colours.
In the image below, I used a large piece of yellow construction paper as my food photography background.
5. Old Baking Paper
Food bloggers and photographers also love using old baking paper for food photography. They are perfect for adding an attractive background and texture to overhead food shots.
It’s such a fashionable look that you can buy backdrops that mimic the unique, textured look of old baking paper.
If your baking paper is looking too new or you want to rough it up a bit further, coat with butter or oil and bake on high heat until it is brown.
Repeat this process until you get the look that you want.
