You won’t believe this easy set up for white background photography!

Have you ever wondered how bloggers and photographers get such gorgeous black or white background photography? Lighting is the key, but before you get the lighting right, you have to have a good set up. I’ve been propping up white foam core for months (and chasing it when the wind blows it off my table).  No more propping.  I just finished the easiest photography set up ever.  And the best part? It stores flat! No bulky mess to store.

RELATED: DIY Photo Light Box Tutorial

Seriously, when you see how simple this is, you’re going to slap yourself on the forehead, and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  It’s so easy!  Ready?  You only need three things, and they’re easy to find.

1. Two pieces of white foam board (or black for a black background).
2. Velcro picture hanging strips (Have you used these before? They’re so awesome!  Seriously.  Everything on my walls is hung with velcro.  No more nail holes!)
3. One large plastic or metal L bracket.  Mine is 6″ x 1-1/8″ (You can pick it up at any hardware store.)  It costs a few dollars, but it is so worth it! You’ll notice that all of my pictures have two brackets in them.  That’s because I thought I’d need two.  Nope.  One is plenty.

That’s all you need! Here’s how to create the setup:

1. Attach one set of velcro strips to the L bracket as shown. That’s one strip stuck to the bracket and one strip velcroed (is that a word?) to the first strip.
2. Next, peel the plastic off of the second strip to reveal the adhesive. Lay your foam core on a flat surface, and line the L-bracket up so that the bend in the L is level with the bottom center of the foam core.
3. Press the L-bracket down to adhere the velcro strip to the foam core.
4. Wait a little while, and then carefully pull the L-bracket off of the foam core. One piece of velcro should remain on the foam core, and the other should remain on the L-bracket.

Now, find some good lighting, stage your photo, and get to work! I use this method when I really want my subject to pop without too many distracting props. I love the way white background photography highlights the subject, and I love the way black background photography gives the subject a dramatic look. How about you?  Which style do you prefer?

Since I am horrible at using my camera and finding good lighting, I still have to do quite a bit of editing in Photoshop. You can see examples of the before and after photoshop pics in the examples above and below this paragraph. My favorite tools for editing in Photoshop are the shadows/highlights feature, the screen feature, and the soft paintbrush.

Thanks for stopping by today, and good luck with your photography. If you are interested in visiting any of the posts in the featured image, check out the links below.

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