Food Photography Background Boards
Every food blogger knows that a good photography background is a must to style your food photography photoshoots. It makes a world of difference to the end result of your photos! So I headed off to my local hardware chain and bought me some pine boards..
DIY all the way
This was a DIY project I was excited about. I bought a board of 67cm in length, and asked them to cut it for me into 3. I had a plan. The plan was to use both sides of the boards and to finish them off with different colours. That way I would have 6 diy food photography background boards! How cool is that!
Time to choose colors
When it came time to choose the colors, I knew that I wanted a dark background, something like a dark brown but it needed to have a warm tone to it, and then I wanted to experiment with blue. So.. that´s what I bought. In the image above you can see the colors I decided on. They are both matte varnish paint.
Let the fun begin
I started off by sanding the boards lightly. Then proceeded to paint them but didn´t like the effect that the paint brush was giving. The layers were far too thick, therefore I changed course and used an old ragged cloth. Hence why you see this ugly cloth in the image above. Let me tell you this old thing made all the difference!
Just look at these!
Look at the image above, here you can see three of the 6 completed boards.
1) On the first one (at the top) I added thin layers (three) of the dark brown paint with the cloth. By rubbing the varnish into the board and allowing it to dry inbetween the layers. I also sanded it at the end when all the layers were completely dry to achieve a vintage look.
2) The second one went much faster and all I bascially did was to add streaks of the brown paint randomly on the board and then rubbed it in really well with the cloth, allowed it to dry and then sanded it.
3) This blue one was done the same way as the top brown board (using the blue ofcourse) but after the layers had dried, I used the same technique as number 2 by adding streaks of brown paint randomly and then rubbing it down really well. Once it dried, I also sanded it.
These are only 3 ideas, experiment with the colors you have and don´t be afraid to mix them. Be creative! These are your background boards.
The proof is in the pudding
Or perhaps in this case, the proof is in the post *smile*. In the above image you can see two of my latest post where I used some of my new diy food photography background boards. I just love them! The best part is that they didn´t cost much!
- 1 x 67 cm board which cost me 12€ (not sure what you would pay for it in the States in $)
- 2 tins of small matte varnish (blue & brown), which cost me 6€ and 8€ respectively.
- sanding paper = 0.75c each (I used 2)
- old ragged cloth = free *smile*
Total cost = 27.50€ devided by 6 boards (1 board cut in 3, using both sides) = 4.58€ per board! Not bad at all!
Leftovers!
I still have some leftover paint (allthough I bought the smallest containers I didn´t use more than half of it) and think I might use it to revamp an old piece of furniture. This girl loves any diy project and I´ve been wanting to do something like that for the longest time..
Hope you guys enjoyed this post and that I inspired you to go ahead and make your own diy background props for your next food photography photoshoot *smile*
Johlene
xoxo
Thanks a lot Jolene for sharing this, it’s exactly was I was looking for! You write you have 6 boards but I don’t understand how many colors… You made every board in each color you explained on both sides?
Thanks!
Great pictures by the way!!!! 🙂
Hi Claudia! Yes each board is different on both sides, 12 boards in total 🙂 Great to meet another expat blogger living in Spain 🙂 I’ll be visiting Barcelona in the next few weeks!
Great idea for back drops! I love the colors that you chose too. Thank you for sharing and thank you for linking up at the #HomeMattersParty this week. Hope to see you again next week.
Thanks Shann, I’m glad you like them! I love the colours too!
Great idea! I have old wood in the garage I need to put to work! Found you at Craft Frenzy Friday!
I wish I had some old woord hanging around in my garage! I envy you! 🙂
Thanks for the tips. I need to start on these asap!
Great idea. I should do that. My food photos are awful!
Trust me when I say when I started out (and for a looooooong time) my photos were awful too. All you need is some practise, a good camera and great styling. It´s a work in progress…. 🙂
Beautiful! I think this would make a great “generic” background for lots of DIY!
Thank you for sharing this week at Brag About It link party on VMG206 (Mondays at Midnight).
~ Megin of VMG206
I agree these could be used for any type of photo shoot!
What a great idea! I’m wanting to get more supplies for blog photography, this is perfect. Thanks for sharing.
You´re most welcome Lisa! The best part is that it´s not expensive 🙂
I love these DIY posts!!!! I so need to do this and change up my background boards!!! love and what a fabulous idea!
I´m glad you like them Alice because I plan to share many more 🙂
Oh my..this is an awesome post! I love how these turned out! I need new backgrounds but don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for each one!
Fantastic! Now you can make something like this! They´re cheap and not hard at all to make 🙂
What a great tutorial! I agree that making your own backgrounds is a great idea. It saves money and allows you to showcase beautiful recipes on the boards!
I agree wholeheartedly! That is what I love about blogging, there is so much you can do and learn!
Thank you for sharing! This might just have to be one of my summer projects. I also really want to make a wine rack. 🙂
A wine rack? That sounds awesome! Can´t wait to see it 🙂
Thank you for the wonderful tips! Your photographs are beautiful! I am in awe. I am so excited I found your blog!
Thanks for your lovely comment Katie!! and welcome!!
Love this post! I need to do this DIY project ASAP!! Thanks for out lining how you did it, super helpful!
I´m glad you found this post helpful! That makes me super happy to hear that 🙂
Your boards look fantastic! Love your tip about the rug. My husband made me a few boards and I am always wanting more so this is perfect 🙂
I wish my husband would make me some, when I made mine he avoided being close by because he doesn´t like diy at all..lol
Thanks for the tips. I can’t wait to read your post about the rule of thirds in food photography. I made two boards and use one as a light reflector. You can see it here. http://www.homeecathome.com/the-home-economist/how-i-am-improving-my-food-photography-and-i-finally-made-it-onto-food-gawker-and-taste-spotting
Hi Faith, I hope the rule of thirds post I wrote, will help you, and well done for getting your photos approved by FoodGawker and TasteSpotting!!
Thank you! Just got another one accepted by both foodgawker and tastespotting. It always feels like an accomplishment b/c it’s not easy. I have to share this post I just wrote for Blogelina about driving traffic to your food blog. And if you haven’t tried yummly yet, you should. Yummly has been my #1 traffic driver every month since I started using it. http://blogelina.com/2015/07/30/3-ways-to-help-increase-traffic-to-your-food-blog/
I’ve made a double sided DIY backdrop board, but they’re way too short (although they work great for close ups at least) so been wanting to make some more – love these! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Michelle, thanks for your comment! Yes it does depend on the size of the board. You could make 2 sides of the same color/design (of two different boards) and use that side by side (or one above the other) to take photos further away. This will give you a bigger area to work with.
so pretty…yet so simple! I have several vinyl backdrops that I love, but need more colors and styles…but dang are they expensive. Thank you so much for the great tutorial…I am in love with the blue one!
Thanks for stopping by Kim!! I love the blue one too, I´m really into the natural/rustic beach theme nowadays 🙂
Your boards look great Johlene. You’re right – the best boards are homemade boards, and after cooking, it’s one of my favorite projects to do, so my boards get a makeover all the time. Yours look fantastic!
Thanks Kristi! I love that part of being a food/dessert blogger. You get to do some DIY!
Thank you for posting this! I’ve been trying to improve my own food photography/styling and I’ve been struggling to find decent backgrounds. I love how simple this is – thanks again! x
You´re most welcome and thanks for stopping by! Backgrounds can make or break a photo. I´m always on the lookout for cheap options that look expensive 😉
hi Johlene, thanks for the tip with the rug instead of brush.
i easily find wooden boards with light or dark shades of brown but I have been looking for other colored boards but to no avail. So I stacked up on light colored boards and will go crazy on my own colors. wonderful blog you have! 🙂
Thank you for your kind comment and for stopping by! Good luck with your light colored boards – have fun! 🙂
I absolutely love his DIY. It’s simple and has a great impact. I am so loving this Johlene :).
Kia / The House of KTS
http://www.houseofkts.com
Thank you Kia! It is relatively easy to make and your photos look so much better!
Great idea – thanks for sharing Johlene! It’s amazing how fast you run out of surfaces around the home to snap a pic on! Love the tip of using both sides too!
Thanks for stopping by Liz! I now have 12 new boards as I bought another pine board and more paint colors. I hope to be set for some time 😉