Tips for Photographers: Where to buy backdrops & what to avoid

Hey, photographer friends! 

If you’re new here, you may not know that I created a Facebook group three years ago for cake smash photographers.  It has turned into a huge global community filled with inspiration, crazy amounts of talent, plenty of questions, and insightful advice.  If you’re not in our Cake Smash Inspiration for Baby Photographers group on Facebook, go join now!

One of the questions we see most often in the group is, “Where should I buy backdrops?”

This question is often followed up with, “I don’t have a lot of money to spend on these, so where can I get something cheap?”

There are so many options for backdrops besides purchasing a pre-made backdrop from a company.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• seamless paper

• paper garlands to match a theme (make them on a Cricut or buy them from Etsy)

• ribbon garlands

• crepe paper walls

• floral walls

• greenery

• hanging branches and hanging flowers 

• hand-drawn backdrop on seamless paper

• watercolor backdrop on seamless paper

• fabric

• print an original image on a fleece blanket

• balloon garland

• shower curtains

• tapestries

If you’re looking to build a collection of actual backdrops, you can start by searching destash groups where photographers are selling their gently-used backdrops.  There are groups like this for most of the major backdrop company brands on Facebook, and your local photography groups will probably have people destashing a few times a year, too.

And then when you’re ready to start purchasing your own brand new backdrop, PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH FIRST.
. . .

As a small business owner yourself, you should always support small business backdrop shops.  

I spoke with the owner of a reputable backdrop company, and she told me that “as the owner of one, I can ensure you that we all pour our hearts and souls into our business and supporting companies such as Amazon, Ali Express & Kate is truly a terrible disservice to the industry.”

Wait, what?  You might be confused right now because you thought that that backdrop you bought from Amazon or some other site was such a bargain, that how could that possibly be wrong? 

Take it from this backdrop company owner:

“What many photographers do not know is that these companies steal original designs from small backdrop businesses such as my own, and sell them for a fraction of the price. They are often stealing them off of websites & editing out logos. Additionally, they are messaging customers and offering to pay them to sell them an image of their backdrop hung and then turning around and printing that file. The hard work that goes into each of these designs is then instantly degraded and sold on these platforms. If we could all ban together and educate the industry on why it is wrong to support these companies, recommend them, link them etc we could make a huge impact on stoping these thieves from profiting off of hard working small businesses.”

Before you click “Add to cart” on some too cheap, too good to be true replica being sold online, stop and think about it for a minute.  If this backdrop is a mere fraction of the price of what the backdrop companies sell theirs for, there must be a reason, right?  Very likely it’s stolen and being sold without consent or profit for the original owner and designer.

Think about how hard you work on your small business.  Think about all of the effort that goes into creating each setup, executing each session, editing the images, fostering that client relationship, and creating those beautiful products and heirloom artwork.  Now imagine if someone just steals all of that from you with the click of a button, doesn’t get your permission, and starts profiting thousands of dollars from your work with no commission coming back to you.  That’s just wrong!

Here’s how one backdrop designer feels about it: 

“So - the truth is... as a creator of any kind, seeing your work taken without your knowledge and then sold for money makes you feel like you’re worthless. Income aside, you feel violated. I work incredibly hard on my sets and sell them because I know people benefit from having sets already pre-designed... but it makes me not want to design anymore. Just like when your words on your website are stolen - you feel helpless and hopeless and nothing is worse than someone taking the fire inside you away. Forget the fact that they are also taking money away from you and your family.”

Please, please, please.  We see it too often that photographers say they didn’t know a backdrop was a stolen image and replica.  That they had never heard about this problem in the industry before.  That they can’t afford $80 for a backdrop so the $14 will have to do.  But just stop and think about it before you purchase that and support a business that is stealing from your peers, a business that is stealing from YOUR INDUSTRY.  It is so incredibly damaging to the entire industry and to our entire creative community. 

If you can’t afford the $80 backdrop, take a look at your cost of doing business and adjust your prices to be more profitable so that you can start buying a few drops for your business.  Find a destash group and purchase a used backdrop.  Create your own backdrop with the tips at the beginning of this blog post.  But just don’t hand money to companies that are preying off of talented individuals without their permission, taking their designs right out of their hands and stealing money from their families.  

Wondering which backdrop companies are legit? Check out this doc in our Facebook group with a list of reputable backdrop companies. When you buy from these companies, you are supporting small businesses, designers, and their families.