If you post recipes on your blog, you’ll eventually want some options for your food photography backgrounds besides your kitchen table. I was in need of some new backgrounds myself, so I decided to show you how to make your own backgrounds for food photography!
This is a super frugal DIY – just $10 for two backgrounds. And the best part is that this is completely customized to your tastes, so you can choose any style you’d like.
What You Need:
- (1) 2×2 ft. Square Piece of Lauan Plywood: Cost: $3.63
- (2) 6 inch x 48 inch Peel and Stick Vinyl Wood Plank – Cost: $4.72)
- (1) 18×18 Vinyl Tile – Cost: $1.98
Total Cost: $10.33
You can use any plywood you’d like – just make sure it’s relatively smooth to avoid splinters!
I opted for a single tile for the backside of the board. But feel free to use the planks on both sides of the board if you find two styles you like!
Also, just totally ignore the knife in the picture above. It didn’t work very well and I had to improvise with kitchen scissors and eyeliner (it’s easy to wipe off). Yep – I like to keep things super professional around here! 😉
Line up the vinyl plank with one edge of the plywood and lay the plank on top of the board. Make a straight line across the edge. Use a scissor to trim the vinyl plank to size.
You’ll be using the entire piece of the vinyl plank, so try not to take too much length off of one side.
Line up the cut vinyl with the edge of the board and slowly peel off the backing to expose the adhesive side. Firmly smooth the plank down with one hand as you go to make sure the adhesive sticks well.
This is not easy to re-position because you’ll yank up pieces of the plywood if you try to move the plank, so keep things slow and accurate.
Now you’ll repeat that process until the plywood is completely covered. I cut two vinyl planks in half and adhered them to the board to make my food photography background – super simple!
If you look at the bottom edge, you’ll see that my cuts are pretty off – but that’s okay. When taking your photos, the edges don’t make it into the picture. So as long as the middle of the background is straight and accurate, you’re good to go!
And here’s a picture of our lunch just to demonstrate what the photography background would look like in use.
Here’s what the set up actually looks like in person. See? No one will see the uneven edges but you, so it isn’t a huge deal.
For my second food photography background, I flipped the board over and stuck a piece of vinyl tile onto the back. Because I was only working with one tile here, I adhered it to the center in order to prevent an uneven/wobbly surface when working with the wood plank side (because this side would technically be the bottom when using the other background).
And here’s what it looks like in use. I definitely would’ve preferred a larger tile, but 18×18 was the largest one available and it still works just fine. You can use any style of vinyl – so get as creative as you’d like! I just recommend opting for a relatively matte surface.
Even if you’re just starting out with your blog, I highly recommend making your own DIY food photography backgrounds. It’ll help you simplify your pictures – and a clean background and a couple of other inexpensive tweaks will help you improve the quality of your photos even if you’re taking pictures with your smart phone!
I’ve been needing a nice, portable background for my photos, and this tutorial was so helpful. I love that I could made something that looks like an expensive table for less than $10. Thank you so much.
Kimberly! That is great!! So happy to help! Cheers!!!
This was so helpful, thanks for posting! I’ve been wanting to make/buy some backgrounds for almost two years but they can be so expensive. This project fits right into my budget!
Awesome! Love frugality!! 🙂
I love your ideas. I am a new food blogger and this post is going to help me so much?
I am loving all of your great ideas!! I can’t wait to make these soon.
super ideas and i like it
Thank you for posting this, as a new blogger I need cheap DIY photography ideas!!
http://www.cookingwithzest.com
Glad you enjoyed it, Jess!
Am I crazy or does the math not add up on this? How did you get (2) 36″ planks to cover a 2′ x 2′ piece of plywood? You would need at least 3 planks.. Am I missing something?
Thanks!
You’re totally right! Good catch! We actually used 48″ planks, but I accidentally mentioned 36″. I’ve updated the post so the math should now be correct. 🙂
Hi,
Do you have tutorial or recommendation for the rest of your set up? I’d like to learn more about the diffuser you made! Do you use this all the time, or just during direct sunlight?
Thanks!
So to make the diffuser I just cut up a white tee shirt and used a staple gun to staple it to a large picture frame we had around the house. To make it stand up on its own I used two L brackets from home depot and two clamps. I faced the L brackets away from each other for some stability.
I no longer use this set up (currently testing out artificial light!), but when I did I mainly used the diffuser to diffuse harsh natural light and sometimes also to fill in darker areas (but a folded white poster board is better for bouncing light). I’m definitely still learning, but you’re welcome to email me if you have any questions! 🙂
Great tip. I own a small restaurant and struggle with food photography. No I just need to figure a way to do it without those florescent lights. By the way, I’m glad you’re a stationery designer and not a stationary designer.
This is so good! I’m definitely going to try making these! Thanks so much for the post 🙂
Thanks, Amanda! 🙂
This is brilliant! My hubby made me a rustic wood background recently, which has been so helpful, but I’d love to be able to create some other options. I love how inexpensive this is!
Oh thank you! I definitely recommend making them. They’re a huge bang for your buck! 🙂
This is a great idea, where did you get these supplies?
Thanks! I got all of the supplies at Lowes. I’m sure any home improvement store would have similar items.
Do the sell the planks separately, I was only able to find them by the case?
Michael!!! I need to update this post because there are so many awesome options out there! Yes, you can get planks separately! Go to the back of Lowes or Home Depot where the boxes are broken open and you can get a box for just a couple bucks. Also, hit up the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore for stuff like this! You can get a couple boards and make a prop in no time. My son grabbed some awesome fence boards from a trash and we cut them up, cleaned them up and they are now one of our favorite bases! Go onto The Bite Shot on FB and check out the ones on there and you will be shocked! Have you used Contact Paper yet? Scrapbook paper? Anything from the thrift shops? It’s fun to make them and see what you can photograph and no one knows the difference! Have fun with it! 🙂
Wow, this is so cool! I don’t blog, but I do make and sell jewelry and I am always intimidated by the photography step of the process. I sell on Etsy and nice photos are so important!! Thanks for sharing your “behind the scenes” – I love seeing other people’s set ups and looking at their methods to see if I can learn anything from them.
I hope you give them a shot, Nicole! Since your items take up less physical space, you may be able to make more than 2 backgrounds for around the same price by buying a slightly larger sheet of plywood and using a couple 12×12″ tiles on each side! 🙂