How To Make A Photography Backdrop

Let me show you how to make a photography backdrop.

This is so embarrassing….. For the longest time, I always thought bloggers and foodies on Instagram had the perfect kitchen with perfect lighting for food and product photos. And I always told myself,

“When I have a beautiful kitchen, then I will take more pictures.”

Until I became aware that there was this thing called a “backdrop.” Did you know this?? Or were you stuck in the ancient ages like I was??

budget friendly

I mean DUH! Of course it’s a backdrop! Fooled me. I even looked up companies that specifically sells the type of backdrops I’m about to show you how to make. BUT I noticed that just one backdrop board costs more than what it costs me to DIY an entire photography set-up!

So, I’m going to show you how you can fake a perfectly well-lit kitchen too. For Under $70!

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What you’ll need:

watch the video below!

The video above will show you step-by-step how I put this together. It’s really quite simple! However, I would recommend getting a second pair of hands to help you. The adhesives are VERY sticky! Precision is important!

Get The Materials Here

Part 1

Get your tiles lined up where you want them to interlock. The way I arranged mine, perfectly covered the entire foam board.

Once you know where you want your tiles, only peel off just a bit of the corner. Slowly smooth it down making sure the tile runs evenly on both sides of the board. Continue doing this nice and slow until all the tiles have been stuck on. Two tile pieces will be cut in half so that they can be placed in the bottom right corner of the foam board. (refer to the video.)

Now, flip the board over and cut off the access sticky tile.

Part 2

Is sticking on the marble contact paper. The way I planned laying this out, was to have extra contact paper on all sides. This is so I would have clean covered edges.

Grab your second set of hands and peel off a bit of the corner about an inch. Have one person hold this corner. Peel the sticker back about an inch all the way down to the other corner. Slowly lower both corners and communicate how much over-flow paper there is on both sides. (Doesn’t need to be even, but enough to where you can stick it onto the backside of the board.)

On both sides, you and the other person should slowly peel back the backing of the contact paper and use a smoother to get out any bubbles. Make sure there are no lines or creases.

part 3

Flip the marble side down and cut the access of the side you ended on. Make sure there is enough paper to wrap and stick onto the back. Smooth down the overflowing paper on the back of the board. Cutting a sliver into each corner will help the contact paper lay flat against the backside of the foam board.

Part 4

Assembling! Grab your stands and attach them onto one side of the marble, and note where the stand will fit on the tile side. These tiles are 3D, so you will need to cut into the tile and remove that part of the sticker so the stand will fit. Repeat on the other side.

Here is the finished product! That’s how to make a photography backdrop! I’m so happy with how it turned out. It’s perfect for photos and filming in landscape mode since it is wider than what most retailers sell. The contact paper is great because it’s super easy to wipe clean if food spills.