After years of on-location shoots and renting out scarce dance studio space for my dance photography, I finally realized my dream of opening my own studio space in 2022. Because my passion is capturing and freezing the movements of talent like dancers, gymnasts and musicians, I knew I wanted the centerpiece of my studio to be a safe Harlequin sprung dance floor and my beautiful 20’w x 10’h Hale canvas backdrop. This versatile backdrop has been a great size for capturing movement of individuals as well as small groups, but is a bit of a beast to set up and teardown.
With the flexibility to offer clients longer creative sessions, I also wanted to offer more than one background option during these sessions, but at the same time I really needed to take advantage of my permanent space and eliminate the time-consuming and back-breaking element of constantly setting up and tearing down large backdrops.
With the help of some friends who are much handier than I am, we designed and installed a 4-track rail system that allowed me to use multiple backdrops within the same day, or even the same session. We used Akon Industrial Curtain hardware and added heavy duty grommets to the backdrops so that we could hang them from the rollers.
If you have a studio space with a longer wall, a custom setup like this might be a more functional option for your business, plus you’ll save quite a bit of money.
The system gives me the flexibility to use the backdrops in multiple areas of the studio as each of the 4 backdrops (12’w x 10’h) is on its own rail and can travel the entire length of the long wall between the dance floor on one end and the family/portrait floor area at the other. With the industrial quality hardware, dragging the backdrops with a curtain pull rod is easy and there’s no mechanical elements to maintain.
Woven Red by Salvatore Cincotta
French Blu by Jai Mayhew Backdrop
This setup and ability to showcase my five gorgeous Intuition Backgrounds canvas backdrops becomes very helpful during client consultations so we can review backdrop color/design options and plan for complementary outfits and creative portraits in advance. It helps us optimize the shooting time together, allowing for plenty of creative freedom during the actual session.
Needless to say that I am delighted with my new studio and the fine art canvas backdrop and creative options it offers to me and my talented clients.
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