It’s no big secret after the last few weeks that I love using styled stock photos for my blog. I shared some of my favorite resources for styled stock photos and I showed you how to get the most out of your styled stock photos. I would love nothing more than to be able to create my own styled stock photos. This would require me to have a better working knowledge of my DSLR camera or at least perfect photo editing apps with my iPhone. My first step though before picking up my camera was to determine backdrops for my future photos. Conducting searches for DIY backdrops gives you plenty of ideas and tips. Today I want to share with you a great tip I found that is so reasonable and so, so simple to do.
Photography Backdrops
Would you be surprised if I told you that for about $25 and a little painting time you could easily have 6 backdrops? And the kicker of it all? You can get the items at your local home improvement store. Who knew Home Depot was a gold mine for things such as this?
The first backdrops I created used an $7 piece of plywood, cut in half. I painted each side of wood. Two sides are white, one side was a pale pink (to coordinate with my blog) and one was a pale mint color.
My next backdrop I fell on accidentally. I was buying drawer knobs the other day and was heading to check out when I walked down the tile aisle at Home Depot. Displayed above the aisle were wood tile planks. I’m used to square tiles but these actually were planks. The beauty of these? Each one was under $3.00. I am now the proud owner of two different shades of faux wood tile. I chose wood grains that I do not have in my hardwood floors at home.
Aren’t they beautiful? If wood grain isn’t your style you have plenty of other tile options to choose from.
I think any of these backdrops would be perfect for styled photos or for showcasing the dish of a recipe. What do you think? Would you ever create photography backdrops like this? Have you ever created any other type of backdrops? If so, comment below and let me know. I’d love to hear what worked for you!
And now I’d like to introduce you to Emily from Em Busy Living. Emily is currently moving across country via road trip (I’m so jealous!). She has so many great stories from her time in California. Being that I have never been there, reading her blog was like getting a tour. San Diego looks beautiful, the canals of Venice Beach are amazing, and Laguna Beach looks like something out of a coastal magazine. Enough about California though, let’s get to know Emily better.
Like many bloggers, I started blogging as a way for family and friends at home to keep up with me while I was in New York for school. I loved sharing my stories and the community I found in blogging, plus I also loved looking back on all of my memories, so I kept it up. My current blog is my second; my old blog no longer represented me well, so I started fresh.
I’m a Libra, so maybe that’s why I gravitate towards fall. I love the changing colors of the leaves, pulling out my sweaters, and preparing for the upcoming holidays where I’ll see all my family. Good things always happen in October.
I used to blog as “Get Busy Living,” based in part on a Kill Hannah song lyric and the idea that I could use my space to inspire myself to continue going out and creating those great memories I was recording. Then one day I thought, “Wait… I AM busy living life! This is it!” and I changed it to “Em Busy Living.” I think that’s far more accurate.
This is always one of the toughest questions! I feel like I have several “homes” in this world, and I think that home is one of the greatest places to be — from feeling like California and NYC are partially ‘home’, to my best friend and her home in Holland, to my and my husbands’ families’ homes in Virginia. (I heavily lean towards the farm where I grew up though, of course!) I probably answer this way because I haven’t been able to spent a lot of time at home these past couple of years, and now I appreciate it more than ever. But if you wanted a traveller/wanderlusty answer, I really want to visit France! Just, all of France, from Paris to Marseilles to Bordeaux.
Focus on community more than numbers. Reach out to other bloggers, through comments or social media, and try to make meaningful connections. Those connections are worth far more than your follower counts. Plus, if you’re a sincere person that people enjoy getting to know, and you share engaging content, your blog will grow organically.
Em Busy Living can be found on Twitter // Pinterest // Instagram // Facebook
