Custom Seamless Paper

Hi Everyone!

Just joined the APUG community and had a quick question for you guys if anyone here had any experience creating custom seamless paper.

So, I'm shooting a portrait series and I discovered some beautiful Japanese rice/washi paper (for images, please see: http://www.washiwholesale.com/images/Kouzo_unryu480x640.jpg & https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/46/8e/83/468e83f3db49a037d8cfb6efa2ba44a2.jpg) that I would love to use as a backdrop. It would really fit with the subject and am willing to try all sorts of methods to make it work.

There were several issues that occurred when I attempted to use these textured papers as a backdrop:

1. Most paper rolls were not very wide. I'd love to get some about 9 foot wide as is the norm with seamless paper. I attempted to stitch them together using adhesive glue and mounted it on a black backdrop, but the seams still showed and was an extremely difficult experience.

2. Furthermore, if I could get wide paper rolls, the paper itself is so thin that I couldn't use it as a backdrop - it would still need to be mounted.

This experience led me to believe that perhaps the good solution is to create custom seamless paper. If anyone in the APUG community has any experience or advice on my dilemma, please let me know! I'm interested in all ideas!

BTW, my set-up is not so different from Avedon's In the American West (although I shoot inside a studio) as seen in the linked provided:

http://theredlist.com/media/database/muses/tribes/avedon-tribe/065-avedon-tribe-theredlist.jpg

Thanks for reading! Also, I did a quick search, but didn't see any topics on the matter.

Edit: I thought about custom wallpaper as well, but wasn't sure if the idea was feasible considering I shoot in a studio I rent...

Unless the texture of the backdrop is very important to you, many backdrop flaws may be minimized with even/flat lighting and by keeping it out of focus.

Aren't handmade rice papers typically dried on screens that can be handled by one person? I'd think something as wide as seamless would have to be machine made, and that would work against the ideal of having something that looks like a handmade paper with an irregular texture.

Thanks for replying!

The texture is important to me. In fact, the backdrop will be in focus when I shoot. Using the Avedon link I provided as an example, I want to shoot a portrait similarly, but instead of having plain white seamless and the subject in front...it'd be the subject and behind him/her the textured background. I would like to give the machine made paper a chance though! Just don't know where to get some...

Also, as you mentioned, I attempted to minimize the flaws with flat lighting, but result didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.

If you employ lighting from the side (to accentuate the surface structure) and direct the light onto the overlap, you might be able to veil the seam.

And such paper as you look for is indeed also made continuously on rolls. But would be not that easy to obtain as short roll I assume. And I very much doubt that it would be available in 9' width.

I have several boxes of various papers that are about 4 - 5 ft wide and about 20 - 50 ft long. They were given to me 10 years ago and I have never used them. But, I was told that several places sold this paper as backdrop paper. Calumet used to have quite a supply but they are long gone. I suppose you can pick it up easily if you search enough on-line.

PE

If you were my client, say a corporate portrait gig - and you gave me the Avadon look as a style source, and a sheet of your paper as a backdrop example (approaching this as if it were a job)… hmm, what the hell would I do??

If there were no budget for a set builder or stylist, I'd probably start with something like a really light muslin as wide as can be found (you can order it pretty wide without a seam, often as an existing rod-pocket backdrop). I'd figure out the minimum size I'd need - 9' could be overkill, 6' might do it? Then see how close it could be faked. Maybe stretch it out tight and use a roller to do, I dunno - clear acrylic? Which would give it some translucency (maybe) and also let you get it partially dry, then scrunch it up a bit so it dried holding some texture (maybe)? (I've had painted muslin backdrops and wanted a wrinkled look, I just used a ton of spray starch and a hair dryer.)

Perhaps while the paint was wet, I'd ID some sort of fibers or straw or… something to scatter into the wet paint...

I'd probably test on something like 3' squares - often the testing process will lead you to evolve your ideas, learn as you go, etc. I'd then have those test pieces to run by the client for feedback, an OK, or a "if I combine this coating with these fibers, I think we'll be close"… etc.

There's likely a way to get the same feel - I've seen set-stylists come up with some amazing solutions over the years. Sometimes, when trying to match some background idea, just the process of trying to fake it leads me to something not exactly what I wanted but cool as heck.

Probably not going to find a 6' roll of rice paper… though here in Dallas, we used to have a hand made paper store ("Paper Routes") which was packed with every jewelry and tabletop shooter and food stylist in town, I might approach someone like that. They do make things like room screens with rice paper, so there may be someone who could produce a huge sheet… but as the old pawnshop guy says down the street when you like a guitar… "getcher money out boy"...

Welcome to APUG

I do not know of any wide paper sources.

Thanks guys for your help!

At this moment, I'm going to meet with some folks who do custom wallpaper to see if I can create some for my shoot. I figure I could at least tack it up on the walls and give it a good shot.

The other idea that came to me when I read your posts was to mount the rice paper on black individual foam core boards and piece them together. I'm going to try that tomorrow! Will let you know how it goes...