Well, June was a special month for several reasons, but the biggest deal and most exciting news of all…I’ll let my little boy spill the beans.
Yep! Our family’s growing! My wife and I are super-excited and can’t wait to welcome our second child. He or she will arrive in the very early part of 2011. That’s the best news I’ve had all year 🙂
(My little boy doesn’t look too excited in the photo, but I’m sure that’ll change once his sibling is here.)
Sometimes you need a backdrop that’s ultra-portable and sets up and tears down in an instant. Especially when doing corporate type shooting where time is limited. And while setting up two stands and threading a crossbar through a muslin doesn’t take all that long, faster alternatives exist.
One of those alternatives is Calumet Photographic’s On-Site Portable Background System. It’s designed to set up quickly and pack up small for easy travel. Fully assembled it measures 8 x 8′ and requires a single stand. Using an X-frame fitted into reinforced, double-stitched pockets at each corner of the muslin, the On-Site does indeed set up quickly, even with one person.
The overall quality of the entire system is very good. The stand, like the rest of Calumet’s stands, is good quality—strong and light weight.
The X-frame, which keeps the background taut, is made up of eight slip-in sections and is easily assembled. Each leg of the X is comprised of two pieces that easily slip together.
At the center of the X is a round hub where each leg is inserted. If anything gave me pause, it was this piece. But after using it I learned to trust its adjustable screws on either side to stabilize the unit on the stand. The muslins are also decent quality, but bear in mind that all 10 of the available patterns do not darken near the edges as many other professional muslins.
Available muslins for the On-Site come in 10 different colors, all of which are sold separately at calumetphoto.com.
Setting it Up
You’ll need plenty of room to set this system up—a cramped conference room won’t cut it. You’ll need at least 8 x 8′ of floor space since you have to put it together on the floor, according to the instructions. 
Assembling it on the floor doesn’t make it ideal for all situations, like if you’re shooting in a warehouse or other dirty location, but if you have the space to lay it down, it’s simple. Just spread the muslin out (face down), assemble the X-frame, insert each arrow end into the reinforced pockets, then slip the opposite end of each leg into the hub. The X-frame will bow up as pressure is added making it taut.
Then, simply lift the whole thing and drop the hub onto the stand. Finally, adjust the stand’s height to make sure the bottom corners of the background are resting on the ground. That’s it. Seriously simple.
Pros
I’ve always wanted to shoot in a junkyard, and I finally got my chance! Kayla just graduated from 8th grade so what better way to mark that milestone than by making some fun portraits? She was a good sport and willing to get a little dirty and brave the rains. Oh the rain! For the first portion of our shoot is was storming like mad out so we worked with what we had inside—I have to say I think we got some great stuff in there!
The best images happened outside. Just before calling it a day the clouds broke and the sun came out. The junkyard was soaking wet, but the atmosphere and natural light were perfect for our portraits! So we got to work and made some excellent images.
Thanks for being a good sport, Kayla, and congratulations on your graduation!
