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<blockquote data-quote="Robert Mitchell" data-source="post: 97224" data-attributes="member: 11282">I'll throw in my 2 cents here.Mottled backgrounds, while some are nice, tend to give portraits a somewhat dated look. It depends on the type and style but they can be pricey and unless you're prepared to have many different backgrounds, you'll tire of them and the look fairly quickly. More and more people want that urban, fashion-type look to their portraits and don't want those backgrounds that tend to scream &quot;Hey, the 80's called. They want their backgrounds back.&quot;There are some nice alternatives that are a solid color with slight wisps of white and minute gradations. Not only are they usable for more types of work but because they are neutral they are easily colored with gels and by controlling the amount of light that hits the background you can render anything from black to white with little effort.Colors and mottled backgrounds tend to pull the eye away from the subject and unless you're going to use knitted backgrounds you'll get frustrated by muslin and other fabrics because they wrinkle and have creases which are a pain in the arse to get out. You'll be steaming or ironing constantly if the background won't be hung permanently.I'm speaking from experience, as I used to have many muslin backgrounds and they're all long gone for all the reasons mentioned above.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Robert Mitchell, post: 97224, member: 11282"] I'll throw in my 2 cents here. Mottled backgrounds, while some are nice, tend to give portraits a somewhat dated look. It depends on the type and style but they can be pricey and unless you're prepared to have many different backgrounds, you'll tire of them and the look fairly quickly. More and more people want that urban, fashion-type look to their portraits and don't want those backgrounds that tend to scream "Hey, the 80's called. They want their backgrounds back." There are some nice alternatives that are a solid color with slight wisps of white and minute gradations. Not only are they usable for more types of work but because they are neutral they are easily colored with gels and by controlling the amount of light that hits the background you can render anything from black to white with little effort. Colors and mottled backgrounds tend to pull the eye away from the subject and unless you're going to use knitted backgrounds you'll get frustrated by muslin and other fabrics because they wrinkle and have creases which are a pain in the arse to get out. You'll be steaming or ironing constantly if the background won't be hung permanently. I'm speaking from experience, as I used to have many muslin backgrounds and they're all long gone for all the reasons mentioned above. [/QUOTE]

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