So last week I told you about how the thin clear plastic from cheap poster frames is a very affordable alternative to Plexiglass or even glass because it’s super thin, lightweight, and affordable. But my first commenter Byron, asked about putting the plastic on black posterboard or cloth and mentioned that the reflection wasn’t quite the same. So this weekend I decided to tackle the black reflection challenge.

I bought a big poster frame at Target (22″ x 32″) for $10. Then I bought a can of black spray paint (for plastic). The plastic has a thin layer of protective “skin” plastic on both sides, kind of like Saran Wrap, that you have to peel off before you paint. I peeled one surface so I could paint it, and left the other surface protected. Next I sprayed smooth, even coats and it ended up taking about 4 coats to make the plastic truly black.

Once it was dry, I reassembled the entire poster frame except the bottom edge, so it was a stiff, sturdy prop to work with. The only problem with these poster frames is that there’s usually a little warp to the cardboard, and since the plastic is so thin, it conforms to the slight bend of the cardboard backing. That’s why, when I laid it on the kitchen table for a quick test shoot, I had to weigh down the edges to make the surface truly flat. Note that extra large cans of green beans and 12 packs of Coke work nicely for this.

This was just a proof-of-concept test shot, so I didn’t light it properly, but it seemed to work. Still, a couple of important notes:

• The image would have looked better if I took the time to set up a couple of strobes, but family barbecue is my job on Sunday afternoons, so I had to wrap up fairly quickly. Barbecue was more important than lighting the Dentyne package.
• I loaned my 4′ x 6′ pop-up black backdrop to a friend and the wall of my kitchen is a yellowish color, so the reflection in my black surface has a yellow cast I had to remove in post.
• Since I wanted a good depth of field I needed to set my f-stop to 5.6 or 8, and since I was shooting in vertical orientation, and I don’t have a RRS L-bracket yet, my camera was hanging sideways off the ballhead. As a result, even with a cable release, the image was blurry because of camera shake. The ONLY way to get the image to be tack sharp was to use Mirror-Up mode and a cable release. (Maybe it would have been faster to set up a couple speedlights after all.)
• Oh, and you can click on either image for a much larger view.
• Just to be clear (no pun intended) the black painted side of the plastic is inside where the poster would be and the outer surface is clear, shiny plastic with the protective cover freshly peeled off of it. The black paint has some slight imperfections but they’re fully hidden by the smooth, shiny plastic surface.

Ultimately I’m far happier with my black painted poster frame than I thought I would be. If you try this out yourself, shoot something and drop me a link to it.

 

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 14th, 2011 at 1:44 am and is filed under Alternate Uses, DIY Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.