Save your money. Before you buy a hand painted, or computer generated background, go outside, and take a walk around your neighborhood. You’re likely to find great backgrounds that will enable your vision to take shape without spending a dime.

But, it’s winter, you say. Yep, so grab a coat. Make sure you’re subject has a coat, heat up the car, and go shoot.

But, it’s snowing outside. Yes, so grab a cup of hot chocolate, get one for your subject, and stay inside.

I want you to save money, but I’m not crazy!

The background I used for the picture of my son, is the door to an old storage shed we have in the backyard. It’s been there for as long as I can remember, and I never considered it to be photo worthy. Until, I saw it as a potential background.

Look around your house, your neighborhood. There’s concrete walls, brick walls, trees, stucco buildings, gates, alleys, storefronts, all types of interesting backgrounds. Hey, how ’bout a park. You heard of them, right?

A concrete sidewalk makes a terrific background for a headshot, as does hardwood flooring (a tip I learned from Zack Arias). Use things around your studio, or your home, that are, well, just there. Once you start looking for backgrounds “in the wild” you’ll discover them everywhere.

I wanted my son to look serious. He chose to adopt an attitude instead. Gee, what a surprise for a teenage boy. In any event, I think it worked.

Go look for backgrounds, and let me know what you’ve discovered.

(click on image for larger version)