DIY Wood Photography Background Tutorial

I think it is only human to like pretty pictures and beautifully shot photos. As a blogger, I am always on the looking for ways to change up my backgrounds but my husband will kill me if I decide to do another massive project just so I can take better shots.

I have come to terms with the fact that my home will never have exposed brick like Julie over at Try Small Things and that my counters will never be white quartz like Tamara’s from Discovering Parenthood. My husband still cringes though when I nonchalantly mention that I have a small project I want to do, his head usually ends up in his hands while he asks me if I am bored again. I don’t often get bored but when I do it’s usually a precursor to power tools and lumber.

DIY Wood Photography Background Tutorial

Last month in an effort to regain some space we threw out a twin bed frame that was not being used. We did save the slats that supported the mattress though because we figured we could use them for some fun projects come spring…but inspiration hit last week while I was getting sick of shooting on my white backgrounds. I wanted fancy dark hardwood floors and au natural light wood floors but there was no way we were undertaking that kind of project–at least not while the kids still lived here.

So I settled on the next best thing, fake floors that could be moved around as needed. So easy to make and I literally had my 8-year-old outside sanding it for me.

What You Need:

Wood (untreated)
Wood Screws
Drill 
Sander (optional)
Wood Stain (optional)
2 Clean Clothes if staining

Step 1. Decide on what size of background you need. Think about the pictures you take and this should be an indication of how big you want the final project. If you are going to be purchasing the wood from the lumber store then pick the thinnest available pieces. The whole idea is to take the faux floor out when you need it so weight/size should be considered.

Most lumber stores also provide cutting services on site while you wait for free so bring measurements with you.

I left the wood slats the same size as they were because I wanted to make this as easy as possible. I also wanted to do this double sided so that I could have two different wood finishes.

We did 6 slats vertically ↑ and 2 slats horizontally ↔ at the top and bottom to keep everything together.

Step 2. Assemble the pieces into the preferred layout. I did mine on my table because I needed a few straight lines to use as guidelines.

Step 3. You will want to do 2 screws at each end of the wood. You want to make sure that these do not exceed the length of the top and bottom pieces of wood. To be safe maybe make them a 1/4 inch shorter than the combined height of the two boards. If you want your wood to stay intact you may want to drill holes into it first but I did not mind it splitting a bit. Flip it over and admire your work.

Step 4. You can sand it if needed. I did because my kids also coloured on the pieces and I had wanted to stain my background.

Step 5. Apply stain with either a brush or roller. Leave it on for 5-10 minutes and use clean clothes to wipe off.  Do not let it dry on the wood. It will dry in the wood and the excess will just flake off. I used the MinWax Wood Finish in Jacobean for mine.

Step 6.  Let dry for a day at least outside as it smells or a well-ventilated space.

Step 7. If you want to do a two-sided background add more wood to the underside of your background. I left this side natural so I can swap them out.

For me this is perfect. It cost me nothing because I had everything lying around. If you have questions let me know and we can figure it out together!

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Aneta Alaei

Aneta is a Toronto-based mom of four that loves a good meal, great company, and learning something new. In her free time, you can find her trying to keep yet another plant alive.

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