An Afternoon With Backdrop Artist Sarah Oliphant

Sit down, strap in, and buckle up. This video is a long one but for those who can find 47 minutes to spare and watch this video you'll be rewarded with a casual insight and genuine conversation into the work space of premier hand-painted Backdrop Artist Sarah Oliphant alongside world-renowned Headshot Photographer Peter Hurley. If you've ever considered shooting on a painted backdrop, you'll undoubtedly find this video an interesting watch.

One thing that is abundantly clear from the conversation between Oliphant and Hurley is that Oliphant is a genuine master of her craft and completely passionate about what she does. The descriptions of different colors and textures is particularly interesting. I really liked hearing her conversation with new clients and how to feel out what it is that they're looking for. Over the course of a phone call, details like what kind of texture someone is looking for, the specifics about color (how it will “read”), and vignetting are hashed out. Reference images from previous backdrops unsurprisingly make getting on the same page an easier task, though with a hand-painted drop there is the benefit of each one being a one-of-a-kind piece even when trying to reproduce an existing color and texture palette.

Oliphant comes across as a real down-to-earth person who is just plain old great at what she does. On top of that, over the course of a career as a backdrop painter, she has clearly come to understand marketing her work and getting the most use from each drop that she creates, hence the backdrop rental service that she offers. Oh, and memorable quotes? Yeah there is one of those too: “Talent doesn't mean shit. You've gotta have like. . .that little bit of luck.”

After watching the video, chime in and let me know your thoughts on using backdrops. Have you shot on them before or would you like to? How about a quality difference from a hand-painted drop versus one that's machine made and mass-produced. I've already started thinking about the pros and cons of using backdrops, what color would interest me the most? What about texture? I really found the idea of a burlap backdrop to be really attractive; all that texture so readily accessible. Seamless paper is one thing but I can only imagine the experience about unrolling a hand-painted drop and setting up for a stylized portrait concept. What color and style would you go for?