It takes half your life... (DIY Project for Photographers)

"It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project."

                                                     Napoleon Hill- Author

  Life is full of surprises and projects.  I am a mother of two small children that quit her job to stay home and decided to venture into my own business.  I have loved photography for ever, but always laughed when people suggested I make it a business of my own.  When I made that leap three months ago, there was not a lot of extra money for anything and photography props can be expensive.  For those that don't have a room dedicated to a studio, or like to travel on location to clients houses, I made a DIY Backdrop Stand.  Here is the lowest priced backdrop stand from Cowboy Studio at $47.99 plus $8.99 S & H and taxes:  

http://www.amazon.com/CowboyStudio-Photography-Backdrop-Support-Crossbar/dp/B003M5OXSK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1295162477&sr=8-6

I have a solution for you that will take 20 minutes at home depot and with be easy to travel and costs less than $20.

Go to the PVC pipe section and ask them to cut 3/4 inch PVC pipe into two 4 foot sections, four 3 foot sections, and keep the left over 2 foot sections.  Should be about 2-3 lengths total that you are purchasing.  Get 2 corner joints, 2 t-joints, and 5 straight connection joints.  I also plan to buy black electrical tape to wrap around them for added grip, but the baby got fussy on that outing and I forgot.  Here are some shots of how it looks!  Hope it works for you.

 The 4 foot sections are on the side in this configuration.

You may be wondering what the extra lengths are for.  The 2 foot sections are the feet.  When I use my wood floors and a floor board, I take out the ones pointed toward me and clip it to the back ground.  You can also use a four foot and 2 foot across the top and two 3 foot sections on each side when you need more background (I also use seamless paper occasionally).  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  Hope this helps others save money!