SonyDoug

As the title says. Black shades are available so I thought that might be ideal for my use.

Seems a bit too easy, am I missing something?

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Possibly. If the shade doesn't have any reflective qualities and can absorb light falling onto it.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Hey, why not. User l-fox showed his ingenuity with a roll of paper towels!
https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-652620-1.html

If your shade isn't installed in a window, what would you use as construction to hold it? I'm thinking you're a DIY person, not pro studio like this.

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Quixdraw Loc: x

They use a shade in the county courthouse for passport and I.D. photos. Seems to work just fine. Standard roller shade brackets can be mounted on a wall using self drilling drywall anchors and screws or on a board, and the board mounted the same way or stud to stud. You could easily have several colors racked top to bottom and simply mount the one in use in the top spot.

repleo Loc: Boston

Yup! Walgreen's use a a simple white roller shade for passport photos.

Haydon

Ideally you need a fast enough shutter speed to kill the ambient light. I usually need 2 stops of light before detail begins to show throughy in an image. This way you know you have total control over the ambient light. Check to see what your maximum shutter before HSS is required. Depending on the camera it usually falls at 1/200 or 1/250 of a second. I usually shoot at 1/160 second in my home studio but most of the ambient is removed to begin with.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Yes SonyDoug, pull down the shade or use a backdrop to give a mood needed for the message.

Because of the new work-from-home required by the plague, I have been in the homes of many important pundits, politicians, and observed how they live. I have seen sloppy brickwork, crooked paintings, clutter on bookshelves, found out what they read, and even what pets they have licking their faces. SonyDoug your advice should be taken by all doing a video message... pull down the damned shade....

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

For my close up stuff, I use poster board leaned up against one of my light stands. Makes a perfect seamless back drop. A shade would do the same.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Years ago roll up movie screens were used as backdrops, depends on the size of your subject and the look you are trying to get.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I use A1 Artist card (Hobbycraft). Loads of colours and about £3.00 per sheet.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Black window shades make for great backrounds- the are not expensive, they are durable, and PAINTABLE! I have used them for years for location work where suitable backgrounds are not available. There are some caveats:

Make sure to purchase shades with a non-glossy finish- there are many clothes and plasticized fabrics that are available.

I start off with gray or black shades- the can be used as-is or painted with acrylic latex paints with a basic black or gray base coat and colors dabbed in with brushes and natural sponges. White shades can be used as-is or painted with light pastel colors for high key effects.

You can use a solid black, gray, or white background, however, adding slight color or tonal mass adds more dimensionality to your background.

I keep the shads rolled up on their spring-loaded wooden cores. I then mount standard window shade brackets on a 1x2 piece of lumber to create a crossbar in the length to accommodate the shade/ O drill a hole in the center of the length of wood and it can be supported on 1 light stand if properly balanced. It will roll up and down as needed.

I paint them on both sides of the shade- each side with different color combinations.

How you light the background determines the final results.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Whatever works

TreborLow

Years ago, I purchased a couple of yards of a dull, black fuzzy material in a fabric store. Keep it in a plastic bag to minimize dust and use it indoors and outdoors as needed. If a few spots or highlights do show up, it is pretty easy to fix in most editing software. Easily draped over a chair for a small object closeup; hung over a door for portraits and masking taped to the wall for larger projects.
Also now use some black 'foamie' flags to keep the light from spilling onto the background.
Have fun,
Bob

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Why not. Some PVC pipe to support it. A bit of ingenuity and you've got a variety of backdrops at probably a fraction of the cost. If you don't glue the pipe sections together, mark them so they are easy to assemble, you've got a traveling studio.
--Bob

Photocraig

Shade brackets are available readily. 2 screws each mounts them to a wall. Remember those school classroom maps? They were mounted on a very similar mechanism. The operative word here is EVEN I can do it. Also, with sufficient outcroppings, a tension shower curtain rod will hold backdrops and they come in some pretty long sized. And some shower curtains or Loop mounted fabrics make good portable backdrops and shoot through backdrops, too. And they're reasonably priced.