Vinyl Backdrop Idea- Advice Wanted!!

I am not a photography expert by any stretch, but I have always been told that natural light is best and I have found that to be so. If you can shoot it without artificial light, would be great. Besides, you could save on lighting. I think the image is stunning and would be a terrific backdrop. The backdrops I have purchased are on a canvas type material and I do like the way it looks. Good luck, just thought I would offer a little encouragement. harleyfae

 

As long as it has more of a matte finish it should be ok. I'm not expert either but I think as long as it isn't too shiny you should be alright. You could experiment with a small version to see how it turns out in photographs if you're unsure

 

Hi Dove_Heart, I've been thinking through some similar things recently, has have paid to have some photos blown up to large (matte) poster size to use as photo backdrops, so while by no means an expert, a few thoughts you might find helpful!
In terms of size - I've done several at 30inches by 20inches which has worked fine for YoSD and small groups of MSD dolls. These are relatively easy to us in terms of clipping them onto posterboard when needed. You might need to go bigger for SD size - I've got some printed at 45 by 30 inches - and these are biiiig and quite cumbersome to use!
In terms of lighting - I'm not sure how vinyl would be, but the matte photo posters are quite hard to light without reflection. Natural diffuse light striking at an angle seems to work best (depending on the angle of your camera). You might struggle with an overhead light as you can't really do much with the lighting angle?
In terms of the image itself - it's beautiful! I wonder though about the angle of the floor - if you are going to want to have feet in shot, you're going to have to use some kind of flooring that blends, and think about how your dolls look standing against it (e.g. a flatter floor might work better)?
Also, you could well run into copyright issues on google - you could try a creative commons search on flickr for people who don't mind you using their pics for non-commercial purposes and then message them to ask?
Hope that's some help - I love my photo backdrops, even if they can be a bit of a pain to light! A couple of examples below (not necessarily the best in the world) but just to show what I mean about the flooring!
Good luck and would be interested to see how you get on!

 

Those turned out really well! Can I ask where you ordered them?

 

Awesome, thanks! If you have rights to the photos, I'd love to have them to use for the backdrops

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Dove_Heart - The "changing x percent to be considered original" rule is an urban myth that has been disproved a lot of times. There is no such rule - if it's someone else's art and they didn't give you permission, then you can't use it, and you definitely don't have copyright, no matter what you change.

 

Always good to ask permission before using someone else's artwork. Even if they aren't likely to take it as far as legal action against you, it is common decency. Alternatively, find something that is copyright free. Try looking on Creative Commons for appropriate work. https://creativecommons.org/

 

This is an excellent idea and the safest option if you are going to post your photos online. Everything should be all yours. Sometimes my DH and I go on vacations and I spend a lot of time taking photos of landscapes. I never thought to enlarge them for my doll photographs. I am not much of a photographer but, I do like taking photos for fun. I think your banner idea was a good one, but I would investigate who the artist is of the work and get permission for using it the way you are prior to posting online or a blog just to be safe. I set up my own natural landscapes in my back yard with plants and rustic things. Sure its not like the perfect setting for everything, but I am happy with it.

 

Could you spray the backdrop with matte sealant or brush on a matte acrylic medium? That might kill the shine. I've never used vinyl for anything, though, so I don't know much about it.

 

Actually not an urban myth at all - Green Day won a lawsuit using that very idea (they'd used a backdrop in a concert). None of this ever rears it's ugly head unless you are broadcasting obviously trademarked images (Disney's for instance) in other than cosplay, or if you are selling. AND if you go to a site that is ADVERTISING these backdrops FOR the purpose using in your photos then that whole copyright thing better be a non-issue (who exactly will buy a photo backdrop if they can't use it in their photos pray tell?)

 

It's more complicated than percentages - there's "substantial similarity" involved and a lot more. “no plagiarist can excuse the wrong by showing how much of his work he did not pirate.” - Judge Learned Hand.

But in any case she didn't buy pre-made photography backdrops - she went to Google and found images to use (or that's the impression I got, at least). Most photographers probably won't care if there's no money being made, but it's still technically not really legal use without permission. If someone came to my print shop asking for us to print photo backgrounds and said "I got that image off Google!" we would go "NOPE!" and require a photo release from the photographer, the potential fines are just too high. It's all well and good if it's for personal use only, until someone else swipes one of the photos with the backdrops in them and uses it as a print to sell or something... or Photoshops it to death himself and then tries to raise money to print a book with it!

I like the idea of printed backdrops, but the use of other people's photography without permission really skeeves me out. There's free stock photography and things licensed under creative commons that can be used just as easily!

 

I generally always use my own pics - but have been looking for some free use images to try out Photoshop compositing and have recently discovered this site, which is a great source of free-to-use photos (as long as you don't use them commercially, and for a few you have to ask permission). Ignore the topline premium (i.e. paid for!) results that come up when you search - and I think you have to register to download images:
http://www.sxc.hu/
[h=2]About us[/h] SXC was launched in February 2001 as an alternative for expensive stock photography. The idea was to create a site where creative people could exchange their photos for inspiration or work. The site has evolved into the massive community you see today — there are over 2,500,000 registered users and around 400,000 photos online.

Why become a member?

As a user you gain access to hundreds of thousands of high-quality, hand-picked stock photos and graphics; all free! Need a wallpaper for your desktop or an illustration for your blog? Want to spice up your commercial website design project? Looking for inspiration? You'll find everything on SXC quickly and easily.


Might give you some ideas anyhow, there are some v nice pics on there!

 

No, I wouldn't depend on this at all. Many of these printed backdrops are from China, which does have copyright laws but is very reluctant to prosecute under them. So, many many copyright infringements are made without consequence.

Use the site that shrinkomatic posted or Creative Commons. If you want to find out what sort of brouhaha happens when someone steals other people's artwork, have a read of some of the threads in the General Discussion section. You DO NOT want to be the target of that sort of attention.

 

How to really get twisted up w/worry over non issues..... Unreal. Now obviously money is changing hands if someone wants to pay a photo studio to enlarge a photo off the Internet. Protect yourself. If you are going to sell something check the images out. Otherwise good grief. Some people whine the same way about cosplay & cosplay photos. Whine away. Most of us just don't care (right until MONEY is thrown in the picture). I sure would be checking all sorts of stuff out if I were selling a book of my dollie photos (kind of like I checked stuff out when I got stuff together to publish a novel...) I'm thinking that posting pics of your dolls in front of a poster you bought for a backdrop is totally not worth worrying about....nor worth scaring newbies about either.

 

If you read the thread that is currently clogging up the General Discussion thread, you will find that most people DO care what is done with their artwork by others, even if money isn't changing hands. Even if you don't care about the law, it is common decency to ask someone before you use their artwork in yours. This is not scaremongering, this is (clearly much needed) information. It doesn't take much effort to play nice when using other people's work.

 

So glad you consider the kind of photos SOLD as backdrops as 'artwork' - that's basically what's being talked of here. I may be a bit overreacting but having done cosplay I hear this stuff ALL the time from some people who just do not get it. Some people get their panties in a twist about doshinji as well (alas for them, Komeket is going strong). AND OMG the evil of fan fiction.... If I want to use a SIGNED piece (photo or otherwise) I will contact the artist IF I want to put the photo on the Internet. If I buy a vinyl photo backdrop of some artsy living room - NOT art & I WILL use it for what it's being sold for.

 

Well, but the photos being talked about here aren't being sold as a backdrop, they were found on the internet and Vistaprint is making money from their use (the customer is paying Vistaprint to have the backdrops made). I'm sure Vistaprint has a clause in their TOS somewhere that you must have permission to use any photos you upload to their service.

No one is trying to give the OP a hard time. We just want to make sure no one is breaking the law here.

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And I do have to challenge your definition of "artwork". If someone photographed it or drew it, it is their art and their intellectual property and the company that uses it to print a backdrop needs their permission to do so, which I doubt they have. This includes photos/paintings of "some artsy living room". These things don't come spontaneously into creation. Regardless of their artistic merits, they were created by an artist somewhere.

 

Definitely check out stock exchange, which was linked above in a post Each picture specifies what you are allowed to do with it, so look for one that allows derivative works

Edit - Here's the link again: http://www.sxc.hu/

 

I think MY statement stands -that if it's SIGNED & not up for sale specifically as a photo backdrop then get permission....

 

Rights for artists

 

Oh weep all ye fan sites of the world...

 

Question... I understand you need permission from the original artist, but... What if you ask permission from someone who submitted the photo online, and the person says, I got it from a blog/ internet search. How could you possibly trace the image back to the original artist? Especially with Google. There could be multiples of that image, but who is the original artist of it to ask permission for it? How could you find out? Sometimes the image name is changed once downloaded onto someone else's personal pc before be re-released again.

To be honest, how on earth could you tell (unless it's on deviant art/ artist website and watermarked... even then still it's kinda sketchy) that you're actually asking permission from the actual artist? I know from experience that sometimes you can't find the original artist. How could you even tell if it's copyrighted or a free image? Honestly.

I'm confused and would like to know.

 

Try TinEye and, if you can't tack down the owner, you can't use the image and will have to find another one. As has been said, the best sources for images are those in Creative Commons or other sources where people have made their work available, with some understandable restrictions.

http://websearch.about.com/b/2014/03/10/find-out-where-an-image-came-from-with-tineye.htm

 

Sweet!! Thank you!! Tineye works!! Thank you for the help. Appreciate it.

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I actually DID have this problem - not exactly a picture but w/a MAP - I wanted to include this map for a book I was submitting to a publisher. The site I got it from got it from somewhere else yadda yadda - I ended up having to draw one (ok trace a map of Britain) & then put in the pertinent details myself (I could give credit for the info to the site) AND then scan it etc. THAT was such a pain But I wanted to publish the thing so ya do what ya gotta do..