It would be easy to tell you what our best sellers are but they're not necessarily what's best for a beginner.  We sell to a massive mix of clients ranging from top experts of the food photography industry to global creative agencies, magazine and cookbook publishers, as well as home makers, recipe bloggers and crafters - everyones' needs are unique and everybody's skill level and experience will be different.  

At the start of your content creation journey - whether thats as a newly trained photographer, social marketer, maker or crafter - your priorities and budget will be very different to that of a seasoned content creator or somebody with an established prop collection. 

That's exactly what I want to share with you today, five photography backdrops that -

• are absolutely timeless,

Here's our run down on the best gifts for your creative or self-employed loved one this year 

For the getting-serious-about-this stylist - from £176 (saving up to £77)

Our handcrafted surfaces are a luxurious treat for those who are taking their photography to the next level and are ready for investment pieces.  The gift set of two (or 4) hand-painted backdrops and gift set of two bespoke canvas backdrops offer a rare opportunity to give a generous gift and enjoy up to 25% off.

We can work with you to create designs that they'll love for Christmas delivery or you can surprise them with a gift card and details of this gift, for them to work with us on the designs after the holidays in January. 

When you choose 'January production' you unlock an extra 5% off!

Royal Mail are taking strike action - please plan ahead as much as possible (I know that's so hard to do in our industry, sorry!)

The Communication Workers Union has called on its members who collect, sort and deliver for Royal Mail to strike on the following dates: 

• Thursday 13th October
• Thursday 20th October
• Tuesday 25th October

I would expect delays and interruption to all RM services on those dates and the dates in between when they will be trying to catch up on a backlog.  

We are advising all of our customers to use DHL for urgent orders placed around these dates.

If you need your order for a shoot date - its best to be safe! RM are hinting at more strikes in Nov and Dec too - we will let you know as soon as we do.

NEW backdrops and floordrops in XL size

You can now get all of our backdrop designs on the same 60% recycled vinyl material in XL size - a whopping 100 x 150 cm!

Choose from the same range, printed at the same quality on our unique, extra-thick and smooth matte vinyl - which as you will know if you've shot with it before, holds a lovely flat shape or curve helping you avoid tonnes of editing.

Our XL backdrops are perfect for cake smashes, larger table-scapes, newborn photography, adhoc portraits (just tape them to a wall) and for using as floordrops.

BIG news! Our dispatching days are changing

From the 1st of October we will no longer dispatch orders on Fridays.

Orders will be dispatched Monday to Thursday.

Any orders placed after 1pm on a Thursday will be sent out the next dispatching day, the following Monday (exc UK bank holidays).

This may be forever, it may just be over autumn/winter, we'll keep you posted. (Teehee)

OFFERS END AT MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY 31ST AUGUST!

We know many of you are taking it easy over the summer but we also know that lots of you are shooting for autumn and Christmas and love cracking on while your businesses are quieter.

Soooooo, we have a few deals for those of you who do want to shop this week!

3for2 on all printed backdrops  

Enter code 3for2.sunshine at checkout  

UK backdrop sheet orders over £100 get a FREE carry and store portfolio case worth £38 

You don't need to add this to your cart, we will do that for you when the free shipping is triggered as an option at checkout! 

Like most businesses in the UK we are facing increased costs in nearly all aspects of our work.  We have thought hard to make our product price increases as minimal as possible, while allowing us to continue to offer attractive shipping costs and special offers on shipping and products.

On the 1st of July the following products will change price as follows:

Printed backdrops - whether on paper, vinyl or fabric material – are a wonderful way to build a collection of photography backdrops affordably.  

For a relatively small investment you can have marble, wood, tiles and more at your fingertips, ready to style and shoot, at only a fraction of the cost of the real thing.

And what’s more your printed backdrops won’t take over your workspace. 

They are light and easy to transport and store, no more lugging heavy surfaces between shoots! 

Here are a few pointers to help you on your way to creating amazing images with our printed backdrops

Our backdrop sheets are posted rolled in cardboard tubes or flat if posted in a carry & store case.

We recommend opening your package as soon as it arrives to allow the backdrop sheets to settle. 

Our extra thick vinyl backdrops will jump open and flatten for immediate use.

The paper backdrops can have a soft curve after being rolled but this will relax in a few hours if they are laid flat, face down with a few books on top.  

Printed backdrops offer both beginners and professionals lots of benefits when sourcing photography surfaces. (We know this because we have world class photographers and creative agencies as well as home bakers and bloggers using our backdrops!)

But how do paper and vinyl backdrops compare?

Our extra-thick vinyl backdrops have a new benefit I wasn’t expecting and that is that they spring open and want to be flat.  

This makes them ready-to-shoot straight out of the tube. (We have tested this up to 3 days in the tube and they come out with almost no curl that relaxes out very quickly.)

The extra thick vinyl material also makes them easy to hang vertically giving a ‘clean’ hang – less wobbly than paper or thin vinyl which can need pulling tight with extra clips or sticking flat to an upright surface.

Images copyright Howard Shooter. 'Bert' backdrop used above.

I had the pleasure of meeting Howard Shooter yesterday, having created 30 mounted and sealed photography backdrops for his food photography studios in Camden.  What a lovely man! (And food photography legend, obvs.)

Howard now has the largest range of BVS backdrops in London! (That I know of anyway!) You can use them as part of his photography services and they are also available to hire in his two extra kitchen studios which are rented out on a daily or weekly basis for food stills, TV and film work.

I'm very excited to see what Howard and his clients create with the collection!  The hire studios haven't been open long but Howard has already had The Body Coach - Joe Wicks, Gousto, Marcus Wareing, Louise Pentland, Weight Watchers, The Great British Bake Off and Waitrose in - follow @foodstudiohire on Instagram to see these beautiful spaces in use.