Studio question, seeking opinions

[mathia]

So...my partner and I have FINALLY gotten off our collective duff and built the wall I have been wanting in our studio. I am hoping it gives me a bit more versatility for putting together sets and shooting in them. I want more of an environmental feel to my images. (It is almost 22 ft long, then has another 8 ft section that forms a corner with the longer wall) I have been through the paper shuffle, as well as the various problems with using muslins. Our latest background purchase was a "vinyl" backdrop that didn't turn out to be exactly what I was thinking of as vinyl. Anyway, the current issue at hand is the finish on the wall. To texture or not to texture, that is the question. I am thinking we should finish up the taping and bedding, paint the wall and start shooting. I spoke with another local photographer today and he seems to think it's gonna look like "crap", his word, if we don't texture the wall.
Anyone out there shooting a wall that has no texture to it. If so, I would love to see some images to get a feel for how it might actually look. We can always go back and texture the wall later if it doesn't turn out well, but now I am wondering if we need to just go ahead and do it now.
Your thoughts?

[MicWayWal]

From a contractors point of view:
I was a painting contractor for 20 years before I went into photography full time. First it is almost impossible to get a perfectly smooth wall without leaving unwanted texture showing, especially with light coming from the side. I was successful on about 3 occasions over 20 years and each wall took my professional crews over 100 man hours to get it smooth enough to be satisfied. Just taping the joints is not enough. You have to bed-out the entire wall with several coats of bedding cement. Then successive sanding with smaller and smaller grit sandpaper about 10 different times. Always sanding in a specific pattern and never messing the pattern up. Then you must wash it down to get out the final tiny grooves. Then 3-4 coats of paint and you are set. For an amateur it may be impossible. Seems simple to do, but in reality it is very hard.

From a Photographers point of view:
I think you can get it smooth enough that you can live with it. The biggest problem I can see with a smooth wall is the reflective or mirror factor. Especially with digital. It reflects lights from other parts of the room and the back or side of you clients. When you shoot along the wall you will see the reflection of the client along the wall like a mirror. It is hard to remove.
Another problem is retouching the spots and scuffs off the wall. A smoother wall is harder to clone.
I love to photograph on a blank wall. I don't like backgrounds or muslins. When I built my studio I put a splatter drag texture on the wall. First we sprayed a orange peel texture on the wall, and then after it had set up for a minute or two, we dragged the tops flat. It is fairly easy to do, a picnic for a pro. It is a very light texture but hides imperfections in the wall fine. And retouching is a breeze.

One thing you may not have thought of yet.
Use a stock color that you can get for the next ten years. Don't custom mix a color. You can never get the exact color again. We would have to repaint our well used walls maybe average once a month. When kids with their jeans drag their bottom along the wall, the new jeans mom has them in leaves a nice blue mark. Some days we were painting spots off the wall 30 minutes before a session so we would not have to retouch it out.

I am not trying to talk you out of it. I use this type of wall in my work because I love that kind of wall look. But the best kind of wall to use is one with a light texture like an orange peel or texture drag. Don't use a texture with sharp points or too heavy a grooves.

[David Whatley]

Texture, and I would use a heavy "spanish drag" so the wall has more depth to it. Another option woud be to faux it.

[Cajungaltx]

Alfred,
I also have a construction background, and I 1oo% agree with Michael. Getting a perfectly smooth wall is a P.I.T.A. I absolutely freaking HATE sanding because of a project that I helped with where the guy in charged promised the client a perfectly smooth wall.... *gag* The wall ran the entire length of the house. The worst part is that he underbilled....and didn't understand how long it actually took to GET said perfectly smooth wall. It cost HIM money to do that project.

The orange peel look is fairly simple, and pretty standard in most houses. The thickness of the application makes a difference. However, most people will look at it and say: Wall

Because honestly, it'll look like 'most homes' walls.

There are TONS of texture options, one of which I love, which is a decorative plaster style. I love the textured look of venetian plaster ....and you can do a 'faux' plaster effect that you can pick up at Lowes or Home Depot.

The cool thing, is that with lighting/gels, you can change the look so that it isn't always the 'same'.... and you'll be unique, which is the name of the game.

The other plus about the plaster look, is that it is so non-uniform, that you can retouch it fairly easy.

Good luck - hope you'll show the end result!

Donna

[mathia]

Thanks for the advice. NOW, I just need to figure out how to do it.

[L Stegall]

Well, thanks guys - very informative. Now I know why my contractor looked at me like I was insane when I told him how I would love to have smooth interior walls while we were doing some remodeling work this past summer.

[studiocygnet]

An alternative opinion. I think it may depend on what kind of paint you put on the wall afterwards. My walls are smooth. I did a very light floating after taping. If you look really really close you can see the tape line. But as a background it's always out of focus enough that I've never seen it. And I painted the walls with 18% gray matte latex. No reflections either. So it can be done. I just turned around and took a quick picture of the opposite wall, if you want to see. It doubles as a music studio, by the way: