Every seamless colour we stock, and what each one is for

We keep 19 seamless colours on the wall, included with every booking. Here is what each one is actually good for, including the ones we would talk you out of.

The whites

Super White is the workhorse. Clean, bright, and the right choice for ecommerce product, headshots that need to drop onto a website, and anything where the background should disappear. Light it separately from your subject or it goes grey.

Pure White is marginally cooler. In practice the difference only shows when you put them side by side.

Warm White is the one people overlook and then keep coming back to. Slightly creamy, considerably kinder to skin than true white, and it stops a portrait looking clinical. For family and newborn work it is usually the better call.

The neutrals

Fashion Gray flatters essentially every skin tone and never fights the wardrobe. If a client has not specified anything and the shoot is a headshot, this is the safe answer.

Stone Gray is deeper and more dramatic. Good for corporate portraits that want some weight to them.

Black and Super Black both photograph as black; Super Black holds up better under bright light without going grey in the corners. Worth knowing that black seamless shows every scuff, so we replace it more often than anything else.

The warm colours

Chestnut is the most useful warm tone we stock. Rich without being loud, and it makes skin look healthy rather than orange.

Canary is bright, cheerful and unforgiving. It bounces yellow onto your subject, so plan for it or flag the light. Superb for brand and product work with energy; risky for portraits unless that is the point.

Deep Yellow is the more usable version of the same idea. Less bounce, more depth.

Orange and Coral both photograph more saturated than they look on the roll. Coral is genuinely lovely for spring and summer portraits; Orange is a product and editorial colour.

The cool colours

Blue Jay is a mid blue that sits well behind almost any wardrobe. Underrated for headshots when grey feels too corporate.

Blue Jean is softer and lighter, and reads almost pastel on camera.

Ultra Marine is deep and dramatic. Beautiful for editorial and for product where you want the object to jump forward. Too strong for most portrait work.

Sea Green is a muted teal that photographs far more sophisticated than it sounds.

Tech Green is chroma key green. It is on the wall for keying, not for portraits — it will throw green onto skin from six feet away.

The rest

Crimson is the boldest colour we keep and it earns its place around Valentine’s and for fashion. Bounces red strongly.

Tulip is a pink that works better than photographers expect on darker skin tones, where it reads as warm rather than sweet.

Two practical notes

Every saturated colour bounces onto your subject. That is not a flaw, it is physics, and it is why a red background needs different lighting from a grey one. Flag the key light or move the subject forward.

Distance changes the colour. The same paper photographs lighter close to the light and richer further from it. If a colour looks wrong, move the subject before you change the paper.

Tell us which colour you want when you book and we will have it pulled and swept before you arrive, so your session time goes on shooting rather than on wrestling a nine-foot roll.