This food photography board is a simple DIY project that can be completed in a weekend and can give beautiful texture to your food photography backdrop!

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Today we’re talking all about food photography backgrounds! Over the years I’ve been working on my collection of food photography backdrops, everything from antique barn wood to oversized floor tiles (so pretty, but heavy!).

For a while now I’ve wanted to add a textured board to my collection, but to buy them online is sooo very expensive! I set out to make an inexpensive, textured DIY board and I’m pretty happy with the results! Here is my step-by-step guide, including all materials linked below!

how to make your own food photography board

Materials

• Wood plywood board (whichever size you prefer; I like at least 2×2 feet large and 1/2″ thickness so it isn’t too flimsy but not too heavy)
• Pre-mixed joint compound (I used ProForm)
• A plastic putty knife, such as these
• Spray paint (whichever color you’d like for your backdrop! I’d recommend a flat or matte type so it doesn’t get to shiny in photos. The one I used was Rust-Oleum flat protective enamel.)
• Gloves and a respirator mask (especially if you’re pregnant! I use this mask which has P100 approval from NIOSH, which means it filters at least 99.97% of airborne particles, including spray from painting.)

Step 1

Set up your board raised off the ground in a well-ventilated area. I used these two plastic sawhorses and set it up in our basement (I eventually moved the whole setup outside when I was painting).

Step 2

Using your putty knife, spread small amounts of joint compound on the board in a mixed pattern. You can use your artistic license for this part! I wanted mine fairly textured, but you could also go for much less texture or even just long straight lines of joint compound, which would give it a cool minimalistic look! I started in one corner and worked my way over to the other corner, ensuring almost all the board was covered and there were no major glops (that’s a professional term 😀 ) of joint compound anywhere, since you want your plates and bowls to lay flat when the board is finished.

Step 3

Once you are finished, allow the board to completely dry before moving on. The ProForm joint compound I used recommends about 24 hours for drying. I then took a look at the board to make sure there wasn’t anywhere else I wanted to fill in with more joint compound. If you decide to add anymore joint compound, just be sure to leave it to dry for another 24 hours.

Step 5

Time to paint! Throw on your gloves and respirator mask and take your board to a well-ventilated area if it is not already in one. I used two coats of my spray paint, and let it dry for about 4-6 hours in-between coats and for a full 24 hours after the second coat. You could even get creative here and use more than one color if you want (for example, a gray base coat with black or white on top and just a bit of gray showing through in different sections would be cool!).

That’s it! Your board is finished. You could also have your board do double duty and paint the back of it a different color too! Here is my finished product:

I can’t wait to use it in some upcoming recipes. . . stay tuned!

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