Post — Sip Dine Design

Dallas girl Mandy Gleason had 0 experience with photography and styling when she set out to create her backdrop company, Replica Surfaces. That’s one of the reasons it’s so surprising that she was able to hit the nail on the head so perfectly with her products: hyper-realistic photography backdrops that are guaranteed to take your photos to the next level. But surprising or not, Mandy killed it with these products and if you haven’t tried them yet you’re missing out on an opportunity to save yourself time and money while still creating stunning styled shoots. Plus, who doesn’t love a Texas girl?

I had a chance to try out some of her boards, and wow. Not only do they look amazing, they’re super functional as well. Prior to finding Replica Surfaces I had to construct my own photography backdrops, and in addition to being an extremely time-consuming process to build and stain my own props, my boards were heavy and didn’t look anywhere near as good as Mandy’s.

The Replica Surfaces photo boards have a TON of perks: they’re stain resistant, lightweight, AFFORDABLE, and easy to store. Additionally, they come in so many different colors and textures that you can use them to create a variety of looks all within the same studio space. They come in traditional colors like shiplap, concrete, and white marble, but they also offer nontraditional surfaces like rose marble, seafoam, and beachwood. Guaranteed there’s a surface style and color for whatever theme you need.

Because of their lightweight design, Replica Surfaces props can be used virtually anywhere. Keep them at home or take them on the road- they store easily and can be transported wherever you need to go. We used them in the Sip Dine Design studio, up against the backsplash in my kitchen, outside, and more, and they truly made food and wine photography a breeze. I love that it was so simple to create a variety of looks for my clients.

And if that isn’t enough to sell you, you also have the option to purchase stands for your boards. The stands come in a set of 2 for $22 and they’re custom fit to hold any 2 Replica boards in an L configuration. That means no more having to prop your backdrops up against various surfaces or enlisting a friend to hold them while also trying to keep their fingers out of the photos. The stands are 3D printed in a plastic that Mandy refers to as “Blue Steel”, and they’re a must-have for anyone looking to make their styled shoots seamless and professional.

Sip Dine Design is all about supporting small businesses and empowering female business owners, and I can definitely say I’m proud to support this one. Besides being a creative genius and a hometown girl, Mandy cares about more than just her products; she created an online Replica Surfaces Facebook group where people can come to ask questions, post tips, learn from each other, trouble-shoot and problem-solve, and essentially just offer support because as she says, “running a business is hard.” You’re not even required to own a Replica Surfaces board in order to be part of this awesome community (but we highly suggest getting one (or three))!

Jump over to her website and check out everything she has to offer, and gain some inspiration from all the incredible photoshoot examples she has listed there as well. Do you have any tips for styling a photoshoot? We’d love to hear from you! Comment in the section below!