I came. I saw. I captured. Now this process is a lot easier with Replica Surfaces. If you are a blogger, content creator, entrepreneur or small business owner, this Replica Surfaces review is for you. These surfaces are an essential tool for anyone capturing food or product photography. We began buying these surfaces in 2020 and have now collected over 20 surfaces. Let’s just say once you start, you’re hooked. We are excited to share our Replica Surfaces review with you.
Replica Surfaces Review: What are Replica Surfaces?
Replica Surfaces was founded in late 2018 by Mandy Gleason. As a photographer, she wasn’t satisfied with the backdrops on the market and decided to make her own. Sometimes your kitchen is beautiful but doesn’t have the best natural light. Conversely the best natural light could be on the floor by your living room window. This is us- welcome to New York City apartment life. Replica Surfaces allow you to leverage the best natural light in your home or studio and elevate your photography skills.
Replica Surfaces are 23″ x 23″ photography boards that act as surfaces and backdrops. Pick a surface and shoot a flat lay.
Alternatively, you can connect two or three surfaces using Replica stands. Then you have mini 2 foot studio that can even shoot corners.
Replica Surface Review: Benefits
- Ultra-thin and lightweight
- Rigid construction
- Stain resistant and easy to clean
- Realistic
- Size
- Portable
Replica Surfaces are rigid, ultra-thin, lightweight and best of all portable. They are available in hyper-realistic prints such as marble, concrete, sandstone, slate and tile as well as kitchen and spa/bathroom options. Unlike real stone, these surfaces weigh less than 2 pounds. Could you even imagine how heavy a 2 foot slab of marble would weigh? Unlike fabric or vinyl, you don’t need to worry about wrinkles or ironing. The Replica stands are easy to use and don’t require large backdrop stands to prop up. You can also mix and match surfaces to create over 150 combinations.
Go ahead and make a mess. These surfaces are easy to clean.
With Replica Surfaces, you can create the perfect in-home studio, even if you live in a small space. Look at how many we have! FYI- this is Kanchana’s apt lounge. Our apartments are much smaller than this and we also have a couple in Park City for when we do shoots out there.
Replica Surfaces Review: Considerations
- Expensive
- Size
- Not food safe
- Durability
Replica Surfaces are definitely an investment. Prices start at $77 per surface and we recommend starting with the 5-surface bundle, which gives you a 15% discount and 2 sets of stands. Make sure to use the Bundler Tool. You are looking at a $300+ investment upfront. It would be nice if they were double sided, but maybe that’s an option down the line.
The 23″ x 23″ is both a benefit and consideration. It’s about 2 feet so it’s easy to store and great for smaller shoots. If you want to shoot larger pieces of clothing, a tablescape or 9:16 video, you might find these surfaces challenging. We lucked out because Replica Surfaces did have larger oversized surfaces in the past and we use those. Not sure if they will be bringing them back, but you can always make suggestions in the Facebook Replica Surfaces VIP Community.
The surfaces are not food safe, but we spray them before and after a shoot.
Although we only use 409 Multi-Surface Cleaner or Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface (they are approved cleaners on the Replica Surfaces website), the surfaces can get scratches. The scratches don’t appear in our final shots, so we wouldn’t worry too much about minor scratches. Just be careful with your ingredients and props as you move them to minimize scratches.
Replica Surfaces Review: Community
Replica Surfaces is also more than a small business. It’s a community. Mandy shares tutorials on her YouTube channel and also emails tutorials. The Facebook Replica Surfaces VIP Community has over 14K members, where you can share your work, ask for advice, make suggestions, connect with other members and more.
Replica Surfaces Review: Permanent vs. Limited Releases
Some surfaces are available all year round. Every 4 – 6 weeks, Replica Surfaces adds a limited release collection. Don’t even look at these. Just kidding. You’ll probably want to buy them all. They are often seasonal and colorful or the team is testing out new products. They sell out pretty quickly, but the VIP group gets a first look at the release announcements. Don’t fret, if they sell out. Many times, they come up as releases again or they were such a hit that they get added to the permanent selection on the website.
Replica Surfaces Review: Example Photoshoot
Since we shot this bruschetta in Kanchana’s lounge, we were able to set up three backdrops at once: the kitchen, cutting board and final shot.
If you are a food photographer or food blogger, we highly recommend Kitchenscape. We displayed our ingredients in a C-shape.
Next we assembled the recipe and drizzled the honey. Action shots are a great way to make your photos pop.
We displayed the final recipe on Golden Hour and Moonlight.
Replica Surfaces Review: Carrying Case
Once you start accumulating a few Replica Surfaces, you’ll want to get the Carrying Case. The Carrying Case features a modern, sleek design with storage capacity for up to 10 Replica Surfaces. This case doubles as a storage case and comes with five surface sleeves and compartments for Replica Stands, phone, keys, etc. It also has backpack straps and let’s you go from home to on-site photoshoot. We store it behind our full length mirror and bring it out when we need to use our surfaces. We live about 10 minutes away from each other, and can walk the surfaces to each other.
Replica Surfaces Review: Studio
The One Replica Studio is about to change your in-home photoshoots again. Rather than shooting on the floor or your dining table, you can place your Replica Surfaces on the Studio. The Studio has a four corner design, rolling wheels, and adjustable height. You can rotate the Studio, raise or lower the Studio, make instant Surface changes, hold diffusers or reflectors and switch from eye level to flat lay angles in seconds. The Studio is easy to assemble, but if you have trouble just email them. Replica Surfaces Customer Support is amazing and fast.
Replica Surfaces Review: Rewards Program
Make sure to join the Replica Rewards Program. Sign up is easy and you can earn points for every dollar you spend and referrals. With you exclusive referral link, your family, friends and followers can get 15% off and you’ll get $15 in Rewards points. Points can be converted to discount codes. Points expire after one year and discount codes expire after 6 months. You also can’t combine discount codes.
Replica Surfaces Review: Amazon
You can also get Replica Surfaces on Amazon. Although you can get them fast with Prime, we recommend ordering from the Replica Surfaces website. The website has more options, bundle discounts and the Rewards Program.
This year, give Replica Surfaces a try. You can mix and match the surfaces and create your own home, portable studio. They make shooting food, beauty, fashion, fitness and wellness content a breeze. Pair it with the Studio and store your surfaces in the Carrying Case. If you are already a fan, tell us what your favorite surface is in the comments.
Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.
George Eastman
Photography backdrops are so important in online content. They can make or break the picture! Thanks for this lovely review 🙂
I love all of these! I’ve always believed that backdrops make or break any photo of this nature. I have a few, but I need to get more.
I just told my husband we need some new backdrops soon for our food photography business. I hadn’t heard of this company before but I’m going to look into theirs. I like the wood-look ones the best!
$77 per surface is worth it to me. This is exactly what I’m looking for as a blogger and a business owner.
Wow! These backdrops are so cool and will make our photography looks perfect! This is very essential and very reliable. Hope to get my copy too! Loved it!
How cool is that! I need to get some of these!
This is awesome and have good price. I would love to try it and get a copy. Thank you for sharing!
Ok that is really quite amazing haha! So unique!
Those really look good. I’ve been thinking of buying a set for my brand collaboration photos. It’s a great investment when you are blogging.
This is interesting to know. Good to know about this replica surfaces are light
This literally blows my mind. I totally did not think about the fact that there must be tons of people working with such things
These are amazing shots! I am absolutely amazed.
I hope I enjoy this