[Brenda Ellis]

My local fabric store has a remnant and bargain outlet room and they have big bins of various fabrics for $1 a pound. Of course, it's best if I pick out lighter materials but I've gotten great fabrics there.
But my favorite all-time place is the local thrift store. Big indian blankets or curtains or king sized bed sheets or even props.

If you want something such as just a neutral toned background, go to Lowe's or Home Depot, buy a cheap canvas paint drop, get their $5 a bucket Oops latex paint (paint they've either mixed too much of or made a mistake on) and water it down and tone your own canvas. You can put grommets in yourself. (At a fabric store they should know how to and be able to tell you. It's simple to do.) And then get a little set of shower curtain rings at Target for a couple of bucks. You want to use thin paint so that the canvas doesn't get stiff and then you'll be fighting with fold lines and paint cracks if you ever have to fold it.

If you can find a white (or any light color) flat bed sheet at a thrift store, you can use Rit dye to get it a color that's useful to you. (As long as what you're dyeing is cotton. Some blends do not take dye well, but cotton always will.) You'll have to run your washer through a whole cycle with bleach and a few dust rags or shop towels after you've used it for dyeing.

Theoretically you could dye a canvas paint drop but my washing machine isn't that big. (If you happen to have a big witch's cauldron you could use the boil and stir method.)

If there is a local decent sized theatre near you, call the props department and ask if you can look through their soft goods and you can usually rent a few things for a nominal fee. They will even most likely have persian rugs you can rent fairly cheaply.

I don't know how much professional photography backdrops cost, but I'd bet any of the above described methods would be cheaper, although a bit more work.

Well, that's all I know.