How to Build a Tabletop Photography Studio

Tabletop Photography Studios Are Easy To Set Up

Lighting small items can be difficult and tedious. A tabletop photo studio is easy to build and gives you a clean and unchanging workspace, which will streamline the lighting process considerably. Most materials for tabletop studios are very cheap, with the exception of the lights --- you can use ordinary lamps you have on hand or splash out on professional-grade studio spotlights.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Table
• Light tent
• Photography lights on stands
• Background material like cardboard or craft paper
• Tripod

1. Set up a sturdy table that you can keep in one location. Make sure there is plenty of room on both sides of the table to set up photography lights.

2. Purchase a white tabletop light tent and place it in the center of the table. Buy medium-sized clamps so that you can lock down the tent to the table. This will minimize movement that may affect photo quality, especially on long exposures.

3. Place photography lights on stands on either side of the tent so that they are pointing directly into the tent. Be careful not to put the bulbs too close to the tent material, as the bulbs can get very hot.

4. Set up some background material inside the tent and place a test item in front of it. The background can be anything --- cardboard or craft paper works fine --- just make sure that the colors are smooth and solid.

5. Set your camera up on a tripod in front of the light tent and set the remote control option on your camera. This will allow you to take a photo without shaking the tripod.

6. Experiment by moving the lights around until you get the photos that you desire. You may have to add an additional light above the tent if your two main lights are not bright enough.

References

• "Creative Lighting Techniques for Studio Photographers"; Dave Montizambert; 2003