Desktop Shooting Table Review

cannockwolf

cannockwolf

<span class="poty">POTY (Joint) 2016</span>
Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,858
Name
Dave
Edit My Images
No
I do product shots from time to time at my printing business, im not claiming to be a professional but it ads a string to my bow when designing and printing brochures etc. for companies.

Anyway on with the post, I bought one of these and gave it a run out tonight.

ASSET_57506.jpg


Calumet Photo Table

I found it quite easy to work with, set up an sb-600 underneath it with a stofan diffuser on, an sb-800 at the rear facing the back of the table with no diffuser, and another sb-800 on a stand top right with a brolly (i have an ez-box coming), l within an hour i was getting these results straight out the camera (sharpening and slight clarity applied) i was particularly pleased with losing the background completely (on the shots with all three strobes firing)

Some i shot without the top flash to see the effect and some worked really well (i think anyway)

PS if some of the stobe gurus want to offer me any critique and help to improve my shots please chip in :)

#1
product_shot_5611.jpg


#2
product_shot_5622.jpg


#3
product_shot_5623.jpg


#4
product_shot_5625.jpg


#5
product_shot_5626.jpg


#6
product_shot_5628.jpg


#7
product_shot_5640.jpg


#8
product_shot_5641.jpg
 
Dave! I am your father! lolz

First one is my favouite, dont know why, just stands out to me.
 
from the pros on here is this the standard you would be happy with as a customer? please bear in mind im not charging £200/hr
 
A useful review. I've never used one of these, although of course I have a full size shooting table - basically the same thing except for the size and the fact that it's free standing, which means that there's plenty of room to put lights beneath the table.

My only real comment about your example shots is that the light placed under the table is far, far too bright and has destroyed fine detail. Actually it isn't a given that these tables are underlit at all, although of course that's an option. A basic setup (try it when you get your softbox, it won't work with an umbrella) is to place a large softbox above and pointing forwards, mounted to a wall boom usually. This provides fill, toplighting, a bit of backlighting, a semi-reflection of the product on the table and, if set to feather down the back, a graduated background, all with one light. Separate, key lights are then added as needed.
 
thanks for your help, as i said i am still learning about lighting, mainly been reading stobist.com, i presumed the table was made to have lights under it, is removing the background not needed i presumed it was important.

Pack shot photography is difficult to find much tutorial information on it so any help is grateful.

i got my softbox today, when you say place above do you mean right above? literally? as i know the closer the light source the softer the light, i doubt i could do that with my light stands then
 
cannockwolf said:
thanks for your help, as i said i am still learning about lighting, mainly been reading stobist.com, i presumed the table was made to have lights under it, is removing the background not needed i presumed it was important.

Pack shot photography is difficult to find much tutorial information on it so any help is grateful.

i got my softbox today, when you say place above do you mean right above? literally? as i know the closer the light source the softer the light, i doubt i could do that with my light stands then
Click to expand...

It's normally placed above and behind the subject, pointing down/forwards. A wall mounted boom is the ideal tool for this but it should be possible to use a normal lighting stand, placed behind the shooting table.

There's a whole series of tutorials here on this type of photography, produced by commercial photographers.
 
cheers, i have read 1 or 2 of those but didn't realise there was an entire section :)
 
Garry Edwards said:
There's a whole series of tutorials here on this type of photography, produced by commercial photographers.
Click to expand...

i have read a few tutorials and applied them to this photo, is this better? have i addressed the issues you brought up?

thanks for your help on this as i do want to improve :)

flash_test-5690.jpg


Flash on stand with soft box top right facing down
flash with with stofan diffuser low power for fill light on the worktop left 3/4 on subject

Flash Used: Yes (Manual, return light not detected)
Focal Length: 160.0mm
Exposure Time: 0.010 s (1/100)
Aperture: f/18.0
ISO equiv: 200
Exposure: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
 
Nice work. That little table looks to be pretty good for £50 :thumbs: I wonder if there is someone out there who does coloured plexiglass.

Out of the shots, so far the first and last (on black) are the stand out ones for me.
 
Yes, that seems much better to me. Personally I'm not keen on blitzed out white backgrounds.
Of course, trying to get creative lighting effects with such a small subject and with hotshoe flashes isn't easy, I doubt whether I could do as well.
 
thanks for your input Gary im glad im on the right track :)

Garry Edwards said:
Personally I'm not keen on blitzed out white backgrounds.
Click to expand...

the jobs i have had so far have demanded it due to them being on a white backgrounds on a website so i supposed i leaned towards that style without thinking about it.

This is something i want to push in my printing business when i can feel confident i can deliver the goods, atm though i am getting customers coming in with P&S snaps of their products for leaflets etc. and trying to get them to pay for quality product shots is difficult to say the least as most are small businesses :(
 
Hmmn...
My take on this is that it's easy to get uniformly mediocre results on a white background, difficult to get good ones.
Many clients seem to think it looks 'good' or 'professional' but can usually be steered towards a background that isn't pure white, i.e. one that adds depth to the subject and which makes their product 3 dimensional and with a good range of contrast.

In my experience most small businesses aren't worthwhile clients. They're usually the ones who undervalue photography, try the DIY approach and stop spending money at the first hint of a recession. Bigger companies have more sense and actually increase their marketing spend in difficult times
 
here's another try, although i need to iron the creases out of the backcloth lol, i had to clone these ones out, but it was the lighting i wanted to practise anyway

Flash_Test_5733_172.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top