DIY Photography: Product Photography Under £10

Photography can be a very expensive hobby. Cameras, lenses and all of the never-ending associated things required for photography can become a real money sucker.

The good news is that with a bit of creativity, there are also a lot of things that you make or build for next to nothing, and will do as good a job as one you can buy. And let’s face it; I’d rather spend my money on the fun, cool stuff like cameras and lenses, instead of the boring, practical stuff. Wouldn’t you?

So today’s blog post is about how to make a light table for under £10.00!

This DIY product photography table is so simple, but probably one of my most used setups in my studio. I use it for all of my still life and object shots, as well a lot of my food photography too. It works great.

What You Will Need:

• A “LACK” Coffee Table from Ikea - £4.99

• A2 Craft Backing Board (White and Black) - £2.50 each

• Velcro Strips Or Coins - 0.99p

How To Make It:

• Simply attach the Velcro along one of the shorter sides of the mounting card.

• Stick the other bits of corresponding velcro onto the bargain Ikea table.

• Attaching the black or white mounting card to the table, and lean the free side of the card against a wall, and adjust the height to suit your subject.

• And that’s it! Easy!

How To Use It:

By controlling your lighting, you can create pure white or black backgrounds, which is essential for great for product photography. I use a couple of Nikon SB900 speedlights and some umbrellas, but anything from a desk lamp or two, or a window on a sunny day should be almost as good.

Just putting the table in the right place, and bathing it in light will make for a nice, crisp white background. And by using directional light and a black background, you can emphasise shape and details by lighting only certain areas of the object.

The great thing about using cheap, disposable mounting card is that you can buy it in loads of different colours and it’s really, really cheap. So if you wreck it by photographing something messy, for example, it’s no problem!

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Try It Out!

So if you want to have a go at product or food photography, why not try making a DIY light table for next to nothing?

It’s perfect for those rainy days when you can’t get out with your camera, and it opens up whole world of ideas and photographs.

Just experiment and see what you can come up with!