Still life table advice

[Tim Armes]

Hi all,

I have a client who'd like to to take photos of gourmet meals on a light table. They specifically want the light table "studio" look for their project.

I can't really find much information on still life tables. I'd like to know if something like the Manfrotto still life table can hold the weight of a plate/meal without deforming.

The only alternative I can find to the Manfrotto style table (similar versions of which are also sold by other companies) is this beuthy from Elinchrom:

http://www.theflashcentre.com/elinchrom-still-life-table-i552.html#moreinfo

Has anyone used this product?

Thanks,

Tim

 

[Jack_Flesher]

You can buy a large 4' x 8' sheet of 4mm plexi and support it on sawhorses with clamps if you don't have a dedicated product table. I have a dedicated 4' x 8' tilting back product table that uses material up to 8mm thick, but the 4mm will easily hold trays of food and wine in an ice bucket. Many of the smaller Bogen style tables use very thin sheet material -- like 1mm -- and may not work well. Also, while a 4' x 8' table may sound big, it is only 4' x 4' with the back up, and that really isn't overkill when you start laying out table settings and/or want to fine tune the set lighting...

The table you linked to above looks fine with even thicker sheet material, but for that money you can find the larger sizes. One advantage to the 4mm sheet is you can have a flat top and flat back with a tighter infinity curve at the joint -- go too thick and you need a larger radius on the infinity curve which eats up usable top surface...

I have an older version of this: http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CB0915/

 

[Tim Armes]

Hi Jack,

Is your dedicated table home made or a bought product? If the latter do you have a link?

I'm intrigued by the fact that it's got a tilting back with 4mm plexiglass - will it bend even though it's that thick?

Do you have any example photos taken with this set up?

The Elinchrom table's interesting because it has two "tables" which apparently allows you to achieve various effects, but I can't find any information on that.

Tim

 

[Jack_Flesher]

Sorry, link edited in above as you were posting http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CB0915/ Note that the plexi is purchased separately, and unless local, shipping is a bunch! The plexi itself is about $120 US per sheet here...

 

[Charles L Webster]

For food, I'm not sure I'd bother with a plex-topped shooting table. You probably don't need to light a food setup from beneath, which is where plex shooting tables come in handy.

I'd suggest a roll of seamless paper or vinyl, a stand to support it in the back and a suitable sized table or plywood on saw horses to support the work.

Food is often back lit to produce those nice specular highlights that make the food "glisten" and some fill to light the details. This kind of setup is easily done on almost any table where you can rig a small paper sweep. You'll need a boom stand for the back light, but everything else can be improvised.

A videographer and I shot Japanese food on-site this summer with one Lowel Tota-light in a 24 X 24 Chimera softbox and a bounce card for fill. A table cloth clamped to a couple of light stands provided an adequate "sweep" background.

 

[Tim Armes]

I was curious about the client's request too, but having looked at recent trends in food photography I now understand much better the style they want, and it's true that a still life table's probably the best solution for the particular look that they're after....

Since they specifically want to bring the studio to them I'm thinking about the Manfrotto 320.

Tim

 

[Tim Armes]

Just thought I'd update you on this.

I decided that the Manfrotto 320 was too small, and the 220 was too big. The Elinchrom Multitable looked fantastic, but it was much, much too expensive.

The Elinchrom is made of standard aluminium profiling, so in the end I found a supplier of that, designed my own table using Google SketchUp (based on Elinchrom's version) and had the parts cut to size. Not cheap, but still about 1/2 the price of the Elinchrom version, and there's more personal satisfaction

It's all arrived this afternoon, so I'll put it together this evening - fingers crossed that I haven't forgotten something essential

I'll probably stick a photo on my blog when it's done.

Tim