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My small product shooting studio is functional and I am excited about it. I decided to build a small product shooting studio in the small office next to my big office. The space is small but it is the perfect size for setting up my table, shooting tent, small strobes, assorted gadgets, backdrops and other stuff.

Mark and I worked very hard since Friday to put it all together including re-arranging 3 rooms of furniture. We had to relocate a piano, sofa roll top computer desk, computers, chairs, etc.

We also worked together to build a new shooting tent. Mark built the frame out of 1/2" PVC tubing and fittings. I sewed the cover and made some additional diffusing panels since my top light strobe is limited to some basic adjustments and can often be a bit too much. Inside we put clips on key rings for attaching the background sweeps, and a sliding bar which can be repositioned for me to hang items from to photograph. I haven't tested that out yet so I am not sure how that will work out just yet. I need to pick up some fine clear thread. I made the cover from an inexpensive King sized white sheet from Target and the diffusion sheets are some inexpensive white vinyl shower curtains. I already had the 2 SB-800 strobes, the old Vivitar 285HW with slave, Pocket Wizards, and one Lumiquest softbox II. I picked up 2 more Lumiquest softbox III's which I had planned on getting anyway. I needed one boom for the top strobe so I picked up a flexible one that works perfectly for this and was pretty cheap at Unique photo.

I picked up a really great adjustable height table from Ikea for $48!!! The table is the perfect size and the fact that I can adjust it up and down is a real plus for me. The table also comes apart easily if I ever need to store it out of the way...Awesome!!! The table is very sturdy too. If you want to see my small set up go here.

The room still needs to be repainted as yellow and blue are not desirable for a studio, but I have 2 jobs in the works so I needed to get it functioning quickly. The painting will be done in due time. I would also like to replace some of the shelving which I already have.

I chose these high contrast items for this test to see how well I could balance exposure with them. I am pretty satisfied, but I think I may need to add another diffusion panel to the top of the box. I think the top of the figures head is a little too hot, but there were no blinking highlights and the histogram was fine so it is still in proper range. I think maybe I will cute smaller panels to try soften the light just over the figure. Maybe that will work? All the items in this shot, except for the butterfly, which is a real one, came from Ikea. Ikea is a great place to find very inexpensive props.

NIKON D700
Nikkor 28-70mm f2.8
1/160 second
F/22.0
ISO 100
56 mm