Simple Tabletop at Home

Even if you don't have a studio set-up, you can still produce a great looking tabletop shot. Here, a few basic tricks to get the job done, at home and cheap.

the final shot

For this shot I stacked up some pretty cookies on a teacup saucer, and placed it on a seamless backdrop of fabric. What you may not notice from this photo, is that the fabric is a regular small piece from my local fabric store, nothing fancy. The fabric is actually clamped with a couple of large binder clips onto the back of an office chair.

I shot it with an open aperture (small number F-stop) to let in more light, and to throw the fabric out of focus. It was placed near a window with natural light as the primary source of lighting. I also used a bounce flash (flash pointed up towards ceiling, thus being bounced back onto subject) to add a little extra light and eliminate any unwanted shadows.

pulled away from the mini set

Super simple, quick, easy, and cheap! I bet you already have most of the things you would need at home...

-camera (w/manual, or AV settings)
-external flash unit with bounce feature
-fabric or paper
-chair (or table and back prop)
-window with natural light


© Jenn Alexander Fletcher