136 Setting up a Home Studio
essential, even in the “studio.” In order to capture the movements of
the drumsticks, all I did was tripod-mount my camera. The exposure
was about 2 seconds, it was that dark (and I stopped the lens down).
But the drummer slowly moved the drumsticks up and down,
so it looks like someone is playing the drums. I thought it was
quite neat!LIGHT TENTS AND PRODUCT TABLES
In the above examples, I have used an ordinary table and lighting.
However, there are specialized products for product shots that cost a
few hundred dollars and can be useful.
Product tables are made of durable acrylic or similar material and
are suitable for a range of products and objects. They have a curved
back that operates as a built-in background.
Product tents are like miniatures of their camping cousins,
made from white fabric with a hole through which the camera
lens is inserted. The fabric diffuses the light, which means that
you can use relatively inexpensive lights outside the tent to
provide illumination.
Personally, I fi nd light tents and product tables too much
trouble and a tad restrictive, but they may suit your style of
working.FLASH METER
Flash meters are used to measure light from studio fl ash units. You
will defi nitely need a fl ash meter if you shoot fi lm. With fi lm, you
don’t get a preview against which to check exposure. You don’t get aFIGURE 7.16 The setup for “Wine Being
Poured.”