Shooting Table Material???

[Bighead]

I want to create a "shooting table" type of thing... I have an old lobby table that I procured from a hospital... Its kind of a light table in that it has an 8 inch halogen bulb, covered with plexi.... Anyway, I want to use that for the base. Using white paper or cloth, I can have the under portion illuminated.. Or not....

My question.... What type of paper or cloth would be good to use?? I am sure that it wouldn't matter too much but I guess I would want something not very reflective and something without much texture... I guess I could use some background paper but thats a lot of paper, I'm thinking. I want a white, black and a medium gray....

 

[BarrieB]

If you do not / want or need this material to be 'transparent' then sheets of thickish card eg. 32" x 40" Matte Board can be bent into shape. You will need some kind of frame to support the ' curved ' material. If it has to be 'transparent' then milky white Plexiglass or similar can be used; colored filters ( Gels ) can be placed over the light source as needed. Cheers Barrie

 

[Flotsam]

You can buy long rolls of paper called "seamless" that are made specifically for photographic use and come in lots of colors and greys. For tabletop, they come in Four foot widths. Most photo suppliers either stock or can get them and I have seen them in larger Art stores.

 

[Shmoo]

If you want the light to shine through the bottom, you might want to get an inexpensive Lee diffusion filter that is sold in sheets. They come in 22" x 24" sizes and cost about $4-5 US. Samy's Cameras in L.A. sells them. They also come in other colors...

 

[Flotsam]

If you want Diffusion material for backlight, I recently bought some Rosco Tough Frost from Apug sponsor, Calumet.

 

[Bighead]

I want a material (the white) that I can either shine light through or without, still leaving white... Does that make sense??

I thought of the rolls of paper.. I guess I can use that for other applications as well. Diffussion, full backgrounds for portraits etc..

 

[roteague]

What about plexiglass?

 

[Bighead]

What about plexiglass?

Well, as I look at store bought shooting tables, you get cloth or paper curving upwards, which I am guessing would give you a seamless background and surface.... Who knows, I will probably try many different things..

 

[rbarker]

Yep, most of the pre-made (expensive) shooting tables just use thin, white translucent plexiglass as the surface. The curve gives a seamless background, similar to that provided by the seamless paper backgrounds. Problem is, many of them use such thin plexi (to get the curve) that they won't hold much weight.

The other issue in your case is how much light the built-in light provides, and how that matches, both in terms of color balance and intensity to the other lighting you'll be using.

 

[Bighead]

Well, with B&W, would color balance be an issue?? Sure, intensity would be but, I can play with that, either with the lights or in the darkroom......... I see what your saying though.. All things to consider.

As far as the weight issue, I am actually going to be using the tables surface, so, not an issue there....

 

[GregT.]

Since its already covered with plexiglass, white cotton bedsheets can be purchased cheaply and then cut to sizes you need. If colors are important, RIT dyes are cheap also. Granted, not the high tech, high priced solution found through photo suppliers, but cheap, useful and effective none-the-less.