Hey Everyone! Hope everyone is healthy and safe today.  This week I want to talk about something I don't talk about a lot Table Top Photography. This type of photography can be great fun especially on the cold days of winter.  You don't really need lots of equipment but you can buy lots of gear to do this if your a gear head like I am.  But you don't need to.  You can use Sunlight through a window or many flashes.  The one thing that you will need is your imagination.  I have done everything from still life to food photography and all are great fun to do.  When I first started I went on YouTube and found channels that showed you how the shot was created and then I would try it .  I did everything from Splash photography (dropping things in water) to motion photography (dragging the shutter) .  This is a great way to start to get your Photography juices Wine glass Splash flowing.  Then you can start altering the process with using items that you have at your house. You can use almost anything from bed sheets to cardboard that you have laying around.  Here are a list of things that might come in handy when doing Table top Photography.

1. Table. Of course you need a table. Any table will do but a portable table that you can move and maybe set up and put away when not using could come in handy.  It doesn't have to be fancy it could be anything from a TV tray to a fancy table .  I actually use a steel table that I found in a dumpster maybe 20 years ago and its still going strong.

Dice 2. Some sort of lighting.  This could almost be anything from a table light to fancy strobes.  I have used them all .  I even have some constant LED lights that I picked up recently that I have been using that work great.  But almost anything.

3. Camera. Yep any camera will do from point and shoot to your iPhone.  But the camera that you normally use will be the best because your used to it.  Being able to shoot in manual will be a plus.

4. Tripod. A tripod comes in handy for a couple of reasons .  First it keeps your camera steady but more  Red Heart importantly it keeps the frame constant. If  you have your camera on a tripod and have the scene set up you don't have to reframe when you're adjusting the object that your shooting. You just adjust it.  You don't have to pick up your camera and put to your face and readjust .  

5. Lenses? Almost any lens will do.  I tend to use a 50mm a lot when I'm doing table top photography. But a 24-70 would work great also. Really any lens will do . Macro lenses are also nice to use to shoot small stuff. Little things. 

What about shooting fine art? You can do this on the table top also. You can take simple photo's and take them into Photoshop and add some layers of texture to them and you have some really nice pieces that you could print and hang in your house as fine art. They are really cool to do and once you get the hang of it and the photoshop skills you can just fly thru these and make many.

So as you see tabletop photography can be fun and you can really build your photography skills up by just playing with your camera at home. So until next week pull out that table and shoot some stuff.