Drop-down Photography Table

I had been meaning to set up a dedicated space to take photos of my pots, but my studio is a bit too small to have something permenantly set up. I thought I would make a drop-down table with lights and a backdrop that could fold away when I didn’t need it.

Drop-down photography table folded away

I started with a bit of strong plywood kindly donated by a friendly carpenter I know. This is attached to a batten on the wall with a pair of hinges. The table has some swing down legs made from some offcuts, also attached with hinges.

The lamps are Ikea TERTIAL worklamps, they come with mounting clamps but the bracket they are supplied with also has four holes so you can screw them to the wall. The lamps have 6W 6500k LED bulbs, they work well with the daylight from above. I’ve run a long extension cable round my studio for power, but I think I’ll change this to a properly wired-in plug socket in the future.

Test shot of a pod on the drop-down photography table

The backdrop is a grey roller blind from Dunelm Mill, mounted on the back wall. When extended and pulled towards the front of the table, it forms a lovely simple infinity curve, and rolls up when not in use so the fabric won’t get creases.

I’m happy with it, now I need to get on with photographing and listing all my work.