Lighting under the subject - setup?

[digidurst]

I am curious to know how you folks setup for lighting a subject from underneath? Do you

use a shooting table with plexiglass? Glass top sitting on crates? Basically I'm looking for

tips, economical solutions, etc. Thanks in advance!

[rj__]

If you have a light box for viewing transparencies, corrected for daylight, you've already got one possibility.

 

If yiou are photographing something that is highly flexible, such as plant material or spaghetti or whatever, there can be an interesting question about whether to light from below or from behind, the difference having to do with the effect of gravity on the subject.

[digidurst]

Nope - no lightbox. But if I may add 2 questions: Do any of you use a dedicated shooting

table? Are they worth the expense?

[toddr]

I use 2 plastic saw-horses from Home Depot with a sheet of plexiglass on top. You may need a fairly thick piece of plexi to keep from bowing in the middle when your object is placed on top. I use a black drop on the floor and have painted the legs of the horses black so there's no reflection from them. Watch out for reflections from under the plexi - things like silver light stand legs can show up reflected in your product.

[Jochen_S]

I worked with some ugly homemade construction using some quite flexible white translucent plastic plate. I hate to spend big money on special "photo" gear and am glad to have salvaged some other white plastic out of a prepress lighttable. If you need to work with glass; buy it large enough to keep the edges out of the picture. I'd beware of plexi; it should provide nice surprises If you'll have to use a polarizer.