Woman in Real Life

Granted my food photography table is sort of an odd item to feature for Vintage Bliss Tuesday. It's brand spanking new after all. But I bought it with my assortment of vintage and not-so-vintage dishes in mind. Rather than keeping the mismatched plates and cutlery mixed in with the daily family dishes, I wanted them to be kept separate and handy for food photos.

I bought the cart for something like $90 plus tax at Costco recently. I had looked at a number of other kitchen carts with a couple of desirable features in mind - particularly wheels so they could be moved around and shelves underneath the table top to hold a selection of plates, cutlery and cloths. I opted for this kitchen cart/chef's table for two reasons - because it is cheaper by at least half than the others I saw and because it has a solid bamboo top, meaning it provides a nice surface for pictures.


The bamboo top is quite nice and sturdy. The benefit of having a separate table for food photos is that I don't have to clear everything off the table before I start. As you can see, though, I usually have a book or two waiting to be reviewed on there. Just under the bamboo top I have tucked a couple of dish cloths and some burlap. I have more to add to this area.

We had already installed the Dyson cordless vacuum on the wall in this area and didn't want to move it, but sometimes I have to take it down when I want to take a picture while standing on the left of the cart. A small inconvenience.


All that silverplated flatware that I quickly cleaned up in last week's post went into this lidded box, where it will stay free of dust and be handy to pop into a photo. I put a stack of plates on the shelf next to the cutlery box.


The bottom shelf holds a basket containing an assortment of plates, bowls and one lone mug. I have piles of vintage dishes in the basement that I need to go through, so this collection will likely get much bigger. All of my china collections will remain in the dining room armoire.



I placed the cart in front of a small window. At the side, I tucked in white boards, which I use to reflect the light back onto the food (or book or thrifted purchase). A couple of the white boards also have stick-on designs on them (like faux marble and chalkboard) so they can quickly be popped onto the tabletop for a new photo background. I really want to make a bunch of wooden backgrounds too, but that will come later. (And I'm pretty sure my husband will be called upon to do it.)

I wanted a wheeled cart so that it could be moved in front of the doors (open if necessary) when light is in lower supply. Most times I have to use a chair to stand on to take pictures. The great thing is the kitchen table is a few feet away, so it's easy to grab a chair.


The food photography table took over the spot that had previously been used for this old table, above. It was used as both a homework station and a photography table, but the surface was a bit small for photos and I always had to move the homework supplies carousel to take pictures. My husband had hoped I would take the homework table out of the kitchen once the new table arrived, but I of course just moved it to the other window!

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