Studio Essentials: LumoPro Posing Stool and Table review

In virtually any photo studio, besides the camera and the lighting equipment, you can find a number of other photography items that are essential for either taking better pictures or making the photographer's life easier. Backdrops, sandbags, clamps, white balance tools, and other "small things" are among the "must-haves" for a studio setup.

Posing stools and tables often play important roles, as well. For sitting portraits, having a stool instead of a chair can be helpful if you don't want the chair back to be visible in the pictures. Also, when the client is sitting, options for placing his/hers arms and hands can be limited, so a posing table can help finding more poses. In this article, we are doing a quick review of a Posing Stool and a Table made by LumoPro, the manufacturer of LumoPro LP180 Quad-Sync Manual flash and many other photo accessories.

LumoPro ships the stool (LP101) and the table (LP105) in flat boxes, so some minimal assembly is required. With the LumoPro Posing Table, you only need to put the pieces together: attach the casters, insert the column into the base, and drop the top into place. With the stool, you also need to drive 4 screws into their respective places on the bottom of the seat. There was no instruction provided, but we did not feel like it was necessary at all.

The LumoPro posing equipment comes with both casters and glides. Casters are very handy if you want to move the stool or table around easier. However, we prefer the glides, because we like the equipment staying put.

Both, the stool and the table, have good pneumatics and impressive height adjustment ranges. LumoPro Posing Stool can go from 18" (46 cm) to 26.5" (67 cm), while the Posing Table raises from 31.5" (80 cm) to 51" (130 cm). In our sessions, we were able to accommodate clients of different sizes, and the height adjustments were quick and easy.

The table top is covered with a black smooth non-reflective cloth. The stool top is made of fake leather, and its cushioning provides comfortable sitting.

Please note that when taking the LumoPro Posing Table for a location shoot, it's better to take the table top off when loading/unloading, because it may fall off if you turn the table upside-down.

Below you can find a few examples from a couple of photo sessions where we used the LumoPro Posing Stool and the Table. You can also see the behind-the-scenes shots that show the setups.

LumoPro Posing Stool is priced around 60 USD and the Posing Table is about 70 USD, which we find reasonable for the quality and the features they deliver. Alternative products are made by the companies like Impact, Photogenic, etc. Regardless of the brand, when shopping for posing equipment, look for quality and durability, solid and stable construction, and a good range of height adjustments. We can certainly recommend LumoPro in this regard.