Things I am learning about Still Life Photography

I really thought I disliked Still Life photography.
In fact I knew that I did not like it.
I would be terrible at it. I'd suck at it.
I wouldn't know what to do with it.
I didn't have the patience for it.
I didn't have the cameras for it.
I liked the outdoors, I was a nature person...

However. When the bleak November skies are dreary. Sometimes a bit of indoor photography is a good alternative.

I don't know what I'll do with some of these shots, but they were fun to 'make'.

I set white painted boards down, and tossed some scrap clothes along with beads, fake jewelry, and a doily that I picked up at the Flea Market. I used a page from my grandmother's daily diary and an old photo of my father in law and his family taken...well, when he was little.

Elliott's book keeps finding its way into my photos. I find the entries pretty interesting.

Then of course, I have to do a bit of silliness.

An old wooden crate, some toy soldiers my youngest son left years ago, and toy dinosaurs.

The real challenge would have been to get them all in focus with some focus stacking.

Then I went back to a favorite of mine that had been packed away for nearly a year. The salt and pepper shaker donkey.

I used a bit of High Key style editing and was pleased.

There is a strange side effect to doing Still Life. You find yourself looking at a scrape of ribbon or cloth and wondering if it would look good in a shot. So you save it.
You find a coffee cup at the flea market with chips and cracks and think, "Wow, this would look neat if I..." and you purchase it with other pieces of "junk".

Slowly your collection of stuff accumulates.
An old lace table cloth.
Ribbons.
Toys.
Cups not fit for drinking out of, and some that are.
Glass bits.
Fake jewelry.
White boards.
Crates. Wood chunks.

Your husband wanders by and watches you set up a tea party with stuffed animals and shakes his head as he walks by.
He is sure that you are certifiably nuts.

And perhaps you are.
Nuts over Still Life.

Still Life week 8

I am working with this self 'instructed' class to better some of my photography skills.  I was not an avid fan of Still Life before but I am finding that I enjoy it now.

I am constantly trying to come up with something interesting without getting too heavily invested in things like a light box [although I may build one myself] and other fancy studio things.

Most of the images I try to 'make' or shoot are simply done on the living room floor and with things I find around the house.

Last week I used a rug for a backround and draped it over a board. I wanted a soft white textured backround for the shot.  

This wasn't what I considered a keeper.  It was however interesting to work with the light since it was heavily overcast that day and I didn't have to deal with harsh sunlight coming through the window behind me.

I took out pages from my grandmother's old diaries and set them up with some beads, coffee and my old glasses. 

Somehow, this shot looked much nicer in black and white.  The pretty colors on the cup seemed to clash with the different colored inks in the pages.

Eventually I tossed everything on two wooden boards I'd gotten at a flea market along with my father's wedding ring.  After several hits and misses, I ended up deciding that this was the photo of the week.
I was very satisfied with it. I simply edited it with a white vignette around the edges and left it be.

I took this shot below while I was at it and loved all the patterns, but needed to mute the bright red carnations and ... well, it was almost too busy with textures.

This one in color:

This one in muted black and white:

Better but still too busy. And my assignment was for backlighting anyway so I had to go back to the drawing board.

I had to wait for some sunlight and finally we had some.  This shot was an accident.
I edited it and added a textured backround to it.

It didn't have all of the elements in it that the assignment suggested so I tried some other things.

This ended up being colorful and soft, more like what the assignment had been.


In the 8th week we are to review what we have done so far. 
Apparently I should be able to decide what sort of items work best for me and decide what I need more work on.

However I am still seeking that perfect way to take photos in the living room using available light.

I also need to mention here that I have an assistant who seems to have to inspect everything I do.

Next, I'm going to do some 'dark' work. I really like black and trying to figure out how to use simple black matte cardboard, some glass and figurines to make something interesting.

Sometimes it is more the challenge than anything else.
Thus ends week 8.  And no, I haven't found my 'niche' nor have I figured out what works best for me.

I am still experimenting because light and dark fascinate me to no end.

Still Life on the Cheap

I just started a class in Still Life and this is week two.  At first I thought I was an idiot for trying something out of my comfort zone.

I like hiking, I like nature, I like outdoors so that is usually what my subjects are. I learned something from my father, as long as you had some light coming in from the outside, you could take photos on the inside of the house.

So I decided I'd go ahead and try 'Still Life'.  What could it hurt?  I could learn something and it is never bad to learn something new.

First here is my really expensive set up for my 'table top' shot I wanted to do last week.

Please note the helper in the photo.  Hedgehogs are common missiles when I am sometimes working this close to the floor.

However it was an overcast day and I was trying to make the best use of the light. I set up a white foam board behind the basket, which Morris promptly nosed down.
But eventually we worked it out and I came up with this.

I used an old lace curtain on top of a box.  I tossed in some carnations along with a card someone had given me. I put some coffee in the coffee cup and gave Morris a very stern look.  I set the camera to manual and used a tripod and remote to get the shot.  
I did use Topaz Glow to pretty it up a bit.

Not satisfied with just that as a shot, I set some other things up.  Barbed wire, a rusted clip and some brass bells on a ribbon.

I used more of a limited color in this shot and a narrow depth of focus.

Week two asks that we shoot a photo with negative space and the rule of thirds.

Here is how I set this week's shots up.  

Yes, a dresser, a white sheet, and a white board next to a window.

And I decided to go with a Valentine's Day theme so I added candy.

Oh darn.  That funny stuffed donkey just wouldn't leave my thoughts.  So I decided to photograph it too.

However the donkey turned out okay but the photo really seemed quite lacking. I wasn't that impressed at all, even if the idea was fun.
Well, simply put.  It had too much empty space!

Exactly what it was supposed to have.
So I changed it like this:

It sort of has a vintage feel to it yet doesn't feel so empty.

I stopped right here.  Too much messing around would probably ruin this.

So you can do some pretty impressive Still Life work without a whole lot of investment.
I just did and found out that I really enjoyed it.

Just make sure your photography assistant isn't going to grab your toy Donkey and run off with it.  Or decide that tossing a hedgehog into the works would make it look so much better.


I used AfterShotPro by Corel for the RAW files, I used Topaz Adjust for making the donkey look 'vintage', and PSPX7 [PaintShopPro] for the editing. CS2 for any additional work.

Texture added to the first shot from mercurycode at deviantart.