STILL LIFE PRESENTATION
 FOR INFORMATION ONLY
 Some of the information in this presentation was
taken from the following web sites:
 digital-photo-secrets.com
 digital-photography-school.com
 picturecorrect.com
“STILL LIFE” is a fine opportunity
to learn about composition
and lighting, Unlike portraits,
your subject will not get bored
and fidgety.
Once a photo has a person or a
scene in it, it can no longer be classified as
“still Life” both on grounds of animation
and of scale.
SETTING UP YOUR SHOT
 SOME VERY IMPORTANT THINGS TO CONSIDER:
 Lighting…
 the subject…
 Background & surface…
 Creativity…

These are among the most important.
 Lets consider these one by one.
Lighting
 Professional photographers often use a light box to
shoot still life. We will be practicing with one later &
you can get information on line if you want to
construct one yourself.
 However, most of the time you are working indoors
and can take advantage of natural light coming in
through a window – a window facing north works best.
 You can also soften the light coming in by placing a
light material over the window, such as tissue paper.
You can get rid of hotspots if you use brightly lit white
background when shooting glassware
An effective use of black and white
You can create your own lighting, perhaps
with candle light
 CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECT
 We see life three dimensionally. The best photos are
the ones where the audience could walk into the
scene or reach out and touch the subject.
 When your highlights spread along the edge of your
subject, the subject becomes three dimensional.
 Take care if you use a flash as the lighting may look
flat with few shadows.
start simple, with
one item
 BACKGROUNDS - If the background is too busy,
hang a sheet or curtain, or use a piece of wood, stained or
painted.
 Keep it simple so as not to be distracting. Plain black
(maybe velvet) or white (paper will do) background
works well in many circumstances.
The right background will
push the subject forward
toward the viewer.
The wrong background
will hide the subject.
Remove the wrinkles - unless you
want this effect in your photo
SURFACE
 Your surface could be anything that
compliments your subject.
 A Bench, table, cloth, bricks,
wood….anything
 Try to avoid showing the line between
vertical & horizontal surfaces
The best thing about still life photography is you
don’t need to wait for an opportunity to present
itself – you are in charge of the whole thing.
A stained piece of wood
makes an interesting
surface for autumn
leaves
A draped cloth makes
a perfect Surface for
simple fruit
See the result of choosing
A good selection of both
backgrounds and surfaces
Fruits and flowers
can make pretty
special photos……
BUT, THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS
BE CREATIVE!
Find interesting objects – Add
them one at a time checking,
contrast & lighting
Look around the house for interesting objects
Make sure you fill the frame with your
subject….and use macro mode.
Instead of shooting from your height, hold the camera so it is level
with your subject. Or, try shooting from different angles. You would
be well advised to use a tripod.
PAY ATTENTION TO
COLOURS
Could you take this photo?
Or This one?
Not without
steadying the
camera with
a tripod…
AND not …
without
adjusting
the
shutter speed
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH A GOLD WATCH
 It sounds like such a basic task.
 But, light can reflect off the glares, create
 flares and major wash-outs of details.
 So, you have to work with
reflection by controlling it.
Place the light overhead, and place the watch
on a small white background.
Since the subject is rather small, keeping the
background small prevents unnecessary
flares of back light.
Adjust the watch hands so that the time reads
1:51 or 10:09 – the minute and hour hands will
act as a frame for the watch’s brand name.
Set up white and gray cards around the watch
to further control light and reflection.
Turn off all the lights except the ones lighting
your subject. Keep ambient light out too.
Move the overhead light around to get the
desired effect.
The camera is on a tripod and pointing down
at the watch.
Use a flash & set the white balance
The photo on the right is after making adjustments to minimize
reflections and flares and emphasize details on the watch.
TRY DOING THIS!!
A
Personal
favourite
Some of Mine – Practice!!
I learned a lot doing this
Experiment with
different
coloured
Backdrops and
table tops
WATCH OUT FOR
REFLECTIONS!!
TO MAKE THIS
PHOTO BETTER,
I COULD HAVE
BLOCKED OUT
THE LIGHT COMING
IN FROM
THE WINDOW.
OR, MAYBE IT IS MORE
INTERESTING WITH
THE REFLECTION??
I love this hand…..
EXPERIMENT WITH LIGHTING
Experiment
with colour
tints
NOTE THE DIFFERENCE
WHEN THERE IS NO
SEAM SHOWING
DARN,
AGAIN THE
SEAM IS
SHOWING
PEAR SCHNAPPS
FROM GERMANY
1967
PEAR GROWS ON
THE TREE INSIDE
THE BOTTLE
MEMORIAL TO BILL EDESTRAND,
BARRY’S FATHER
THERE’S THAT HAND AGAIN
THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER IF LIGHTING WAS CORRECTED
THE MONEY
THAT WAS
R
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D
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C
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So, why take “still life” photos?
 To practice with lighting and contrast
 To show your creative side
 To add art work to your walls
 To create personal gifts
 To immortalize special mementos & heirlooms
 To inventory possessions for home and life
insurance purposes