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Still Life Photography Tips

Still life photography is the most accessible and practical medium in photography. It’s also a wonderful way of developing an understanding of the fundamental skills of photography.

Still Life Photos

Taking a photograph involves making choice. You decide where to stand, what elements to leave in or keep out, and what part of the frame to focus on. These decisions are at the heart of composition. Getting the best results with still life photos are based on some common guidelines, developed by artists over the centuries. Essentially, the techniques used to create compelling art are the same as those used by our grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

© Yonel | Dreamstime.com

The beauty of stills photography is that everything is under your control. The subject can be arrange in a variety of ways – and doesn’t get tired or impatient with the shoot. You can change the background, alter the composition as many times as you like, and experiment with different lighting set-ups. You don’t even have to have access to a fully equipped photographic studio.

With still life photography, if you make a mistake, there is no penalty. You can assess your images objectively and repeat the shots if the end-results do not meet up with your expectations. Through experimenting in your own time and limited space, the most mundane subject can be transformed into an exciting and arresting image.

The essential elements of still life photography are colour, form, texture, shape and pattern.

Essential Elements of Still Life Photography

Colour

Colour is the most powerful of the essential elements to immediately attract the eye. It also draws the greatest – and most immediate – emotional response. You can use colour to your advantage when arranging a subject for still-life photography. To help accentuate a specific colour, use direct lighting – with the light source (such as a window) positioned slightly to the side, or behind the camera. Frontal lighting usual highlights colour better than side-lighting or backlighting. Underexposing an image very slightly will also deepen the hues.

Form

Shadows play a key role in photography when you want to accentuate the three-dimensional shape of a subject.

© Christian Draghici | Dreamstime.com

The secret is to use just enough side-lighting. The resulting gradation of tone provides essential clues to the true form of a subject – and also adds the illusion of depth. Keep in mind that soft directional lighting gives a more detailed suggestion of form, with an increasingly gradual line between the highlights and the shadows. It’s a good idea to use a fill-in light or simple reflector to add back just enough detail to the unlit side of the object.

Texture

When you focus on the texture of a subject, the viewer gets a feel for what it would be like to touch the subject.

In many ways, texture is a sub-element of form, describing the three-dimensional shape of an object in more detail. It provides information about the surface of a subject – smooth, hairy, pitted, or rough.

To accentuate texture, you need lighting that is similar to that used for revealing form. Ideally, it is oblique light that scours the surface of the subject, casting shadows in the hollows and creating little highlights in the mounds. Make sure to experiment to find the best angle and get in close for the most pleasing results.

Shape

Of all the compositional elements, shape is the most economical since most objects can be identified from their outline alone. A backlit silhouette for example, tells us all we need to know about the subject.

The still life photographer can find hundreds of pleasing shapes around the home: bottles, ornaments, kitchen utensils and foods, and pebbles, shells and leaves in the natural environment all have interesting outlines that will draw the eye and make an interesting photo. Shape is best shown off against a simple background. The better it contrasts in tone or colour with the subject itself, the better the image will be.

Backlight is the simplest way to emphasize shape alone - with the subject completely covered in shadow, the viewer has no option but to focus on this key compositional element.

Pattern

Patterns can be found in virtually everything you look at – a brick wall, the coffee beans you’re brewing, or the cans on the supermarket shelf. The camera’s ability to pick out details and show them in a new light can make this element very rewarding for the still life photographer.

The best way to accentuate pattern is to get in close with your camera, crop out extraneous detail from view and allow the pattern to reveal itself. Good patterns are often created from objects with interesting shapes or bold colours. Make sure that there is enough to fill the frame. By removing the pattern from its surroundings, you can end up with a stunning abstract image.

If you found inspiration on our Still Life Photography page, feel free to browse the following pages too:

* How to Shoot Flower Photos at Home

* How to Photograph Food

Hope you enjoy our Still Life Photography page!

(From Still Life Photography back to Basic Photography Tips Home Page)

Read, reflect and be inspired. If you find something of value on our Still Life Photography page, enjoy its gifts and please pass it on to your friends.

SBI!