There’s something special about a simple everyday object that is or was valued by a person in some way, whether it be a bread bowl that was passed down from a great-grandmother, a baby rattle, one’s favorite flower or an antique car on the side of a country road. Whether you are setting up a still-life photo shoot or taking a photograph of an existing or naturally occurring one, you can capture the personal stories and energies behind these treasures and infuse them with a life all their own.
Take a photowalk around your home, a shop or even a city block. What objects are you drawn to and why? If they are your personal items, what value do they have to you? What stories do they hold? You can photograph an object exactly as it appears in its environment, or if it is an object in your home, use it to create your own still-life scene. It is fun to play two or more objects off each other or use secondary objects to support a primary object (e.g., sliced apple on a board with beautiful scratches and patina, with an antique paring knife artfully placed next to it.) Collections of objects are also a lot of fun to arrange and photograph. Keep in mind that the eye prefers to see odd-numbered groupings over even ones.
When I take still-life photos I often move the objects to a clean, simple setting near a natural light source. I love taking photographs of objects near windows and am captivated by the way light plays upon them, shaping them, emphasizing their contours. Indirect, diffused window light is usually preferable to harsh, direct light; however, direct light can be used for dramatic effect. If you are setting up your own still-life scene, try using a piece of fabric for the backdrop. Burlap is simple, clean and adds a rustic flare. Make sure it is free of wrinkles and use it to create a smooth sweep to put your objects on. You might also want to try placing your objects on a reflective surface, so you get some interesting reflections in the shot. Shooting outdoors is another option. Take a little road trip in your town and photograph objects that speak to you.
Play with natural light sources during different times of the day to create a variety of moods and effects for your still-life photography. The light’s quality will change throughout the day, depending on where the sun is in the sky. Think about the direction of light and how you want it to hit your objects. For instance, light in the late afternoon hitting your object from the side will emphasize the shape of your object, create depth and long shadows and give a dramatic effect. An object on a windowsill lit from behind takes on a glowing, ethereal quality. Look for interesting contrasts, patterns and shadows and think about how you could set up a still-life scene to incorporate these elements of interest. If you want to brighten the scene and even out the tones, you can play with reflectors to bounce light onto the shadowy areas or use an external flash unit either as a fill flash or bounce flash.
Think about how you want to capture your subject. What elements do you want in your composition? How do you want to frame the scene? Where do you want the objects to appear in your composition—dead center, off to the side, in the lower region of your photo? You can try experimenting with the rule of thirds by placing your significant object in the center of one of the vertical lines, or try more unconventional and unusual compositions. Perhaps you will photograph a taxidermy moose head—sorry, I’m a Mainah—in the upper-right portion of your photo. Consider leading lines and where you want the viewer’s eye to travel. Do you want to shoot from above, close-up at eye level, from an angle, straight on?
I particularly enjoy taking close-up, intimate photos of objects with shallow DOF, so I get a clear subject set against a soft, blurred background.
Use the Portrait Scene mode or the Close-Up/Macro Scene mode to achieve shallow DOF.
Use a wide aperture in Aperture Priority mode or Manual mode to achieve shallow DOF. I often shoot still-life scenes with my 50mm lens wide open (f/1.8) or close to it, because I enjoy the intense amount of blur. When using very shallow DOF, be careful to keep the significant portions of the object within the small slice of DOF. If wide open is too intense for you and you wish to have your object more in focus, try stopping the aperture down a bit. If you want to capture some detail in the background, stop down even more (try f/5.6).
Do some test shots to see which aperture you prefer. Use f/4 or wider to create still-life shots with shallow DOF. Use f/5.6 to f/11 to create greater DOF.
In Aperture Priority mode, lock in your aperture choice, choose an ISO appropriate for the lighting, and observe the shutter speed your DSLR selects for proper exposure. If it’s too slow for a handheld shot, mount your camera on a tripod, set the ISO as low as it will go to achieve the best photo quality, and take that long exposure shot. Use a remote shutter release or the camera’s built-in self-timer so you don’t have to touch the camera, causing blur.
In Manual mode, dial in your aperture setting and an ISO that’s a good match for the light in the scene. Select a shutter speed that brings you to a correct exposure. Use a tripod if the shutter speed is too slow for a handheld shot. Use the lowest ISO possible with a tripod and still-life scene, to ensure the best image quality. The still-life won’t be walking off, so your DSLR can take its sweet time with a long exposure.
It was late winter in Maine and I was feeling color-thirsty. To liven up my blog, which was filled with the neutral, muted tones of winter, I took shots of juicy-colored everyday objects around my home and made them into this collage using Photoshop.
Some of the most beautiful still-life scenes are those that echo the stories of those who have lived in them. 24–70mm f/2.8 lens at 27mm, ISO 200, f/7.1 for 1⁄80 sec.
Spot Metering mode or Partial Metering mode can come in handy for indoor still-life photo shoots where there are heavy contrasts between light and shadow, especially if there is backlighting. In this mode your camera calculates for the proper exposure of the object, despite the background lighting. Then again, you might like to embrace the interesting contrasts and the silhouette effect you can achieve by shooting in Evaluative Metering mode.
If you are dealing with overall low light, you can either place your camera on a tripod to accommodate the slow shutter speed, bump up the ISO for a handheld shot, or use an external flash, bouncing it off a white ceiling or reflector or removing it from the camera and using it as a fill flash.
When using a tripod, use your camera’s built-in timer to avoid jostling the camera as you press the release (or use a wireless remote or a shutter release cable.)
Your DSLR’s Live View feature is helpful when taking still-life photos. It displays the scene you are about to photograph on your DSLR’s LCD screen and is a great way to check for correct exposure and clear focus before you take the actual shot. When using this feature to check focus, it works best if the camera is on a tripod. I recommend zooming in to check for clarity, as it’s hard to tell otherwise. If checking exposure, it works effectively only with Evaluative Metering mode.
Is it possible to take stellar still-life shots with a mobile device? You betcha. Mobile photographer Cindy Patrick is here to show us just how.
This still-life photo marks an important day, the day my family and I went to the violin shop to purchase the violins we had been renting. In Photoshop, I converted the tones to sepia and subtly applied a texture by Nicole Van. 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 1600, f/1.8 for 1⁄20 sec.
I collect antique silverware because I enjoy serving and eating with utensils that have a history and because they make such beautiful time-worn props for both still-life and food photography. 50mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 400, f/2.2 for 1⁄125 sec.
I happened upon this window display of used ballet slippers and found myself studying each one—observing the wear and tear, imagining the ballerinas giving their all to the dance and also cringing at the thought of the pain their feet must have felt. I altered the tones of this photograph with software called CameraBag, applying its matte filter. 24–70mm f/2.8 lens at 24mm, ISO 1600, f/2.8 for 1⁄80 sec.
This example of still-life night photography, shot in Aperture Priority mode, calls for the use of a tripod and the camera’s built-in self-timer to avoid blur that results from manually pressing the shutter release. Because the subjects were inanimate, I could set my ISO to 100 to avoid grain and wait as long as was needed for the camera to correctly expose the shot. Because the camera initially over-exposed the shot, I used exposure compensation to reduce exposure by two full stops. 24–70mm f/2.8 lens at 24mm, ISO 100, f/8 for 10 sec.