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Shooting fine art still life
Techniques
14 September 2007 11:55
From capturing the fine detail of delicate flowers to exploring the shape and texture of rock or stone, still life subjects can be almost any subject. What sets them apart from more normal images is usually the framing, composition, lighting and presentation of the subject.
A still life image usually works best if the subject is simple, well-defined and stands out from the surroundings. So, take your time when arranging your subject and lighting to get the best results. It’s also worth using unconventional compositions to increase the impact of your still life shots.
Placing a single subject in the middle of the frame and emphasising the symmetry and space produces a simple, calm and graphic image, while placing it towards the edge of the frame gives a more unsettling feel to the shot. This doesn’t mean you should completely ignore the ‘rules’ of composition such as placing the subject on the thirds, just don’t follow them slavishly and use your imagination to find the best composition possible.
There are plenty of ways of lighting your still life set-up. For directional, high contrast light, a simple reading lamp is perfect, while a lightbox or indirect light from a window produces much softer, lower contrast results. For more involved lighting set-ups and large-scale subjects studio flash is the most versatile and convenient solution. But you don’t need to go to this expense or complexity for most fine art still life images, so all you need to do is root around the house, garden or garage for likely subjects and find a quiet corner of a room to start creating your own masterpieces. The only limitation to projects of this ilk is your imagination.
Using natural frames: Using the whole of a piece of rock, wood or stone can give your still life an extra sense of depth. Choosing a background that is just bigger than your main subject allows you to include the whole object in the shot, giving a frame within the outer frame for even greater impact. Using a dark background behind the object, along with strong directional lighting makes it appear three-dimensional and almost stand out from the image.
Shoot detailed images: Using backlighting can enhance your shots, capturing the intricate detail and subtle tones of plants and translucent subjects. If you have access to a lightbox for viewing slides it makes the perfect light source for this set-up. Simply place the subject on the lightbox and make sure that the background is captured as pure white without losing detail in the highlights of the main subject.
Colourful plant abstracts: Fine art still life subjects don’t have to be subtle black & white studies that you shoot in the studio. Colour images can work just as well and you can even shoot them outside in the garden. Look out for strong shapes, colours and textures in both the foliage and flowers for you to isolate in your shots. For capturing subtle tones and detail the soft light on bright, overcast days is ideal, while the strong shadows and high contrasts of sunny days are more suited to capturing the texture of the plants and producing graphic images.
Shallow depth-of-field: Using wide apertures to blur large areas of the subject can create much stronger focal points than keeping the whole image sharp. Choose the most important area of the subject to carefully focus on and use the widest aperture available on your lens for the narrowest depth-of-field. This effect is most apparent the closer you are to the subject, so it’s perfect for shooting small objects with a macro lens.