Still life photography portrays lifeless objects which are usually shown as a group. It brings story to even an inanimate object and depicts them in various manners depending on the style of the photographer. If you want to add another skill in your wide knowledge about photography, you can refer to these still life photography tips below.
A backdrop is a key element in your images. That is why it is very important to have clean and less distracting backdrops for your images to become more attractive. You don’t need to keep your backdrop extravagant, always remember to keep it smooth and simple – in short, Keep it smooth and simple (K.I.S.S).
Choose angles appropriately. In studio lighting scenarios, there are two factors that should be thought of – 1. positioning of the lights to your subjects and 2. The position of your subject to your camera. A key light or light coming from the side will give you pretty dimensions. The dimension will also depend on the angling of your shot, either side, above, below, oblique, etc. The word that you should never forget is - experiment. This is all part of exploration. Also, don’t get stuck on one angle, change angles from time to time for varied results. Angles give a new perspective for the viewers that which are mostly found as ordinary.
Contrast your lights. Speedlights, strobes and LED’s are the most essential in shooting still life photography. Whichever you use, it is highly effective that your ration from one light to the next is different. Main lights should most powerful while the second light or the fill light should just work and provide a nice fill that removes the shadows casted by the key light.
Light directionally. Lights coming from the side or what we call fill light is most of the time, the most efficient light for bringing out texture and making dynamic variation of highlights to shadows. You will achieve incredible dimensions and create depth to your still life images whether you use florals, side light and rings.
Light brings out shapes. We see things with our bare naked eyes in 3 dimensions. That is why the most impressive and eye catching images are the ones where the viewers can feel and be engaged as they lay eyes on the images. Something like they are really present in the scene in your image or even touch the objects in the scene. You can achieve 3d shapes by using the side light. As the highlights spread along the edge of your subjects, it adds that 3 dimensional appearance in your photos.
your K.I.S.S. is a little more polite than the one i was taught but both hold true ; )
angles light and composition, if you crack these there’s a very good chance you’ll capture a good images