Still Life Photography Tips And Techniques - Part 4 The Still Life Photography Setup!

Aug 8
17:01

2012

Dan Eitreim

Dan Eitreim

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Studying still life composition is the fastest and easiest way to master photo composition. Plus you can do it at home! You don't have to worry about being in the right place at the right time.

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Today's still life photography tips and techniques tip (Part 4) will continue with our still life photography setup. We will dive into the wonders of composition.

As photographers,Still Life Photography Tips And Techniques - Part 4 The Still Life Photography Setup! Articles most of our interest and attention naturally goes to the light. In landscape photos, it can make or break the image. In portraits it can magnify or disguise facial flaws and so on...

In your still life photography setup, light is still important, but we study still life photography tips and techniques to learn composition. Composition is king!

We've discussed how your subjects could be chosen for their color, texture, shape, era of creation, size or many other qualities.

We've discussed how we need to study our subject matter to find the "story". What makes this subject worth taking the time to create our masterpiece?

We then discussed choosing a background that will enhance our "story" and help us visually get across the factor that drew us to the object in the first place.

Now we come to the whole point of doing still life photography - to master composition.

Here is a quick pointer... you won't have much in the way of compositional options if you only have one object to choose from. You should have a bunch of objects that fit the theme you are going for, and pick and choose which ones to add - and take away. The more options you have, the better.

In my first article on selecting your subjects, I recommended starting with only one because each item you add increases the difficulty level. Remember, I only said to do that for the first couple shots. This is to get a feel for the lighting and backdrop. You will want to expand your still life photography setup as soon as you feel comfortable.

All of the composition rules come into play here - that's why still life shots are so valuable as a learning tool. You have the rule of thirds, leading lines, diagonals, geometric shapes, visual weight (determined by either the object's size or color)! You could even have issues with a level horizon - if you show one. It's ALL there!

Here is your assignment. Pick a few of the great master painters and go online to locate a few of their still life photos. (Just Google "Still life painting") Study them!

Try to figure out what and how many compositional "rules" they employed. How did the colors and shapes work together to make it a great composition... did they break any rules? What kind of backdrop did they use -why do you think they chose it? Could you duplicate the shot? Try it! That's a pretty fast way to learn a ton about composition.

Grab your camera and a few objects and try this still life photography tips and techniques lesson. Once you have a few successes with your still life photography setup, I think you will be hooked forever!