Basics of Still Life Photography

Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. It is the application of photography to the still life artistic style. An example is food photography.

Wikipedia
In The Beginning….

The classic paintings by the dutch masters featured arrangements of bowls of fruit, flowers in vases surrounded by everyday man-made and organic objects. The still life painting has now evolved to become its own genre as Still Life Photography, using the same principles and props seen in the paintings.

Styles of Still Life Photography

Tabletop is the most common type in still life, where all the objects are arranged on a small table. Other styles of still life are product photography, found object photography, and food photography. In food photography, the entire goal is to present the food attractively by arranging other food items or tableware in the shot to complement your ‘hero’ dish.

still life photography by bevlea ross
Lotus Flowers
Props and Equipment in Still Life Photography

Getting started with still life photography props is inexpensive as most of the props you can pick up in your local second-hand shops and ‘oppies’ and using items that you have at hand in the home.

still life photography by bevlea ross
Afternoon Tea with Vanilla Slices

A collection of jugs, cups, glasses, bottles, wooden boards, linen napkins, tablecloths, vases, bowls, etc., will get you started. From there, you can gradually acquire a few statement pieces. Julie Powell has some great props, but she’s been at it a while. For food photography, just add seasonal fruit and flowers plus cakes etc. Bowls of soup or pasta make great shots.

Backgrounds

A collection of backgrounds are also good to have as you don’t want the background intruding on the shot. White and black cardboard, coreboard, plain coloured or mottled curtain remnants stapled to a large canvas, or buy a large canvas and paint it in splotchy complementary colours to create your own mottled background. Perspex is great if you want a reflective base. Wood-panelled wallpaper pieces also make great fake wooden tabletops.

Lighting for Still Life

Lighting, like all photography, plays a great part. I like to photograph in natural light in front of a window that gets great indirect morning light. A soft voile curtain diffuses the light beautifully. A reflector can be beneficial in helping soften shadows. You can use speedlites; I prefer not to.

Food Photography - still life photography by bevlea ross
Pavlova Treats
still life food photography
Pavlova’s for Two
Lenses for Still Life

Telephoto and Macro lenses work great for this genre. You aren’t shooting in a wide field of vision, as all your images will be ‘close up’ to get more interesting images. I use my macro a lot, as well as the 50mm or 12-100mm.

I also shot all the images in this post using the macro and on F2.8 as I wanted a very shallow depth of field and soft background.

food photography
Butterfly Kisses
Final Thoughts

I am definitely not a still life expert as I have just started ‘playin’ in the genre after taking a class some time ago with Julie Powell Photography. However, I have found side or backlighting works great for me.

still life photography
Organic Red
still life photography
Sunshine In a Vase

I also like to keep the colours neutral or colours all complementary. Using a tripod helps a lot too as your camera is static and you can keep tweaking your composition and object placements, without having to put the camera down and recompose your set all the time.

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© Bevlea Ross