Still life basics

AMac

AMac

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203
Name
Alex
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Hi,

I am trying to learn off camera flash, and I have got bored trying to persuade members of the family to let me practice on them lol.

So I am having a go at still life instead, I have done a fair bit of landscapes.

Mt question is, in landscapes there are some basic guidelines to follow to get you started, look for something as in a stream or wall to lead you eye in, try to get something in the foreground to add interest and try to break up the sky a little with tress for example.

Are there any basic guidelines in still life? To help get me started.

Cheers for any help or advice
 
AMac said:
Hi,

I am trying to learn off camera flash, and I have got bored trying to persuade members of the family to let me practice on them lol.

So I am having a go at still life instead, I have done a fair bit of landscapes.

Mt question is, in landscapes there are some basic guidelines to follow to get you started, look for something as in a stream or wall to lead you eye in, try to get something in the foreground to add interest and try to break up the sky a little with tress for example.

Are there any basic guidelines in still life? To help get me started.

Cheers for any help or advice
Click to expand...

Same rules of composition apply to everything. The big difference with still life is that you start with nothing and create everything (subject, composition, lighting, etc). Therefore when you get it right, it's all the more rewarding :)
 
AMac said:
Cheers,
I must admit I was only so so when I started to think about, however the fact you have total control over everything has started to grow on me.
It is just where to start lol
Click to expand...

Exactly :thumbs:

Try the old classic - a bowl of fruit. Google 'bowl of fruit still life' and you'll come up with about a million photos and paintings to inspire you.

If it's more about learning than creating great art, then start with just one light and move it in/out, up/down and all around. Fill-in with a reflector and note the changes. Play around with individual fruit and different backgrounds.

The rules of engagement are:
The larger the light source, the softer the shadows. Lights get relatively bigger the closer they are.
If you move a light back to double the distance, the brightness is reduced to one quarter. Lights falls off rapidly when you're close.
Light reflects off a surface at the same angle it strikes, like a snooker ball off the cushion.

That should keep you going for a bit. Try some water droplets?
 
Thanks for those starter tips, I have got 2 off camera flashes and one umbrella, oh and one home made cardboard snoot!
Tried a candle and some leafs, sort of an autumn look, funny how you have the image in your head, it is just trying to make it happen.
I like the water droplets idea.
 
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