Still life photos

[PhilipHowe]

Firstly, Mike thank you very much for giving me a reason to finally get around to a few things by posting the still life comptetion.

The first one is to set my camera up so I could shoot tethered. This really helps to get the focus the way you want and with the camera on a tripod, it is easy to see the difference between a shot at f2.8 and at f16 for instance.

The second was to make an area where I could shoot still life as it'a not something I've done before. I laid my backdrop over the dining room table, set my softbox up with my speedlite on the right, high, but nearly touching the table. I then laid my reflector on the left to basically form a triangle.

After that, I had a scoot around the house, picked up anything and everything and shot it all in about an hour. I have a few photos, which I will post in images.

Shooting straight into lightroom really helps as well, because you can complete an image before you replace the still life and move onto the next.

Here are a few, feel free to coment, if you feel so inclined.

Playmobil Zoo -


This was my new year plonk.


These are the kids favourite toys, I love the expression on the penguin's face


I bought this camera to do shoot through it's viewfinder and create a vintage look, however, I think it looks good in a photo itself

[Paul Jones]

Hi Philip

These are decent shots. Crisp and clean.

I was meaning to enter Mike's still life competition. I had an idea in my head of what I was going to photograph and how, and then I missed the deadline. Doh!

[mike-e]

Great set phil.
Good to see how versatile 1 lighting set can be used for. ebay, catalogue, brochure, even posters. it brings the realm of commercial stuff home when you figure out a 'fairly' simple lighting set up for a consistant look.
Only the glassware ones need modifying, see ste lee's entry from the still life comp.
Glass has its own rules as the edges have to be put back in-
using black card as 'flags' help with the glass, and a small mirror or silver refelector or mini light bounces light back into the bottle to show its contents. Its a bit more involved, but worth the effort.
Final thought
years ago, when I used to shoot more still life, I Managed to use an old 35mm projector to front project landscapes and townscapes to use as backgrounds .By throwing them just out of focus in the final image gave the very real illusion that -no matter what the subject was- a very believable outdoor shot could be made whilst having perfect light on the subject.
Looked really beleivable.
Good stuff glad the comp helped get round to doing still life photography.
right off to look for a projector!!!!

[Tracey McGovern]

I was meaning to enter Mike's still life competition. I had an idea in my head of what I was going to photograph and how, and then I missed the deadline. Doh!

I did exactly the same, I was away at the weekend, I kept thinking about what I was going to put through when I got home on Sunday, then when I logged on I realised I had missed it

Phil - I like your orange monkey

Tracey