Bees Wax and Wine Magic - Still Life Study

We have been having fun taking still life shots and learning about them. What does it takes to make a great still life photo?
From the last post we are working with some of the ELEMENTS listed below. At this point we are not focusing on post production of the images. It can be fun to play around with post production to get an idea of how things look though so dig in if you want to.

ELEMENTS

• Subject or subjects
• The background
• Shadow
• Light - the overall amount of light, the color of light and what is lit or not
• Composition
• Angle
• What is in or out of focus
• Placement - staged or not staged
• Evenly spaced, random or overlapping
• Barrel Distortion
• Contrast
• Color vs black and white (grayscale)
• Being close or more distant
• Eye motion
• Unusual angles
• Level of detail
• Splash Of Color
• The Look
• Everyday sights

"If you work with only what you have to take the shot, and you are willing to get creative, you can take some very pleasing photographs..."

Since the theme is "Some Of Our Favorites" we used bees wax candles and red wine. Today we are featuring Parducci Petite Sirah. Normally we buy Organic sulfite free wines but in a pinch we like the rich taste of Parducci, plus they are 100% green power carbon neutral and use sustainable farming practices and earth friendly packaging. In other words, they are into it. We are also featuring an InfusionFibers.com bag, hand made bees wax candles and some teak bowls. The apples are organic from the Yager's (Greenfield Farm). There are also linen napkins and a slab of bees wax in the background of some shots.

Candles Sometimes the best light is low light...

We like to take photos and study what the camera and lighting can and can not do. The LIMITATIONS are what we like to explore, follow and capitalize on. Today we are shooting with a Canon 5d and 24-105mm lens. This is a FULL FRAME camera and a delight to use.

In "working with what we have" we moved the candles to create a different mood and lighting effect? Amazing just how different this shot is, than the one above...

New ELEMENTS

• Low Light
• Moving the lights
• Multiple lights

In this study we left the camera on AUTO, and changed the image exposure by moving the lights (candles) and the subjects ONLY to see what we could come up with. In other words, we are working with what we have. The changes in the photos show how much variation we achieved. The camera was set on the table and propped up with a cell phone. We used the cameras self timer to minimize camera jiggle since we were shooting way below hand held speed.

In "working with what we have" we cropped the image below differently to remove what could seem like clutter. Or did that add interest?

So which image do you like best, what stands out to your eye, and what do you like and dislike?

Join In:

1Choose a theme for your still life photos.

2Shoot some photos.

3Study what you like and dislike and what works and does not work.

4Try working with some of the different ELEMENTS listed above.

5Explore adding some new ELEMENTS that matter to your artistic eye.

6Work with your subjects over time.

7Work with the shot so it matches the cameras strengths and weaknesses.

8Work with what you have and experiment with the lights and subjects.

For Further Study: Still Life.

Visit: Infusion Fibers.

Pick yourself up a FULL frame Canon 5d camera