Traditional Still Life Photography

Lighting

• Lighting is a critical ingredient in still life photography as it influences mood. Shooting outdoors provides fewer lighting effects than shooting indoors. Direction of light is of utmost importance. Low angle or cross lighting emphasizes surface texture and contours, and casts long shadows. Shadows become an integral part of the composition. Front light results in detailed and crisp lines of objects in the forefront, while lacking three-dimensional quality. For this reason, traditional still life photography requires use of back and angular lighting.

Subject Treatment

• Traditional still life photography takes a narrative approach of the subject. Treatment of the subject ranges from coldly clinical to deeply personal. The narrative approach creates a feeling of a story, resulting in a sense that a moment in time has been frozen. Although the moment is frozen, the photograph provides a sense of history prior to the moment and a hint of the future beyond the moment.

Equipment

• The most important equipment for still life photography is your eyes and brain. Your eyes conceptualize imagery and your brain creates setups for lighting and optimal settings on your camera. The type of camera you choose is not as important as your skills. Beautiful photos come from a wide range of cameras, from cheap $10 disposable models to the most expensive cameras on the market. It is how you use the camera that matters most, not the camera.

Famous Photographers

• Still life photographers are as diverse in their art as viewers are in their perception. Ansel Adams focused on the environment and the wilderness. Robert Mapplethorpe was controversial in his focus on provocative nude photos. Andrew Prokos focused on architecture and landmarks; his works include many panoramic photos of skylines. James Nachtwey is famous for his photos on the ravages of war and its effects on humans. Carlos Tarrats used plant life as his main subject, while Mary Ellen Mark used still life photography to document diverse cultures throughout the world.