Still life photography. It’s a contemporary art form that most photographers will experiment with at some point. Whether you’re relatively new to photography and want to master the art of still life photography, or have been doing it for years and are struggling to find success, here are a few secrets that you need to learn if you want to become a successful still life photographer:
Experiment with Available Resources
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have access to a top of the range studio or fancy equipment. All you need is your camera, some lamps to light the area, a piece of card and a surface to put your subject onto.
Once you have your area set up, it’s time to start experimenting! Try taking some photographs by a window, and some further away. Angle your lamp (if you can) in different directions, move it further away or even bring additional lamps into the area. Keep experimenting until you find your style.
Take Your Time
A cardinal rule that every photographer should follow is this: don’t rush. If you take your images too fast, whether consciously or subconsciously, the quality of them will be effected. You need to put as much time as necessary into each photo you take. Unless you’ve simply got a busy schedule, there’s no reason to rush when it comes to still life photography. If you aren’t happy with one of your images, take it again but this time, pay close attention to the details and don’t take the photo until you’re satisfied with what’s in front of you.
Light Your Subject
Lighting is extremely important for your final images to look attractive. As briefly mentioned above, there’s a lot you can do with light. Using a window as your main source of light is always ideal, but obviously you can’t control the light coming in. This is why it’s better to use lamps if you want to guarantee successful still life photographs.
Don’t Just Choose Any Subject
Some still life photographers will choose their subjects at random, which means that their photos will lack personality. If you choose something that’s personal, you can be more creative with it and connect to what you’re doing. If you care about the subject, you’ll care more about the picture you’re taking. Try to stick to just one subject at a time, rather than putting too much into the frame.
Use Different Techniques
When trying to master still life photography, “experiment” with your camera and set up. I say experiment loosely because it doesn’t mean you should start altering all the settings randomly, it means testing out different techniques to try and vary your images.
For example, you could try it with and without a tripod. When taking still life photographs, ensure you change the position of the camera so the angle/height isn’t the same on all of the pictures. You could also trying altering the exposure, using the shutter release and anything else you can think of that will give you more varied photos.
Figure out the features which you value the most and hone in a camera which provides those. Alternatively, a great all-rounder, like the Canon Eos is ideal for budding photographers who haven’t yet found their particular style or voice.
Harness The Power Of Post-Processing
In the digital age, post-processing is a vital step in still-life photography. After capturing your images, using an image converter to PNG can be particularly beneficial as this format is known for preserving detail, quality, and color depth, qualities essential for displaying the nuances of your still-life compositions. These tools can also help you make selective adjustments to your images, such as adjusting contrast, brightness, and saturation levels to create the perfect balance.
Hire A Still Life Photographer
If you’re still having difficulty in capturing good still life photos, or require high quality images (whether for personal or business use) that you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself, you can always hire get a professional still life photographer to help you out. Look at the photographer’s portfolio first and consider whether their style is what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for an example, I would recommend looking at Howlett Photography who have a stunning range of photographs to look at.
There you have it! If you keep in mind the above 6 secrets when taking still life photographs, you should have a lot more success. However, if you’re still struggling and need photos taking before a deadline, you may want to use a professional still life photographer instead.
