still life # 10 ~ making the light
Monday, October 12, 2009 at 01:31PM 
Signs and colors of Autumn • click to embiggenI have mentioned my desire to paint gourds and I intend to pursue it (at least that's the plan) but the entire endeavor is given pause by the fact that I wonder if anyone can "paint" a gourd better than nature itself?
That said, there are times when still life picturing casts quite a spell over me. As I believe I have mentioned previously, the idea of making arrangements is quite appealing to me. In addition to that aspect of making still life pictures, the idea of "making" the light is also a somewhat heady challenge.
Back in my commercial picturing heyday, I was considered as a go-to guy when a subject needed to be bathed in a "perfect" light. The range of subjects was nearly limitless - things / products, faces - both "glam" and "real", food, were just a few of the things that I was called upon to picture with "perfect" light.
Dependent upon the "thing" to be pictured and the feeling that was intended to be conveyed y the picture, there was quite a range of lighting techniques that could be applied. I always loved the challenge of getting it "right" and that is a big part of what I like about still life picturing.
Reader Comments (1)
Hi Mark,
I have a special fondness for still life work myself, coming from a background in painting. However, in most still life photographs that I have come across, the backgrounds are very bright or very dark, and seamless, with little to no detail and the emphasis lies on the main elements that make up the composition (your picture here is a good example of that). As a result, no matter how beautiful the subject, how perfect/suitable the light and how creative the setup, I cannot bring myself to get over the sterile studio like environment that these photographs remind me of. Still life paintings, on the other hand, often show very natural settings (like the interior of a real home for example) which allows me to really enjoy the work. Back when I was studying painting, our art teacher would constantly remind us to think about the balance between the main still life subject(s) and the rest of the scene (background).
Best regards.
-Anil