Last week, we discussed advertising photography, and how it is one of the highest paying fields in photography. This week I want to talk about another segment of advertising photography, still lifes. Still life might make you think about things such as a flower in a vase, or a basket of apples on a kitchen table. These are examples of still lifes, but what about those still lifes that are used to sell a product?
When I think of still lifes, I think of those Absolut vodka ads. That may be because I saw a show on how they make fake ice cubes and food for use in still life advertising. Regardless of what you think of when you hear the term “still life”, photos of products that are small enough to fit on a small table abound, and are a major area of advertising photography.
The difference between a commercial still life shot and an advertising shot is the addition of advertising copy, or text in the photo. Otherwise, the shots are the same, as far as lighting and setup. In fact, the organization and lighting of the subject are the two major factors in a good product photograph.
A still life is almost always a picture of an inanimate object, but that doesn’t mean the final image needs to be dull or static. The picture should be visually stimulating, and have a dynamic composition. The best shots reveal things in a way not ordinarily seen, or reveal a hidden beauty in an ordinary object. This, then, is the challenge of the still life photographer.
It takes practice and a lot of patience to get good still life photographs, as well as an intimate knowledge of photographic lighting. To get an idea of what is involved, set up a flower in a vase or a basket of apples, or something similar on your kitchen table. Set your camera up on your tripod. Using a small portable lighting source, take shots of the object from the front, while moving the light source to different locations.
What you will discover is that the object appears quite different, depending on where you place the light. To accentuate texture, shoot with the light at 90 degrees to your camera (on either side). To make the object stand out against the background, add some backlighting (and don’t forget to balance that with some fill flash).
Still life photography can be very fun and rewarding, and may even lead to other things, like taking pictures for people who sell products on Ebay or other online auction sites. Give it a try and let me know how it turned out.