Some people regard still life photography as being dull, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, building a successful portfolio of still life photography work can be extremely challenging.
Still life subjects have both advantages and disadvantages. They are easy to work with in that they are very obliging; you don¡¯t have the issues that are involved when you are photographing live subjects, whether they are human or animal in nature.
On the down side, even inanimate objects can have a shelf life. If you want to photograph a glass of sparkling wine at a picnic, for example, you will only have a certain length of time to take the photos you want before it¡¯s not so sparkling any more and you have to replace it.
Learning To Experiment
There may be a particular area of still life photography that you would like to explore. Many photographers have a specific interest they base their hobby or career on. Examples of this include food photography, furniture, clothing, plants and flowers, toys and so on.
Finding A New Angle
There is a real art to making still life photography interesting ¨C often fascinating ¨C to look at.
You need to develop the habit of looking at things in a totally different way. Quite often all that is needed is to approach your subject from a different angle. Try using a different lighting scheme to change the look of things. How about colored lighting? Would one object work better than a whole group?
Careers In Still Life Photography
There are many photographers who have made a career out of photographing inanimate objects. Just think of all those mouth watering photos you see in cook books. This is arguably still life photography at its best.
Still life photography can be an excellent way to start exploring photography as a subject. You have no model releases to worry about, and you can develop your skills and talents by experimenting with different subjects and ideas.
If you¡¯re struggling for a place to get started, why not start with your hobby? Even if your hobby is stamp collecting, you can experiment with lighting, angles, distance, composition and many more factors to make the subject look very different from what the viewer would normally expect.
Still life photography is far from dull. The results you can achieve are limited only by your imagination as a photographer.
And with practice, you might just make a name for yourself.
