Still life photography is an exciting genre, oftentimes used to learn more about composition and the ways in which light can shape an object. It’s sophisticated rather than simplistic, and the method behind beautiful pieces like Andre Kertez’s world-renowned “Mondrian’s Eye Glasses and Pipe.” Patricia Burmicky, founder of PhotoUno Photography School provides some helpful guidelines how to compose and shoot a still life.

1. Think about the “what” and “where” you want to photograph. This should be your source of inspiration. It should be exciting, whether because of its shape, unique look, or its relationship to the background

2. Use a tripod, which will allow you to control the frame of your image and give you more freedom to style and rearrange the objects of your still life. Using a tripod also helps you eliminate the problem of camera shake—you can use lower ISO values to prevent digital noise.

   

3. Shoot on either aperture priority or manual mode to control depth of field. A still life is all about showing all of the elements in focus. You can also choose to blur the background, or have one object in focus and the rest out of focus.I normally suggest an f stop of 5.6 or lower and use focal length of 55 mm (approximately 80-85 mm equivalent in a full frame camera).

   

4. Think about your light. If you happen to have a nice window, use this natural source of light. Also, think about using a bouncing surface to reflect the light coming from the window to fill the shadows opposite to the window. You could also use a portable flash and aim its head to a white wall to achieve a softer light

   

5. Think about the color: Warmer colors (i.e. red, orange, yellow) tend to grab the viewer’s attention to the foreground, whereas cool colors (i.e. blue, purple, green) tend to recede. Think about whether to use warm or cool colors as your photo’s color palette. If you wish to make a subject more prominent from the rest, make sure the background and other elements are not the center of attention by being aware of this color theory

   

6. Think about your background. Background can be as simple as a white background or as interesting as a wooden table or the walls of a place.

   

7. Less is more. Keep it simple. Use only the elements that add to your still life and make sure to take out elements that you think are distracting from your photograph

   

8. Play with different angles. Variety can be interesting. Shoot from above, leveled to your still life, or from an angle. This will allow you to understand how each element in the still life interacts, and will allow you to come up with a frame that you will love.

   

In the world of blogging, magazines and other businesses that require product shots, learning about still-life photography can be useful as a hobby or for lucrative purposes. This genre of photography has been around quite a while. In the early days of photography, images were made using long exposures and photographing still objects made complete sense. Technology today has shaped photography, but still this is a genre that has proven itself to be quite popular as in its early days.

If you’re ready to share your own still-life vision with the world, browse and book a photography class with Patricia at PhotoUno Photography School.