DSS14 Still Life Behind the Scenes

[PaulThomasMcKee]

Here's a place to share your behind the scenes for the Still Life challenge...

[PaulThomasMcKee]

When Emily announced that DSS14 would be a SOOC round and that the subject was “Still Life” I immediately remembered back to LPS16 last November which was the first time that I made a personal goal to post a jpg directly from the camera. At the time, I had become rather frustrated with how many hours and how much effort I was putting in at the computer attempting to “fix” my photos and I thought it would be a good learning exercise to try to create as good of a shot as possible straight from the camera (for that round I experimented using a flashlight to “paint” light onto a flower and vase).

Then I noticed in a discussion thread that Emily mentioned that she initially thought of making the theme “Fine Art Still Life” or “Classic Still Life” – but reconsidered and decided to scale it back to simply “Still Life” in order to allow the widest latitude for interpretation. But seeing the words “Fine Art” and “Classic” really resonated with me. Another thing that struck me early in the process was reading Linda Richter’s definition of “Still Life” as “the photography of inanimate objects purposefully arranged and lit”. With those two concepts in mind, I felt I had a path to explore.

I started to browse the web to get a better understanding of what a “fine art still life” might look like. In my virtual travels, I found a site called the Web Gallery of Art. While browsing their galleries I began to notice some elements common to many of the “classic” 17th century still life’s, like an arrangement clustered at the corner of a table; that there was usually at least one element that hung over the edge of the table, like a knife or plate; there was often a napkin or other fabric draping over the edge in addition to the table cloth; often an elevated plate on an ornate stem with fruit or other food on top; very frequently a partially peeled lemon with a spiral of the still attached peel hanging down; a Nautilus Shell Cup or other vessel; a pillar with a small pile of course salt on top; and also quite often a few cracked nuts at the edge of the table.

It seemed like a formula that could be replicated, but I looked around our place and couldn't’t find a 17th Century Nautilus Shell Cup or an ornate elevated silver plate anywhere. So I gathered up a few of the decorations from around the house.

The next problem was how to light it in an interesting way. My first attempts were with a flashlight again – but I wasn’t getting the “filtered sunlight through a window” effect that I was looking for. So, I watched how the light came in through the windows of our house and it seemed like it might work to set up a table under a window that gets morning light. But the light was only good for a short period each day and since at this time of year the sun isn’t up when I leave for work and is down before I get home…That’s when the proverbial light bulb went on over my head and I realized that a 500watt halogen construction light set up outside a window could artificially recreate the light I wanted.

Then I had an even better light bulb moment when I realized that we have an actual window between a bonus room that was added on over our garage and our computer desk area (it used to be an exterior window but now it just goes between the two rooms). So, the light was set up on the computer desk side shining through the window into the bonus room where the still life arrangement was. The beauty of this setup is 1) that it can be used anytime of the day (with the other window shades closed) or night; and 2) unlike using just a flashlight to paint the light on – it is fully repeatable – which means that iterative adjustments could be made to the shape and quality of the light. And I spent hours fiddling with things to get the light to fall the way I envisioned it should.

I shouldn't admit to this, but I shoot almost exclusively in Program Mode, and I did here as well. I like that the D300 allows me to set either the shutter speed or the aperature on the fly while it compensates with the other accordingly. So, for this shot I set the ISO to 100, the aperature to f14, exposure compensation to -1, and let the camera set the shutter speed (which ended up being about 13 seconds or so). I set the white balance to 2680k and the color space to sRGB. I used a remote release to trigger the shutter and with the long exposure there was time to pick up a little desk lamp that I had taped a cardboard tube onto to paint in some highlights here and there.

If you have any questions about the set up, please ask and I'll do my best to answer. The cool thing about it is that it seems like something that might work for others too. I hope that some of you will give it a try.

Here’s what the setup looks like from the computer desk side:
(please pardon my spelling errors)


And here’s what the setup looks like from the still life side:


And here's a detail of my hi-tech light shaping equipment:


And lastly, here’s a picture of me taking a picture of the still life arrangement:

[pyry]

Well, you at least have set up and lighting covered, extensively!

Mine was a quite simple approach, remove the dust cover from the turntable, put Sgt. Pepper on, tone arm to the last track, album cover between the wall and the player. I used to halogen spotlights, one to the left side and the other one way back behind the camera. I shot handheld for easier variability.

[PaulThomasMcKee]

Originally Posted by pyry

Well, you at least have set up and lighting covered, extensively!

I know...I realize I kind of went overboard on the description above...sorry.

Loved your shot BTW.

[Greensquared]

Paul...when I said "Fine Art Still Life"...I had in my mind exactly the kind of shot you produced. Perfectly lit, beautifully arranged, deep colors and creating the same warmth as the masters in their paintings. Extremely well done! And your lighting set up was very creative and totally proves that you don't have to have expensive equipment to produce amazing results.

[Flyinggina]

Thank you so much for sharing your creative lighting setup. The last photo is the icing on the cake. It really shows how the "sun light" streams through the window softly but effectively lighting your still life.

Too much "how to" detail? No way. It is inspiration and proof that you don't need expensive equipment to achieve gorgeous results. Of course it takes research, thoughtful analysis, lots of imagination and a willingness to try, try and try again until you get it right.

You got it right. Fabulous work.

Virginia

[Pat664422]

Paul,

Thanks for sharing so many details, especially the lighting. I love that you used computer boxes for the table. Great writeup, very enlightening!

[richtersl]

Paul, thanks for taking the time to do that in-depth writeup -- right down to the bread receipt and junk mail!

[AaronNelson]

Originally Posted by PaulThomasMcKee

I know...I realize I kind of went overboard on the description above...sorry.

Loved your shot BTW.

no you didnt go over board, it is a great learning tool for us.

only problem is now all my imaginations of this image done in a great castle along the danube is shattered....

wonderful image to go into your collection!

[JAG]

The product itself speaks volumes to the hard work and study you put into this! But the explination really sets it in my mind how the master mind works. Well deserved win!

[dlplumer]

Masterful

[divamum]

THANK YOU!! The lighting setup is totally what I wanted to know from the moment you posted that wonderful picture. My first mental image when this challenge was announced immediately went to EXACTLY the kind of setup you created, but after playing around with it under my dining room window I couldn't for the life of me think how to create the *light*, and my novice attempts were utterly useless. Seeing how complex it was to create that lighting in a controllable way I now know why I couldn't do it, but your explanation is a wonderful how-to - bravo (on both the result and the process)

Btw, Paul, I love the high tech light modelling equipment, the receipt in particular. HA! Gives hope to those of us who are still relying on flashlights, clamplamps and other bits and pieces that it IS worth pressing ahead with them cuz they CAN do the job!)

For my own shot, it initially started while trying to imagine the kind of picture Paul created; I didn't have anything other than some oranges and coffeebeans in the house, so I decided to see what coffeebeans would look like tumbling out of a basket... or mug.

Both were useless - especially since this was before I made a lightbox out of an old cardboard box, strobist style - so I just started playing around with the beans. Which led to making the "mug" out of them.

As anybody who read my babblings in the feedback thread know, I went through quite a few backgrounds - the sharp dark/white I wanted initially was almost impossible to achieve SOOC, especially with my limited equipment, so I wound up experimenting with a bunch of scrapbook paper sheets as backgrounds. Those were better, but by the time I got that far I'd disrupted the mug into a shape I didn't like and was so frustrated with it that i took a day off.

When I came back to it, I realised that one of my main problems was the uncontrollability of the beans, so I hotglued an "edge" of beans and the handle onto pieces of clear plastic which I had cut to shape. Once I did THAT, the whole thing was much more manageable, as I could move it more easily, and also break it down and set it up ... thus making it easier to try different backgrounds.

Btw, somebody commented on the lighting being a bit flat - while I agree with you, creating "shadowless" lighting was actually my *goal* in this round, if only because a lightbox and this kind of approach is something I've never done. In the end, it took a light from either side of the light box, AND bouncing my flash off a piece of white foamboard from behind it (I was shooting from above, of course). It's not the most dramatic lighting around, but it was a technical exercise I set myself and am actually quite happy to have learned how to do. Now, to learn how to bend shadows to my will...

[Travis]

Now can you share the setup you used to take the beautiful photo of the baby that was used to block the light?

Great info on a setup that was as creative as the image. Now I know not to throw out ALL junk mail!!!!

[Benjer]

Originally Posted by PaulThomasMcKee

I know...I realize I kind of went overboard on the description above...sorry.

Not at all - that's the kind of thing I was hoping for! Your creativity in coming up with a solution to the lighting "problem" is impressive, even Einstein-ian! It's a real artist who can take such mundane everyday items and make such a beautiful image as yours. Amazing.

Now that I see what it takes sometimes, I won't be afraid to try whatever seemingly wacky thing is necessary to get the light the shot needs. Having typically relied on only natural light, it's hard to conceive of creating a lighting scenario like you did, but I'm inspired to try. So much to learn!

Now, my only critique is for shot #2; the door frame edge creeping into the lower right corner is a bit distracting. You might want to try reframing and reshoot. LOL (That's sarcasm, y'all!)

[KevXman]

Thank you Paul! I LOVE THIS COMMUNITY! Everyone is willing to take the time to give the next person a hand up. I might give you a hard time Paul when you soooo outdo the rest of us, but it is only because you ARE good at what you do and are willing to take the time to enlighten the rest of us when we can't achieve what we had in mind. Thank you for helping me learn. I'm will be better because of it.

— Kevin

[pyry]

Originally Posted by PaulThomasMcKee

I know...I realize I kind of went overboard on the description above...sorry.

Loved your shot BTW.

Thanks!

And don't get me wrong, I do appreciate your entry way more after seeing the work put into it!

[Tylwydd]

Thanks for the detailed "behind the scenes"

[MrsCue]

Wow!!!

[OhEddie]

Paul, How inspiring this is.
I had envisioned that you had a nice north facing window with maybe a blanket to help cast the shadow just right.

It makes me appreciate your effort even more after seeing the real set-up. Just outstanding

[The Curious Camel]

Paul, you continue to amazing and inspire us all.

From the moment Emily announced the theme I kept thinking about you and what wonderful image you would come up with. I just love the big bottom girls you had done previously and knew you would have a magical entry.

Thanks for always sharing your recipes for success as it helping me and others to grow.

Peace always, gail