​5 tips for improving still life photography

In the past for a long time the status of the still life photography has been long in the scenery photography and portrait photography, but as the WeChat circle of friends, weibo, canvas prints such as the rise of social media, the way people in the image share what they eat, what to play, or to see what will become increasingly intense, an obvious example of this is on the table before we start the tend to be the first thing is to take pictures. As an important part of still life photography, food also makes the status of still life photography continuously improve. However, in the actual shooting process we may encounter such troubles, why the effect of their own shot is far less than the scene to see so well? The key to success is to master the right method. Following in the footsteps of photographer Stacey Hill, here are five things to know about still life -- and how to make your photos stand out from the crowd.

Slow down, take a deep breath, and take your time

A good still life needs at least three elements: light, canvas picture prints composition and subject. Well, that doesn't sound much different from shooting on other subjects. But the biggest advantage of still life over people and scenery is that you have enough time and more control. If you are shooting in a medium indoor environment at home, the subject is still and you are free to control other environmental factors and try again and again. Like is the Angle high or low? Is the shooting distance far or near? How should the subject be placed to make it more beautiful? These can be tweaked over and over again until you get the results you want.

2. Composition is the key

For any kind of photographic subject, composition is a crucial link, cheap large canvas prints but composition is even more important to still life photography than light and the subject itself. As a nature and landscape photographer, I used to take big shots, often with beautiful mountains, lakes, or oceans in one shot, with the sky full of layered clouds that were blood-red at sunset, all the elements ready. In terms of composition, I only need to put elements like rocks or dead wood in the foreground to make the whole scene visually give a grand effect, but the composition of still life photography is quite another matter. When asked to photograph objects much smaller than mountains at close range, I discovered how difficult it is to get a picture with the perfect composition in still life photography.

Some of the things we need to know about the effect of even the smallest difference in the Angle of the shot can have on the overall effect of the shot; how does the distance of shooting change the balance between objects in the picture? How the proportional relationship between objects affects the visual effect of photos and so on. I spent hours filming over and over again trying to figure out the answers to these questions. In the process, I also found that I made the mistake that almost all newbies do, which is to cram too many elements into the picture at once, and complicate the composition. The whole image feels cluttered and crowded, with the main character, which needs to be highlighted, completely drowned out by a bunch of irrelevant supporting characters.

See more possibilities

This step will come naturally after you have completed the first two steps. Once you've spent enough time with your subjects, put them in the right light and put them at the right Angle, they'll look their best in front of you. If you give yourself and your subject time to get to know each other, there will be no secrets left in front of your camera. This applies to real people as well as Onions. Spend more time together, mainly to be able to see more possibilities. That way you can start to think about what kind of background is more concise, what kind of plates can make the overall color better, and the use of rough surface wooden boards can let the photos emit a rustic style of rural farmhouse.

It might sound a bit corny, but you can certainly pick a high quality red apple from the market and put it on the table in two seconds. But what if you paint for 20 minutes and try to position the apple on different surfaces and shoot it at different angles? How about trying to slice an apple or take a bite? Try shooting with a glass of cider on the side? Unless you give yourself more time to experiment with different possibilities while shooting, rather than just chasing results, you will miss opportunities and limit your growth. To be honest, I met a lot of setbacks when I was just introduced to still life photography, which made me very depressed, but also made me work harder. Once the problem is solved, the quality of the photos will be much better than expected, which is undoubtedly the best reward for me.

Try abstraction

In many cases, we tend to show the whole picture of the subject when shooting, so that the viewer can know without thinking what they are seeing. On the other hand, if the viewer needs to take a moment to think about what they're seeing, wouldn't that make your work more appealing? The question we're thinking about is how you get people to look at hundreds of photos a day on their smart phones and still remember your photos.

To this end, don't be afraid to make the picture more abstract. Shoot in a way that hides what things are, and if it's interesting enough we can blur the subject to our liking. Still, it's important to be careful about the degree to which a photo can alienate rather than attract people if it's too difficult to understand.

The key to effective abstraction is to spend as much time as possible looking at your subject, understanding its possibilities and what different angles can produce, and being as creative as possible. This advice is universal. Since the devil is hiding in the details, I think it will be a lot of fun to find them out one by one. And when you hide a lot of the obvious, the interesting shapes and lines come out.

5. Choose appropriate props

Props are very important in still life photography. The whole scene is composed of various props and accessories. The hue, emotion and the feeling conveyed by the photos also need to be presented by the props. However, for me, learning to use various props and correctly combining them is the most difficult thing for me when shooting still life photo. It is difficult to do well without enough choices and long-term hard practice. This doesn't mean you need hundreds or thousands of POTS and pans or tablecloths or napkins, but a selection of props will make your shots more flexible.

The selection and use of props are of great significance not only for still life photography, but also for portrait, wedding, children, pets and other photography subjects. As long as you have people in your picture, providing elements that can interact with them will always help the photographer take better pictures. In addition, the colors of clothes, styles of shoes, makeup and umbrellas are also included in the discussion of props.

However, props are also a double-edged sword, which can not only improve the appearance of photos, but also distract people's attention from the subject. So we need to be clear about what we want to convey through photos before we use props. What emotions do you want to try to evoke? What kind of props can match the overall style of the photo? And so on these big and small problems are we should take the time to think about.

Conclusion

Still life photography is like a practice, before shooting this subject, I always take photos in a hurry. I'll do some obvious shots, but it doesn't really satisfy me because at the end of the day it's boring, predictable and no different. Now that I've changed, I'm willing to take the time to get everything ready, to set aside a lot of time to shoot, to explore a variety of possibilities for increased creativity, and to have fun from trial and error. Although I don't shoot as much now as I used to, the quality of my pictures has improved a lot and I know I can shoot deeper. My ability of composition and grasp of the overall style of photos have been improved.

So those are the five things that I think you have to master in still life. The good news, though, is that the advice applies to other subjects, panoramic canvas prints cheap too. The question before you is very simple: do you want to have a quick movie to amuse yourself or do you want to hold onto your audience? What kind of story are you trying to tell? What emotions do you want to share? How can you make a photo resonate with the audience and make it stand out from the flood of photos in your circle of friends? How are your photos different from the tens of thousands of photos online? The answer to all of these questions has to do with how much effort you're willing to put into a photo and why you're taking it. Like any other technique, a good still life is the accumulation of time and experience. Don't believe it? Try comparing your own work from months of study with that of an experienced artist and see if there is any difference.