الطبيعة الصامتة .. كيف تلتقط أجمل الصور .. كتاب التصوير الضوئي

Still life .. How to take the most beautiful pictures .. The book of photography

Still life

A still life is called a thing or inanimate things arranged with the aim of preparing a picture of it. It is an excellent study of skill and creativity that shows the artist's understanding of composition and his skill in playing with the harmonies of color and sizes on the return of different materials and on the effects of light that illuminates things. Still life is also an exercise in good taste, simplicity, style and decoration. The still life paintings painted by artists are here to prove that: it does not matter what the chosen subject is, but what matters is the way in which this subject is treated. Just like a painter, the photographer can express the colors and their shades, the sizes and composition, and show his taste in composition and decoration. Since the subject is inanimate and does not move, the photographer can devote all the time necessary to studies of lighting and composition.

A still life can be pre-existing or the photographer can arrange it from different pieces: a few fruits, a few flowers, a vase and a few half-filled glasses left on a table. Composing a still life is enriching because one has complete freedom in choosing and arranging the elements. It is best to start from the main subject and gradually build the composition so that each of the added elements creates relationships with the others. The elements of the group will not be chosen arbitrarily: choose the subject and complement it with objects that are directly related to the main subject: objects from the same era or source because the important thing is to collect the objects as correctly and truthfully as possible. For this type of photography, the professional photographer seeks the help of a connoisseur who sometimes needs several weeks to collect all the objects needed for a single image. To begin building your composition, look for a suitable background, that is, a background that relates to the subject being treated without dominating it. The background surface should harmonize with the still life and contribute to the general atmosphere. For example, a group of objects from the nineteenth century would harmonize with a wooden decor and certainly not with a background made of flexible plastic. Start arranging your composition from the main subject by constantly monitoring the images in the viewfinder. Continue changing the positions of the objects until you are satisfied with them. Watch the picture you get as you add a new element: in this way the still life is built and formed logically and gradually.

The balance must be judged by the lines and proportions of the group: consider the liveliness of the colours and the contrast of strong colours with shadows, compare detailed objects with shapeless spaces. The objects must complement each other in some way because their main role is to show the main object in a strong point of the picture. When composing your picture, focus not only on the objects themselves but on the shadows they create - unless it is black and white. And on coloured reflections. The distance between the objects is also as important as the objects themselves because the lighting and the transmitted shadows create a visual connection between the different elements. In this respect, remember that, in composing a still life, the transmitted shadows must all go in the same direction and intersecting shadows must be avoided.

Various compositions of a still life:

The objects used in these compositions are related to the theme of the "old house". All the pictures are successful, but perhaps the large picture on page 105 is the most harmonious.
Lennhoff 1 second aperture 32 Kodak Plus X.