flower image : Natural Light Still-Life Photography pt1

When I’m not outdoors photographing -- when the weather is poor or when I’m inspired by an object or floral bouquet -- I take my work indoors. This article aims to inspire you to be creative with your own photography and to try to set up your own still lifes to create beautiful art.

Indoors, as outdoors, I usually work with natural light. For the most part, no special lights are required for beautiful indoor photographs if you have a nice sunny window. In my house, the light in the eastern sun room is nicely diffused in the afternoon and this serves as a good start for lighting the scene. Lighting an indoor scene is very different from catching the proper light outdoors. Sometimes, I will use artificial light when the light levels are particularly low, for example, if I have decided to work at the wrong time of day to take advantage of the lighting in the sun room. For artificial lighting, I use my sunlamp which does a great job of imitating the sun for my moods and for my flower images. You can experiment with candles and other soft household lights too. I often use reflectors and diffusers to balance the light and highlight certain aspects of a scene. You can use a white sheet, tin foil, or colored fabric rather than fancy professional equipment to accomplish the same thing. For example, in a Christmas still-life on which I have been working, I am using a gold foil bag underneath the subject to reflect light up, get rid of shadows, and enhance that holiday glow.

I don’t generally use a tripod when I am working outdoors, but the lower level of light indoors makes it a necessity if I don’t want to use a flash. Since I am focused on one general subject in the middle of my table, I don’t mind keeping my camera stationery. When I am in a garden, I prefer to move around without the tripod. (Though, sometimes I will use a tripod outdoors if I have a particularly interesting flower and want to spend a lot of time with it or if the lighting conditions call for a slower shutter speed with a more open aperture.) A tripod allows you to hold the camera perfectly still for long periods of time. You can then keep your shutter open for longer periods without getting any blur from shaking hands.

By Melissa Mannon