For great still life photography, keep it simple.

I will readily admit, still life photography is not a style I practice a lot. It can, however, be an interesting and rewarding type of photography, especially for beginners. Still life photography doesn’t require a lot of fancy or expensive equipment. You don’t need a big studio; it can be done in your own house with everyday objects as subjects or props and you can create wonderful and creative images with a little thought and planning.

Still life is defined by the Tate Museum Glossary as “anything that does not move or is dead.” The French term for still life is nature morte meaning dead nature; we are going to define it as an arrangement of everyday inanimate objects most often arranged in small groups. Versatility is an important characteristic of still life photography; any inanimate object can become a focus for this style of photography; flowers, food, books, candles all make good subjects.

We can classify still life photography into two categories: found and created. Found still life is exactly what you would expect. You go for a walk and find a natural grouping of objects that make a good still life picture. As a photographer, you don’t have total control of the composition, lighting, background or grouping in this instance. We are much more familiar with the second category: the created still life. These are the ones we most see in photographs and artist paintings. As a photographer, you have much more control over a created still life. You control the subject, the lighting, the backdrop and the grouping of the subjects. You have complete artistic control of the composition, and this is why it is a good genre for beginning photographers.

If you are a novice in still life photography, start simply using just a few objects for your composition. Be selective in your color choices; don’t blend too many colors. Avoid crowding your composition; make effective use of negative space. Negative space creates a calming mood to pictures, and that is usually the mood we want to create with still life photos. Stage your subjects to direct the eye through the picture.

Remember the Rule of Thirds, and frame your shot with the aid of the grid lines in your camera. An effective technique is to shoot the subject by placing it on different grid intersections in selecting the best composition. Another consideration for still life photography is the Rule of Odds. If you have a choice between using an even or odd number of subjects in your composition, choose the odd number. For whatever reason, odd numbered subjects are more pleasing to the eye.

Good lighting is essential to great still life photography; whenever possible use natural light. A great way to enhance your pictures is to use suitable backdrops and reflectors. Go to the craft store and buy poster board in different colors; look for soft fabric pieces such as velvet to diffuse or reflect light. Find old boards that have a rustic color with wear patterns to add texture to your photos. Be imaginative and creative. Use these backdrops to experiment with monochromatic still life photography.

Monochromatic photography is an artistic expression of the photographer. Monochromatic photography is used to create specific moods and feel in the photograph. It is a picture with similar colors but with a slightly different hue or tint, for example, a white flower with a white backdrop. A difference in hue or tint prevents the flower from being lost in the background, but the picture has a clean, soft feel t the image. Texture can be used in the editing process to separate the primary subject from the background and add interest and detail to the picture.

The important thing about created still life is to experiment. Move things around; take shots from different angles; shoot at different times of the day with different lighting conditions; change the background; be artistically creative and most importantly have fun.

There is no reason not to try still life photography; there are all kinds of props around the house, it isn’t expensive, and you don’t have to travel to participate. Grab your camera, grab your props, find a good shooting spot and start clicking.

This is the last of an eleven part series on photographing flowers. We hope you have found it interesting, informative and improves your flower photography. If you have any questions or comments about any of the articles or about photographing flowers, contact me at cliffblackerby@gmail.com. To find previous articles in this series; check the MCMGA website, Blog archives.

 

Written by Cliff Blackerby, May 2020.

Today more than ever pollinators need our help.  Whether you are a farmer, large land manager, or a home gardener, you can attract pollinators to visit your area when you decide to plant essential habitat and food sources that pollinators need.

Who pollinators are

Pollinators are not just bees, but include butterflies, moths, birds, beetles, wasps, flies, and even small mammals. These creatures depend on pollen as a food source and spend their time visiting plants and collecting and depositing pollen. We can help them, and in turn they help us by pollinating crops for food we eat and between 75%-95% of all flowering plants. (pollinator.org)                                                                    

Why pollinators are so important

Not only do pollinators provide pollination services for our flowers and plants and crops worldwide, they also help support our ecosystems. These ecosystems include critical resources for clean air, stabilization of soil, and other wildlife. A healthy pollinator community also helps support our native bird population as well as other animals that are part of the natural food chain.

 

Pollinator populations are changing. Many pollinator populations are in decline. According to the National Park Service website (nps.gov), the reasons for the decline include – habitat loss, use of pesticides, planting of non-native species, urban development, climate change and parasites and diseases.

 

 

 

 

Making small changes can have a big impact, but we need to act.

What we can do to help pollinators

• Plant more native plants and trees
• Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides
• Spread the word about pollinators
• Conserve resources and reduce your impact

For more information about pollinators and how to help them, here are a few resources:

The Xerces Society: https://www.xerces.org/pollinator-conservation
National Wildlife Federation: https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Habitats
Native Plant Society of Texas https://npsot.org/wp/resources/finding-natives/

“The best-laid plans o’ mice an’ men gang oft agley.”

Robert Burns

I am a true testament to Bobby Burns’ poem. I’ll tell you why.

Last December, with a slight case of ennui, I decided to correct my lazy ways and get busy for the spring growing season. Spurred on by a YouTube video on “DYI Grow Light Operation,” I purchased a section of 2” PVC, cut it to proportions, glued the pieces together, added a regular LED bar suspended from an adjustable chain, and voila! I had my own grow light.

I might mention that even with hand tools, I cannot cut a straight line. With electric devices, I am dangerous to a fault. That’s one of the reasons I love gardening. I can cover a multitude of sins with mulch. Crooked cuts are a different story.

I was proud of my work, and my wife, who has forbidden me to use any electric tools to cut, shape, or build anything, under pain of bodily harm, actually approved of my handiwork. (I secretly used a circular saw to cut the PVC, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt me – unless she reads this post or one of you tells her about it. Please be discreet.)

Well, in January, I planted about 30 tomato seeds.  I also put in some eggplant and cayenne pepper seeds.

A word about Cayennes. The etymology of the word is uncertain. Some believe it came from the Old Tupi language in Brazil, while others believe it originated from Guiana – as in French Guiana. Some, however, say that French Guiana was named after the pepper, so I suppose it comes to which came first, the chicken or the pepper, to mix metaphors.

I keep a spray bottle of rainwater (collected from my rain barrels) infused with a liquid organic fertilizer made of fish emulsion, kelp, and other ingredients. This I use to fertilize my burgeoning seedlings.

It is also my habit to keep a spray bottle of bleach on my shelf to sterilize my pruners, my knife, and any other tool that might need disinfecting.

Both are clearly labeled, and I keep them in separate locations…usually. I think you can guess where this is going.

Arriving home late one evening after giving a gardening talk a couple of hours drive away, exhausted and hungry, I first went to spray my little seedlings, now about four inches tall, with my bottle of nutrients.  The garage was dark, except for the grow light. I reached for the bottle of fertilizer and began to spray my little children.

Fish emulsion has a distinctive odor.  I realized though that the liquid I was spraying on my little darlings did not smell like fish emulsion. Instead, it had a distinct aroma of bleach. Unfortunately, the seedlings received a liberal dose of bleach.

How I grabbed the bleach instead of the fish emulsion, I have no idea. Perhaps my brain synapses malfunctioned. Both bottles were clearly labeled. More likely, it was due to my short attention span and sometimes muddled thinking. I tried to rectify the situation by quickly drenching them with water, but that proved to be hopeless.

Anyway, all my babies died, and I am guilty of tomatocide, as well as peppercide and eggplanticide. Perhaps the Great Solanaceae God will forgive me for my lapse in judgment. Although I hope this is true, I think I noticed some angry looks from other members of that family, growing in my backyard – especially from the Brugmansia, Night-Blooming Jasmine, Nicotiana and Datura.

Should I lock my bedroom door?