Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Photography - Still Life and Shaping

Light, Shadow, Shape

Natural light helps shape the image as does the shaded areas. Each pear reacts differently to the highlighting. Still life studies have been used by many artists to make an object appear three dimensional in a two dimensional representation (a sketch or painting).

Natural light coming from the side:

Pears, a study in light by DG Hudson, Image 1

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Looking from above, we see how the trio of pears vary individually in their response to light, shadow, and the reflection in the window. We see colour in the objects but the reflections show mostly green, like a ghost image.

Lighting from side reveals details on top of object:


Pears and Natural  Lighting - by DG Hudson, Image 2

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Pears in sunlight. Bartlett Pears. The shading and light which define an object are easy to see. Keep this in mind when photographing any subject. What will be in shadow and what will be in bright light? When the object has light behind it (back-lighting) you may need to use another light source to fill the main subject. In daylight this is occasionally needed.


Extreme closeup of whole objects
Light comes from side and above


Pears, Close-Up with Lighting by DG Hudson, Image 3



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Do you search for objects or location images to photograph? Are you a fast photographer just trying to capture a moment in time, or are you trying to satisfy an artistic urge? Do you take photos with a camera or with your smartphone, or a device other than a camera?

Reality: most people nearly always have their phone in hand, but not a camera. . .

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Please leave a comment to let me know you were here and I'll respond. Thanks for dropping by, posts are updated as time permits.  These posts about photography are to help those who like taking images but need a few basics about the composition, lighting and placement of objects, location and various subjects. 

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