The Object- Still-Life Lighting Ideas

1. For my first idea I want to use very soft and natural lighting. In the photo I want there to be no harsh shadows and for the shadows that are there I want them to have very soft edges.To get this effect I’m going to use a beauty dish so the light is reflected and then diffused to give it a very soft lighting effect. I’m going to keep the light very close to the objects to make sure the light is soft as possible. I also want a wide spread of light in the image so everything looks even and natural. I was inspired by the following photographers:

Jean-Jacques Bachelier’s ‘Still life of roses in a basket’ inspired me because of the soft lighting. I like how there is no harsh shadows which gives the image a very soft and delicate feel. The low contrast in the image adds to the delicate feel of the photo. A wide spread of light was used in the image as the light is very soft and all very natural.

Robert Mapplethorpe’s still life work also inspired me, I love the softness in his images. Even though there is shadows the images still look very delicate as the edges are very soft. I like Mapplethorpe’s use of tone in his images and how you can see all the detail. To get the same soft effect in my own work I’m going to make sure there is a wide spread of light everything is lit evenly.

The lighting used in Ansel Adam's work also inspired me with my own still-life. His work has a very delicate feel to it as you can see all the detail in every part of the photo. The lighting is very soft and diffused which adds to the delicate feel of the image. The way the shadows in the image are very soft and have no harsh shadows inspired me for my own work, to get this effect I’m going to have the lighting very close to the object.

The tone in Karl Blossfeldt's still-life's work really stood out to me. I loved how the pictures are exposed perfectly so you can still all the detail in the image, even in the shadows. Even though there is quite a lot of shadows in the image the photos are still very soft because of how there is no harsh edges. I think a wide light source was used as the lighting is very even and is very natural, I'm going to use a wide light source in my own work to get the same effect. 

I also want to take some photos using diffused lighting with the first idea set-up. To do this I’m going to use a soft box which has multiple layers of material that diffuses the light. Using this lighting set up stops any shadows because the lighting is so soft. The only contrast which will be in the image will be from the object itself which would mean the image will look very soft. By using a diffuser the saturation will be very reduced in the photo which would mean all your attention will be on the objects and the different tones in the photo. These still-life photographers use diffused lighting which inspired me for my own still-life: 

Edward Weston’s images have a very soft feel to them because of the diffused lighting. The object has no harsh shadows which gives it a delicate feel. I like all the tones in the image as it allows you to see all the texture in the object. The contrast in the image is only from the object and the background itself because of how soft the lighting is. 

The light in Laura Letinsky’s images really inspired me for my own still-life work. The lighting has a very soft feel to it because of the diffused lighting. I like the naturalness of the images and how they have a very realistic feel because of the soft lighting. The diffused lighting desaturates all of the colours in the image which gives a very delicate feel to the photo. Letinsky’s images are of scenes that happen after events, the softness of the lighting gives the scene a very fragile feel especially with the left over food in the image.

1. For my second idea I’m going to be using hard lighting. I want my image to have maximum contrast with no graduations through out it, to give the image a very seductive feel. I also want the images to have very defined and hard edged shadows to give the photo a dark and dramatic feel. To get this effect I’m going to use one light with a honeycomb light modifier to create a harsh lighting effect, so the light comes from a single point light source. 

Pieter claesz is a 17th century Dutch still-life painter. He’s still life paintings have a very dark and dramatic feel because of the hard lighting used. The lighting gives the paintings a very realistic feel to the objects because the harsh lighting allows you to see all the detail and textures in them. The shadows and highlights in the photo also give the objects a very realistic feel. I love the way the foreground is the main section thats lit in the photograph as is it gives a seductive and mysterious feel to the images. I also like the use of the black background as it gives the painting a very dark feel.