Still Life Photo Tips - How to Take Great Pictures

Still life photography has many uses. Perhaps you want to take a photograph of a beautiful bowl of fruit or perhaps you have learned that an important key to eBay success is uploading quality photos of your products. Other reasons for learning still life photography may include selling still life photograph downloads at microstock sites or to food magazines. No matter what your reason, still life photography is a great skill to learn.

The subject for still life pictures are endless unless you have to take a specific product for a photo shoot. Fine art still lifes aren't limited to just apples and grapes. Even something like artfully arranged spools of thread can be interesting and visually appealing. Microstock sites like Shutterstock and iStock that cater to commercial users have a high demand for all sorts of still life, often of very simple objects, like a cup of coffee or a key.

In one way, still life photography is a lot easier than other forms of photography like landscape, sports or pet photography. With still life pictures, you can arrange the objects exactly how you want them and have full control over the photo's composition.

Often times, high quality still life photos can be challenging to capture. Because still lifes are taken up close, it's easy to see imperfections on your subject that you would normally never see.

Despite its challenge, using basic photography skills and the following tips, you can create quality still life pictures.

Lighting for Still Life Photography

With most professional photographers, they use a light box or soft box to take their still life photos. However this isn't absolutely necessary as you will see in a moment, but it can be a big help. However, if you do want one, you can find a soft box online or you can easily make one using instructions you find online. The purpose of these lighting tools is to provide even light on the subject.

Another way to get good lighting is to shoot outside using natural light. In fact, a high overcast (bright overcast) sky creates a soft box effect where you get good lighting without the harsh shadows.

Composing Still Life Pictures

Arrange your objects in a pleasing composition. You should consider using classical composition techniques like "leading lines," "frame within a frame" or the "rule of thirds" to ensure your picture is well composed. Arrange the items artfully and use your imagination to get the exact placement that you want. For example, if you're taking a picture of an apple try taking a bite out of it to give it some added interest.

Fill the Frame with Your Still Life Subject

Remember, the only thing that should be in your viewfinder or on your preview LCD screen is your composition. Remove any clutter and get up close with your camera. What if there's a background you don't want? The soft box or light box solves this issue, but if you are shooting outside, here's something you can do: place a piece of white foam board or piece of material behind your subject, and voila - no more distracting background. Be sure to use Macro mode so that you get a sharp image.

Look for a Good Angle - and Shoot!

Instead of shooting from your height, hold the camera so that it is level with your subject. Then take some shots from varying angles.

Hopefully these tips have provided you some helpful information on taking still life photos that you can start putting to use immediately.