Creative Still-Life Photography Specialization: Master Lighting and Composition

Introduction

Let's explore still life photography as a fusion of visual arts—blending photography, design, and illustration. You’ll learn to create compelling, symbolic compositions where subtle changes in light and placement can transform simplicity into striking imagery.

2m

Influences | Amy Currell

In this lesson, I’ll share some of the things that influence my practice, including visual reference books.

5m

Influences | Gerard+Belevender

Our influences come from so many places! Here, we'll go beyond our favorite photographers into our favorite films, TV shows, references, and artists, and we'll talk about how experience shapes our work more than a visual reference.

5m

Influences | Daniela Constantini

Many of my creative influences come from the fields of art and photography. I will show you what and who has been a source of inspiration in my work.

5m

Influences | Victoria Jane

In this lesson, I'll show you the influences that have inspired me through my creative journey.

9m

Influences | Littledrill

Now, we would like to talk about our most significant sources of inspiration—different people, places, and things that have influenced littledrill.

6m

Influences | Nicolas Polli

In this lesson, I’ll share some of the artist that influence my practice.

10m

Still Life Photography

Here I'll give you an introduction to the basics of still life and product photography. I'll talk about how to work with fashion products and set design to bring these images to life.

5m

Camera Equipment

In this lesson, I’ll take you through selecting the right camera and lenses.

3m

The Principles of Light

Next, you'll learn the fundamental principles of light and the differences between a soft fill light and a hard light that mimics the sun.

4m

Developing the Concept

Now that you have an understanding of the basics, it's time to start considering your concept. In this lesson, I will discuss the initial stages of framing your idea and developing it into a visual outcome.You will learn how to approach colour and the ideation process using art reference books and choosing your products.

14m

Building the Set

Here I'll demonstrate how to prepare all the necessary elements to photograph the products. First, I'll teach you how to work with the shoes against a beach background. I'll be working in my studio, showing you around and giving you insight into behind-the-scenes tips and tricks.

3m

Setting Up: Lights and Camera

In this lesson, you'll learn how to position the tripod, get the camera connected to the computer, and sync the lights.

4m

Accessory Image Photo Session

To end this unit, I'll take you through all the steps you need to complete to make your image a reality.

3m

Preparing the Set

Here you'll see how to change the elements of the set design to move on to the beauty image.

3m

Lighting the Set

Next, I'll demonstrate the effect of changing the light source to soft light. This is much more beneficial when working with gold or silverware.

2m

The Beauty Image Photo Session

In this lesson, I'll walk you through the necessary steps to complete to capture all the elements you'll need to realise your image.

3m

Curating the Images

In this lesson, you'll see how to go through the first capture session and choose the adequate images.

3m

Balancing Business with the Creative

This lesson is an essential run-through of all the other elements of being a photographer.

6m

How to Generate Original Ideas

In this lesson, we'll show you how we come up with ideas, and we'll give you some tips for a consistent flow of new ideas. Once you've come up with an idea, it's essential to mind map it further to ensure you're exploring all options.

17m

Exploring Ideas through Research

Now that you have your idea, you'll research everything you can about it. You'll look at its history, pop culture influences, personal memories, and anything else related to it.

10m

Creating a Narrative

When you're done researching, it's time to write a narrative statement that captures the mood and concept you're trying to emulate. Here, we'll show you how to do this!

3m

Creating a Mood Board

In this lesson, we'll show you how to set up a mood board with references to the overall aesthetic and any notes you've taken during your research.

6m

Working with Food

In this lesson, we'll discuss all of the various ways you can work creatively with food. You definitely don't need to be a chef! We'll also talk about the food prep you can do beforehand to help your shoot day go smoother and faster.

6m

Setting the Scene in Milanote

Using the narrative and mood board as a guide, it's time to start visualizing what a single photo would look like. You'll be asked questions about your scene that will help you design a set that communicates the narrative statement you made.

7m

Camera Angle, Color Palette, and Lighting

Now we'll teach you how to create a lighting plan and a color palette, and decide on a camera angle for the narrative. These should always be referring back to the narrative statement and mood board.

14m

Set Design and Props

Next, you'll learn how to turn your mood board into a real-life set. We'll explore different ways to build sets and teach you some resourceful techniques. In addition, we'll talk about how to find or make props at home.

14m

Technical Equipment and Settings

In this lesson, we'll talk about the camera gear and lighting that we'll be using to capture the scene.

4m

Setting up the Scene with Tethering

Next, we'll start assembling the set using the mood boards as a reference. In addition, we'll discuss how tethering allows you to compose your scene more easily.

2m

Lighting and Styling

Once the scene has been set, it's time to add in the lighting and style the props to represent the narrative statement.

18m

Shooting the Final Photo

After a few final touches on the scene, we're ready for the photoshoot! In this lesson, we'll show you how to add the last details and capture the photo.

5m

Editing the Final Photo 1

All of our photos will now be loaded into Adobe Lightroom, and we'll review them to choose the best one. Then, we'll discuss how to adjust the basic exposure, color, and sharpness. Next, we'll move to Adobe Photoshop, and open the references to edit the image using color grading, contrast, saturation, and so on.

17m

Editing the Final Photo 2

Last but not least, we'll teach you how to merge the layers in Photoshop and start working on smaller details in order to clean up and finalize the image.

14m

An Inspired Still Life Photograph

Let's start with the preparations to create an inspired still life photograph. Since the biggest inspiration for this project is the work of master painters from the 17th until the 19th century, I like to pay attention to their composition, use of light, and inanimate objects to create my image.

5m

The Composition

In this lesson, I will cover the composition rules I follow to contrive images with unity, balance, and contrast.

3m

Color Theory

I will now talk about color theory and provide you with examples of applied color in my still life work.

3m

Creating a Mood Board

It's really useful to create a mood board, as it can help you know in advance if the colors you are going to work with actually work together. It can also remind you of details that you don't want to forget and it helps you materialize your ideas.

3m

The Materials

To create a still life photograph, it's useful to have additional tools to help you keep objects in place, level different objects, bring in height and different layers, and add details. Some photography props can also help bounce or block light. Let me show you the materials I will use!

8m

The Styling

A big part of the success of a still life will fall within the scope of styling. So, take the time to arrange the object you will photograph, consider the composition rules I covered earlier, and begin to get creative with the arrangement.

13m

Framing and Camera Angles

After the styling is done and all the elements are in perfect symmetry, it's time to frame the scene. As I do so, I will explain the camera lens I use to shoot still lifes and why.

4m

The Lighting

Once I have the set and the framing, I will work on the lighting. I will show you how I usually arrange the lights to achieve the light you have seen throughout my work.

8m

Photoshoot of a Still Life

Now that I have arranged the scene, the styling is done, and I have set the camera and lights, it's time to shoot! The still lifes I build can only be shot from two different angles, a 45-degree angle and a frontal shot. I will demonstrate both and the advantages of having variety.

3m

Selection and Lightroom Adjustments

After the photoshoot, the next step is to select the final image and make some corrections. Let me show you how I start the editing process in Lightroom.

11m

Photoshop and Exporting

Once the necessary adjustments and corrections are done, the image has to be exported for publication, either on social media, on a website, or in print. Here I will share my tips on that.

12m

Publishing, Editing, and Sequencing Your Work

In this lesson, I will briefly cover why sequencing your work is important. Proper space for the proper image: I recommend keeping that in mind.

4m

Gathering Inspiration

In this lesson, you'll learn how to channel and develop your own sense of inspiration, where to look for it, how to source your materials, and a method for exploring and choosing the right flowers for your still life composition.

8m

Sourcing Props

Here you'll learn how to choose and find props that work for shooting your still life scene.

7m

Camera Basics for Natural Lighting Photography

Now it's time to set up your camera. So here you'll learn the basic DSLR camera settings for shooting your still life.

5m

Natural vs Artificial Light

This lesson is all about light: you'll learn the differences between shooting with natural and artificial light for your still life.

2m

Preparing Your Background

In this lesson, you'll learn how to choose a location and background for your still life.

4m

Building Your Still Life

Once you've picked your backdrop, it's time to think about the composition. So let me show you how to build your still life!

7m

Shooting Your Botanical Scene

In this lesson, you'll finally learn how to shoot your botanical scene and how to read just your still life until you reach your final product.

3m

Editing in Lightroom

In this lesson, you'll learn the basic editing tools to help enhance your final image.

14m

Exporting Your Final Images

Once you're happy with the result, it's time to export your final image! I'll show you how to do so in this video.

5m

Preproduction for Your Creative Still Life

In this lesson, we will introduce you to our creative process, starting with brainstorming and putting together a mood board that will guide us through the creation of the project.

9m

Sketching

Next, we will share with you our sketching process that will help you find your concept.

9m

Searching and Building Props

Let's now go over the construction aspect of pre-production and discuss creative solutions for props building.

13m

Building the Prop and Set

First, we will build our backdrop and the "stage" for where we will be styling our props and styling elements.

20m

Styling, Lighting, and Shooting

It's time to shoot! First, we will set up the lighting to work with a DSLR camera. Working with constant light sources means that you can shoot with either a cell phone or a DSLR camera. If you're shooting with a camera, it's still handy to get cell phone shots to share with the client, or on social media.

19m

Shooting and Editing with a Smartphone

Let's now take some pictures with the smartphone. We will also go through some lighting options you can use and show you how to edit the photos on your smartphone.

9m

DSLR Photo Editing

In this lesson, we will show you how we make the overall adjustments, whatever is necessary—crop, adjust levels, color balance, etc. We will go over a few more involved Photoshop techniques.

8m

Detailed Retouching 1

Finally, we will pixel-peep our photo and apply some detailed edits to give the image a clean and finished look.

18m

Detailed Retouching 2

You will see how easily you can execute your creative concepts! We hope that you're now inspired to develop your own unique ideas.

15m

Plan your photo (sketch, moodboard and references)

It’s time to plan your photo for the final project. You will sketch first and then create a moodboard and find references to help you understand how you want to create your composition.

20m

Behind the scenes of a composition

In this lesson I will show you some examples in my practice with the technique of “Showing the results and then showing the behind the scenes”. In this way we can “easily” understand what is behind the construction of an image and how we reach the final image.

13m

Materials for the course

In this lesson we will get ready for the shooting, be sure to have all the essentials in order to be ready to shoot, from A to Z.

11m

Testing the light with a simple still life example composition 1

Before starting to work on our final image, I want to make sure we are technically on the same page! We will learn about lighting in order to understand how flashlights are responding in certain situations.

17m

Testing the light with a simple still life example composition 2

We continue exploring interesting concepts in this part of the lesson. Don’t miss it!

9m

Practicing flashlight with different materials

How flash light reacts with certain surfaces? We will take a picture of a piece of wood, a can and a glass and learn from this experiences o we know how to position the lights and set our camera when we take our final project photo.

9m

Teaching about stacking with life example composition

To finish this unit, we will have a look into the technique of stacking. For this, we will use the exercises from the previous lessons. Let’s dive in!

12m

Scouting for materials (for the subject of your photo)

As you will do for subjects you want to photograph in the case of a portrait, in still life photography is really important to imagine what you want in your picture. In this lesson we will talk about the importance of finding the right materials for your composition.

9m

Setting up your space for our Final Project and Building up your composition 1

And now.. it is time to shoot! In this lesson I will teach you how to prepare the set, the tricks that come with transforming your sketches into a real image, and the hazard that comes once we start really shooting.

20m

Setting up your space for our Final Project and Building up your composition 2

We keep exploring fascinating concepts in this stage of the lesson. Make sure to keep going!

14m

Shooting our Final Project with stacking technique

For the last lesson of our third unit, we will finally build up our composition as now we have all the technical skills we need, as well as a set ready to go. We will build up together our final composition in relation to the sketches, understanding where is important to improvise and what elements/points we need to take into consideration.

19m

Selecting and analyzing the pictures (Adobe Bridge)

In this lesson we will select the images for the final photo, we will separate them between images for the stacking and images for details and we will separate them as well into different stackings. Let’s take a look!

10m

Stacking technique (Helicon Focus software)

Now that we selected the images, it is time to put them together! Stacking is for me the “skeleton” of our final composition, as we normally do this process with the image with the overall best lighting. In this lesson we will use the program Helicon Focus.

4m

Final touches (Photoshop) 1

After stacking the images that need to be attached together is the moment to import your process into Photoshop. This is the main program I use to put the different elements together, as well as prepare the final image, contrasting or working on the lights/colors, in order to finalize our image!

20m

Final touches (Photoshop) 2

We continue delving into interesting ideas in this part of the lesson. Pay close attention!

20m

Final touches (Photoshop) 3

The third part

20m

Final touches (Photoshop) 4

No three without four :)

14m