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still life photography

A super simple 2-light setup for shooting still life photography

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Big-shock I know. A coloured gel lighting technique from me is hardly surprising, but this time I’m scaling things down and today I’ll be sharing a super simple 2 light setup for still-life.

To be clear, I’m a million years away from being an even remotely good still-life photographer, but I thought I’d share this quick little setup as I had a few questions about some shots I shared in a recent article. Plus, if I, a know-nothing portrait and fashion shooter can throw together this still life setup, anyone can do it.

Food photographers, upgrade your modifiers before you upgrade anything else

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You’ve been into photography for a while, you’ve upgraded your skills, and it’s time to upgrade your gear. If you ask me, that’s always exciting, but it can also be stressful: what should you upgrade first? In this video, Scott Choucino discusses this topic and helps you choose between your lens, camera, light, or modifier. And to some of you, the answer may be surprising.

How still life came to photography

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A while back, I had another roundtable discussion at the Film Photographers Association. This time the subject was Still Life Photography. It is a genre we all take for granted and include in it a great variety of photographs. I would like to explore the origins of still life in painting, how it came to photography, and eventually expanded in coverage and scope. Mind you, I do not intend to limit anyone’s vision but to make the reader a bit more aware of the origins of still life. And, by no means, is it the last word on the subject.

Make your own DIY diffusion panels for still life photography

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Light diffusion panels cost very little when you make them yourself, and to do so is very simple. I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked about diffusion panels and where I am getting them from. The ones I use in my studio have all been custom-made to fit my needs, and I’ll show you just how to make your own one below.

Neuroscientist Take On Photography Is Hypnotic And Gruesome At The Same Time

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Having recently stumbled across the work of Scientist and Fine Art Photographer Dr Eran Gilat I immediately fell in love with it.

Some may find his subject matter a little bit weird or creepy, but it definitely hits the spot for me from both aesthetic and technical standpoints.  Perhaps that’s because it’s a little bit weird and creepy, but without the horror glorification that you often see in other images of the same subjects.

We reached out to Eran, to get a little more insight into the work and the man himself.

DIY: Reuse A TV Wall Mount As An Overhead Camera Mount

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Here is a nice hack for making an overhead camera rig. If you are doing video tutorials, crafts videos or just need an overhead camera for still life, there is always the question of how to mount the camera. A with the standard tripod setup, you have a bit of an angle, and while you can go this route, there are easier solutions (what was I thinking back then….)

The team at Lensvid used a TV wall mount, which is kinda genius because TVs are heavy and should not move, just like camera. Those are not too pricey and a decent one will set you back about $25. That will get you secured to the wall. The other half is to connect the end of the arm to the camera. Lensvid opted for a VESA to 5/8″ Receptacle + El-BO arm, but I think a magic clamp and magic arm combo would be just as efficient.

6 Photographers Demonstrate the Evolution of Creativity and Inspiration

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A short while ago we shared a fascinating video about the power of perspective and how 6 photographers captured the same person, playing changing characters, completely differently.

It was a brilliant experiment, but it left me wanting to see how different photographers would capture the same character or object.

The next video in the series, ‘The Lab – Evolution’, isn’t exactly what I was hoping to see but brings us one step closer as a group of six photographers all receive the same everyday objects and photograph them together.

While the previous video was about perspective, this one is all about creativity and inspiration and they evolves.

DIY: A Quick And Sturdy Still Life Table Top

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When you want to shoot a piece of jewelry or a beer can or a wine bottle or just about any product there is a good chance you will be using a table top. Table top, as the name implies, is a flat top that you can put stuff on. We’ve shown various table tops on several projects here; a piece of glass and a granite tile were two of the more popular ones. But what if you need something sturdier. Sturdy enough to place things on, yet, flexible enough so it neatly stores away and does not take any space when unused.

Alex Koloskov of Photigy.com shares a pretty neat hack (or mod) to create an easy-to-store, easy-to-use table top. His trick using a baby plate, originally used for mounting strobes on walls to attach a top to a light stand – aside the stand, those plates are as cheap as $10 to $35 depending on the brand and specific model.

3 Lighting Setups (And 2 Tips) For Tasty Beverage Lighting

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I was inspired by Allen Mowery’s post on creating fake Ice cubes for beverage photography, but after a month I still can’t find clear craft beads here in my country. While I am trying to find those clear craft beads I wanted to share a tutorial with some tricks and lighting techniques you can use for non-fake-ice beverage shots. So here are 3 different lighting techniques for shooting tasty beverages.

A DIY Approach To Tabletop Smartphone Photography

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While some think that smartphone will take over cameras almost completely, I disagree. I think ‘real’ cameras are here to stay. What I do think is that smartphones are making photography much more accessible to the masses. The saying ‘if you have a smartphone you are now a photographer’ is probably truer than ever. And while owning a camera-equipped phone (or a camera for that matter) does not make you a good or a bad photographer, there are a few tricks that you can use to up your results using a smartphone.

I was kinda surprised when Alex Koloskov released a new product photography course (because usually he is all about high end mega $$$ strobes), but with a healthy DIY approach Alex manages to make it work. And work quite nice at that….

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