Garden Portraits Newsletter, August 2006
Natural Light Still Life Photographs
When I'm not outdoors photographing -- when the weather is poor or when I'm inspired by an object or floral bouquet -- I take my work indoors. Indoors, I still work with natural light. The light in the eastern sun room window of my house is nicely diffused in the afternoon. The exact perfect time to photograph in this room is dependent on the season. I aim to include flowers in all the work I do. I still work with serendipitous delight - preferring to discover as I create my art, rather than planning every pose.
Setting up plants indoors gives me more flexibility to pick the "proper" angle at which to photograph them. I set up my tripod and move single potted plants around in circles on my "studio" table (a folding card table) trying to find the plant's best side. I take single blooms and do the same or cluster them with other single blooms and leaves to make an arrangement. I sometimes use objects to play off the flowers, as I am doing now in the holiday card series on which I am working.
I start with colors and objects that I think will look nice together. I sometimes have an idea of how I will set them up together, but more often than not, I use serendipity to start arranging objects and then see what comes of it. As I look at an arrangement and snap away, I start to reposition one object at a time, ending up with a totally different arrangement than the one with which I started. I use different backdrops and table cloths. And sometimes, I bring in new objects from my personal things when an idea hits. The objects with which I start are usually purchased especially for the occasion and become part of my treasures for future still lifes. I usually take about 50 photographs in an hour when I work this way. I usually come up with two or three that I really like and perhaps one special treasure. I have had three sessions of holiday still like this in the past week and only have one photo that will make it to my Christmas cards.
Lighting an indoor scene is very different from catching the proper light outdoors. I don't generally use a tripod when I am working outdoors, but the lower level of light indoors makes it a necessity. I also work more slowly and methodically indoors. I am more likely to use reflectors and diffusers to balance the light and highlight certain aspects of a scene. Since I am focused on one general subject in the middle of my table, I don't mind keeping my camera stationery. When I am in a garden, I prefer to move around without the tripod. Though, sometimes I will use a tripod outdoors if I have a particularly interesting flower and want to spend a lot of time with it or if the lighting conditions call for a slower shutter speed with a more open aperture. I will even use artificial light when the light levels are particularly low, for example, if I have decided to work at the wrong time of day to take advantage of the lighting in the sun room. For artificial lighting, I use my sunlamp which does a great job of imitating the sun for my moods and for my flower images.
This kind of work seems worlds apart from my children's portraiture and outdoor garden photographs, but they are all related in that the main goal is to capture a spirit of discovery and to emphasize a love of nature and found beauty. I hope that you enjoy my creations!
