Blue439
New member
Hello everyone,
The admins have been kind enough to accept my proposal to create a new category forum devoted to tabletop photography. I suggest we outline the scope of this genre on the basis of the definition of a still life:
A. one or several items
B. arranged in a composition by the photographer (as opposed to, for example, found by chance on the stall of a street vendor), and
C. lit either naturally or artificially, or both.
The items in the composition shall be inanimate, which may include cut (or dry/dead) flowers or foliage but not flowers or foliage still in the ground. Dead animals may also be included: said like that, it sounds macabre, but think about all those “post-hunt” still lifes by the Dutch masters... The composition may also comprise only objects, as opposed to natural organisms. Of course, we may revise the definition whenever we deem it appropriate to keep up with things!
Tabletop photography can be appealing in several respects. According to your inclination, it can mean sprawling compositions including many objects arranged on a large dining table, or very small ones shot with a macro lens. You can choose to photograph old objects meaningful to you and your personal history, or branch into “pack shot”, i.e., product photography of modern and sleek items. In any case, you shoot on a table, which means indoors, which means this can be done regardless of the weather and without leaving your comfortable slippers if you don’t want to. Oh, and you’re not really restricted to a table: if you want to set up your composition on the floor because it’s easier, you can do that too! And if your health is not great at the moment, this is a kind of photography you can most likely still practice and enjoy!
Tabletop photography also allows you to try your hand at shaping the light, or even creating your own: use natural light but diffuse it using sophisticated scrims... or a simple bed sheet! Use small LED lights, desk lamps, bedside lamps, cobra flashes, etc. Cut out white or black cardboard pieces and learn to bounce light off of them... and do all this in the quiet comfort of your home, without having to go anywhere! While remaining within the concept defined above (the still life), there are no limits but those of your imagination. As an added bonus, there are tons of free tutorials (some better than others) on Youtube to teach you the basics of tabletop photography.
I hope this will sound enticing to as many forum members as possible, and I look forward to beholding your photos!
Dominique
The admins have been kind enough to accept my proposal to create a new category forum devoted to tabletop photography. I suggest we outline the scope of this genre on the basis of the definition of a still life:
A. one or several items
B. arranged in a composition by the photographer (as opposed to, for example, found by chance on the stall of a street vendor), and
C. lit either naturally or artificially, or both.
The items in the composition shall be inanimate, which may include cut (or dry/dead) flowers or foliage but not flowers or foliage still in the ground. Dead animals may also be included: said like that, it sounds macabre, but think about all those “post-hunt” still lifes by the Dutch masters... The composition may also comprise only objects, as opposed to natural organisms. Of course, we may revise the definition whenever we deem it appropriate to keep up with things!
Tabletop photography can be appealing in several respects. According to your inclination, it can mean sprawling compositions including many objects arranged on a large dining table, or very small ones shot with a macro lens. You can choose to photograph old objects meaningful to you and your personal history, or branch into “pack shot”, i.e., product photography of modern and sleek items. In any case, you shoot on a table, which means indoors, which means this can be done regardless of the weather and without leaving your comfortable slippers if you don’t want to. Oh, and you’re not really restricted to a table: if you want to set up your composition on the floor because it’s easier, you can do that too! And if your health is not great at the moment, this is a kind of photography you can most likely still practice and enjoy!
Tabletop photography also allows you to try your hand at shaping the light, or even creating your own: use natural light but diffuse it using sophisticated scrims... or a simple bed sheet! Use small LED lights, desk lamps, bedside lamps, cobra flashes, etc. Cut out white or black cardboard pieces and learn to bounce light off of them... and do all this in the quiet comfort of your home, without having to go anywhere! While remaining within the concept defined above (the still life), there are no limits but those of your imagination. As an added bonus, there are tons of free tutorials (some better than others) on Youtube to teach you the basics of tabletop photography.
I hope this will sound enticing to as many forum members as possible, and I look forward to beholding your photos!
Dominique
) from my wife’s worktable. I liked the various shapes and colors, and the challenge here was both to light them to try and achieve a natural light look (whereas none of it is natural), and to have the threads in focus while leaving the fabric in the background slightly blurred. I chose a median aperture value of ƒ/6.3, which wasn’t very successful, as the tread on the smaller spool is not really tack-sharp.
