Skyline High School Digital Photography I: Lesson 9- Still-life Photography

Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. It is the application of photography to the still life artistic style. An example is food photography. This genre gives the photographer more leeway in the arrangement of design elements within a composition compared to other photographic genres, such as landscape or portrait photography. Lighting, framing and background are important aspects of still life photography composition.

A still life can be a lot of fun. Choose items you love, ones that represent a celebration or do a color theme. It is up to you. You decide. Remember that the Still Life needs to be a reflection of you so make sure that there is story and that the composition is WELL BALANCED and COMPOSED.

There are many amazing Still Life Photographers. Please explore the artist blow for inspiration. Some great still life photographers I recommend are: Sam Kaplan, Emilie Blincoe, Jan Groover, David Ashman, Matthew Benson, Sandy Skogland, Edward Weston, Dina Belenko, Mikkel Jul Hvilshoj Holly Lackner and Christina Greve.

Other Still Life Photographers include Paul Outerbridge, Paul Stran, Andre Kertesz, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Josef Sudek, Sharon Core and Martin Parr. These photographers had an exhibit "In Focus: Still Life" 2010. The catalog can be viewed here: http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_still_life/focus_still_life_checklist.pdf

Great article about creating a Still Life: https://www.creativebloq.com/photography/still-life-photography-1131688

Flat Lay photography article: https://expertphotography.com/flat-lay-photography/

Another great tool is to watch the video "7 Secrets To Creating Beautiful Still Lives iPhone Photos."

How to Make Homemade Background by Christina Greve.

For this Project you will use 4 images per Still Life Set for a total of 20 images to be posted on your weebly portfolio. First, edit the 4 best images per your 5 Still Life sets. Next you will use the chart on the handout of the 15 different Artist Filters. You will use 3 filters per Still Life set.

Make sure to title each image differently and indicate what filter you used.

Still Life Artist Statement

A still life photographer makes pictures rather than simply takes them. The photographer has control over every aspect of the scene. It requires the photographer to preplan the image and set it up. Think composition. Make it dramatic. Make the viewer really see the objects in a new way.

Your WILL WRITE 5 artist statements. One for each STILL LIFE. They need to be a minimum of 5 sentences in which you describe how you set up your still life, what is the still life and why is it important for you to document through photography.

You need a total of 50 photos of which 20 are edited and 20 (4 of each Still Life is posted on your weebly.com per approval.) Save all 50 images to your Still Life Folder. Post 4 images of each Still Life to your Weebly. Make sure to edit in Photoshop (Adjustments- start with curves first and use the other functions contrast, balance, exposure and vibrancy sparingly).

Out of the 4 edited images per Still Life you will apply one of the 15 Filters found in the Filter Gallery and one of the Artistic Filters to 3 of these (per Still Life). The 15 you will need to apply are: Colored Pencils, Cutout, Dry Brush, Film Grain, Fresco, Neon Glow, Paint Dabs, Palette Knife, Plastic Wrap, Poster Edges, Rough Pastels, Smudge Stick, Sponge, Underpainting and Watercolor. Each Artistic Filter can be used once and you will need to explore the options further with Brush Strokes, Distort, Sketches, Stylize and Texture.