Still Life Part Deux

Back on February 19th, I posted about creating still lifes. Today I want to walk you through one of my still life sessions. This session took about 30 minutes and included 45 photographs. There are three photos that I will likely print. This was a good session. I often only end up with one photo and the sessions often take longer than this did. I am going to show you some selected images from the session. I was inspired by some standard supermarket tulips and the early spring light that shines through my dining room window. My house is filled with large windows, so I am often stuck by light at a particular time of day while I'm sipping tea or playing dolls with my daughter. I think, "Hmmm, I must capture this light in some way..." And off I go with an idea.

I started with the idea that I wanted to incorporate an old tulip photo with a live tulip arrangement, based on my "Art in Bloom" blog posting two days ago. As I shoot, the idea changes. I get new inspiration from what I'm doing and get into a bit of a groove. The arrangements I did with the framed image included a vase of flowers and sometimes two. I've posted my favorite from a series of about ten where I moved the vases around to all different positions to find the spot where I liked it best.

Then the idea morphed. I used a bowl to prop my photo. this bowl eventually came out from behind the photo and became an element in the picture.

I soon decided that I wanted the emphasis to be on the simple flower vase, the white wall, and the lighted window. I added some blue cloth to change the color palette so that it would complement the flowers and brighten the picture. I keep about ten different fabrics on hand to use as backgrounds, swags, and cloths just for this purpose.

I then chose to emphasize the vertical aspect of the flowers and window by turning the camera. These are the final products.