UTILISE STUDIO LIGHTING
Take control of your lighting with a creative studio setup
The main advantage of using studio lighting for still life photography is the control. Using just a basic two-head kit and a small array of diffusers it is possible to create a wide variety of looks and styles. Softboxes are great to give a soft but directional and controlled amount of light to your subject.
A backlight is essential for most shoots to really make an image pop, but this can also be done by reflecting back the key light. I like to have my key light coming from behind and then reflect back onto my subject from the front to create a soft fill with subtle tones and detail. Umbrellas are great for lighting up the whole scene with huge bursts of soft lighting, or for more control you could use a snoot to pinpoint specific areas of the composition to be lit, which is great for backlighting too.
I like to use a grid attached to a beauty dish as my key light, which gives me the
Old Masters’ low-key lighting I desire. If you are new to studio lighting then take time to experiment. Choose a few simple objects and just play with the lights and composition. Try all angles and directions and see what you like and whether it creates the mood you are after. Remember there is no right or wrong when you are being creative. Research styles by looking at still life paintings and photography and learn techniques from the best.
Shooting commercially can be very different. More often than not I will be asked to shoot sharp, clean images onto white for simple product photography for catalogues and online shops. There are many ways this can be done, but I like to use a white box tent placed on top of a light box table. I can light the tent from underneath, behind, from the sides or from above with the studio heads. Set up the camera on a tripod to make sure that every similar product in the shoot is shot at the same angle and height.