Continuing on with Still life - plus IGPOTY award

  ( Written October 2020 - just forgot to publish)

One of my goals last year and this year was to get an image awarded in International Garden Photographer of the year (IGPOTY) - Last year I managed to get some shortlisted but none awarded. This year I have managed to get one Highly commended in the Still life category which I am so thrilled about after trying so hard to learn and improve in this genre. This is the commended image below. I will be entering another category this month, so fingers crossed with this too. 

I had been looking  forward to using autumnal items in still life and have certainly utilised found and foraged nature alongside bought food, plants and some bargain items from charity shops/ebay. I think I may have gone over board in making the most of having pumpkins, winter squash, Chinese lanterns and berries etc Ive had my winter squash and pumpkins around a month now and they have kept well, stored in a cool place. 

I have been trying light painting with a small book light and another small led light. It is a little trial and error but I feel like I am getting to grips with it slowly. The 3 images below were light painted - anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds seems to work nicely so far.

Another theme that seemed a natural progression for me, given the pumpkins, autumn theme and my pagan interests is a bit of a Halloween / witchy theme so I produced some along this idea. Candles worked well to light some of  these.

Below are a couple of my favourite autumnal still life images taken in the last month, just using standard studio lighting.

I have tried to concentrate on better composition and tried to keep them reasonably simple

I have tried a few with side lighting which does appeal to me.

Another approach I have played around with is flat lay, both in still life and touching on food photography. Ive mostly used the same items to experiment.  The flat lays are easily set up on a table or floor and photographed with a tripod over head. I have used studio light pointed at the set, then bounced off the ceiling and sunlight coming in from the side as you can see in the first two images of pretty much the same set - the different lighting makes a big difference. Whilst the first image has the down side of looking too busy in my opinion due to the shadows - I also find it more appealing because of the shadows. The seemingly well lit image underneath feels flat in comparison.

This image was the result of sunlight streaming through our blinds, onto a flat lay that I had set up. Whilst its quite bust and composition was not set up for images taken from this angle, I do like the lighting and feel it makes it warm and inviting.

For my flat lays I have used a combination of story telling in some and composition for others. I think I need to get both in one image and also find the lighting style that works best for me. Its amazing how many different images you can create from one basic set up, just swapping a few items. I do like introducing the human element - ie hands holding a drink and intend to try more like this - pouring drinks, cutting bread/food, stirring etc.

These are really amongst my first proper attempts at food photography in flat lay.

I do feel like I am learning and getting somewhere, but still there is so much to learn - especially with food photography. I will stick mostly to still life as I dont have the energy and stamina to be making meals to photograph them, but it is interesting to dabble in.

Lockdown photography - Part 1 Plant life

 Lockdown Photography ideas you can do at home.

As we find ourselves in another UK national lockdown and stay at home order I thought I would try to help motivate others with photography from home/garden as Ive made a bit of an art of doing this in my 14 years of having M.E. I thought I could at least pay it forward with things Ive picked up in my years adapting the way I do photography. Starting with closer up work as that compromises most of what I do. The majority of my photography is taken sat at our dining table with everything I need within reach, to conserve energy.

Macro/Close up - Plants/seedheads/leaves/berries

You dont have to own a macro lens to get up close - you can try macro extension tubes for as little as £20 ( I often use one or two with a 50mm lens or an old Helios lens) or a macro filter that screws or clips onto the end of your lens - I use my partners Raynox 250 and highly recommend it. If you would like to know more about these then do look at my blog post about them. Extension tubes / macro filters blog post You could also look into reversing lenses to get closer.

Plants/seedheads/leaves/berries/branches - from the garden, or snipped whilst on daily exercise, or ordered online. There are so many ways you can photograph plants/flowers/seedheads/pine cones etc - the list is endless - but a few suggestions -

Abstracts

Look for patterns , shape and light, or even colours to experiment with abstract photography

Intentional camera movement - Whilst I use this mostly for trees there is nothing stopping us trying it with plants too.

Backlighting - this can easily be set up at home

Add smoke or mist into your image, using a mini mist maker, or incense sticks, or smoke bombs if outdoors

Use branches, seedheads, berries etc in still life, - I know there arent many flowers in bloom so look for seedheads on your walks - teasels, money plant seeds, pine cones

with reflections ( place in water or on black glass or perspex),

spray water on them, this image is a Pulsatilla seedhead brought inside with water sprayed on

Try a triptych,

Use a light box or lay out your items in a nice arrangement on a surface of your choice for flat lay images, ( I highly recommend pressing flowers and leaves in a book ( or freezing in ice) for future use - especially given the chances that lockdowns may reoccur

Spray leaves/flowers with water and stick them on a window,

Try using shallow depth of field and holding something between the lens and your subject to get a haze/bokeh or place items behind your subject for distanced bokeh ( fairy lights), For the image below I used sparkling fibres blue tacked around the end of my lens which created bokeh as the light hit them.

These two images were obtained by ripping a jagged hole in a sheet of crinkled transparent irridescent material and placing it over the end of my lens

Use crystals and beads in front of your lens to get extra creative effects ( try Lensbaby Omni filters or irridescent materials) The Salvia image below was photographed in the garden with an Omni filter creating the rainbow effect.

This one is taken at my dining table with fairy lights behind

As its winter you could set up seedheads in your garden or on a verge outside by sticking them in the ground and wait for a very frosty morning and capture them covered in frost, or in the snow,

Freeze flowers/leaves in a plastic dish in your freezer and photograph these frozen - maybe backlight them? , or submerge them in water/fizzy water/coloured in a glass dish and snap away.

Or if you have access to one of the vintage lenses such as a Helios or a Meyer optik primoplan , or a Lensbaby lens you could get creative with those. Below are two taken with a Meyer optik primoplan 58 coupled with a macro extension tube

Try spraying water on a stem placed in front of a flower and capture the flower refracted within the droplets. See my blog on the-multiple-personalities-of-plants for more ideas and inspiration, plus kit that is useful.

The images below were taken with an old Helios lens paired with an extension tube ( the lens was only £20)

Both of these dead ferns were photographed sat at my dining table with different backgrounds, the top one had a lovely green glass vase behind it and the bottom one had a gold reflector in the background - just use what you have at home - you will be surprised at the results. Or if you want ready made backgrounds there are so many beautiful ones you can but online - Ive produced a large range myself which I print out and place on boards behind my subjects - email me if you would like to purchase some Textures

Add textures to your floral/plant life images - below is an example of my own textures on one image.

Get as close as you can 

Try focus stacking - this image was taken with a macro lens plus extension tubes and a borrowed Raynox 250. camera on a mini tripod, 36 images stacked in a free trial of Helicon software. Its a Tulip stamen, photographed on our dining table.

Photograph insects on your plants

I hope this gives a few ideas to start with, please watch for more to follow in the coming days, staying with macro and close up ideas :)