My Outdoor Still Life “Studio”

"Plasticware 1"

My last few posts have been about shooting still life images in a studio.  We had a pretty nice day here recently and I decided to try my luck at shooting some still lifes outdoors.  Two things made it somewhat difficult.  First, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and secondly, the plasticware was really old and all scratched up.  If it had been a bright cloudy day, that would have been like shooting with a giant softbox, but the sun this time acted more like a strobe with a reflector.  There is a company named “California Sunbounce” that sells these giant diffusers(usually used in people shots) that you hold over your subject to soften the light, but I don’t have any of these…besides, I wanted to see what I’d get with the bright sunlight.  Of course, a soft diffused light would help out a lot with my second problem which was the terrible condition of the plasticware…something that isn’t really as noticeable until you’re looking at this stuff on your computer.  All of the shots were done on the same surface that you can see on the “behind the scenes” images, but in “Plasticware 2″, I added a textured surface in post-production like I did with my “Donuts and Coffee” images in my most recent blog.  Lastly, I want to point out that I shot the “Eggs” and the “Glassware and Marbles” using HDR.  Everything seemed to work out, and I am happy with the images, but the one thing I learned from this exercise is, when shooting a still life…STAY IN THE STUDIO!

"Plasticware 2"

"Eggs"

"Glassware and Marbles"

"Glassware"

"Behind The Scenes Showing My Outdoor "Studio"

"Behind The Scenes 2"

As usual…hope you enjoyed this!

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