Fabulous landscapes and gritty street shots, exciting new locations and interesting people; these are all wonderful subjects for great photography. But what about when the parks are closed and the city is quiet? Or when landscapes lay truly silent as people are unable to reach them? In this era of social distancing and quarantines, photography has become difficult and many a photographer may be uninspired. I would suggest the humble still life as a way to keep yourself engaged with photography in this difficult time. Still life has been around forever in mediums of all forms, never far from the surface of many artists' great works. Photographers, of course, are no exception in adding to the substantial breadth of work in this genre. Now I know what you're thinking, everything in my house/apartment is boring! (Ok I could be wrong here, I’m sure dear reader your house/apartment is very interesting, but hang with me for a sec)!
Look around and find something that you never really thought about. Maybe a desk piece or something on the shelf from long ago. Any household item will do as well; an object in your kitchen or living room. Now that you have this object find some good light, hell maybe even bad light; this is an experiment! The idea is to make the most of what's around you and to study the way the light interacts with the object that you are photographing. In my case I found a pin cushion, thumbtack bottle, and an ash-tray of nails. I picked harsh natural light coming through my hallway window. For best results a tripod will go a long way in creating a sharp shot. I decided I wanted more depth of field so I shot these images with f5.6 at a 60th of a second at 100iso. In my case I used the Sigma DP2 Quattro due to its sharp lens which is positioned close to the foveon sensor which is known for its fine detail (I’ll explain the foveon sensor in another post). Any camera you have on you will do, I’m only using the Sigma camera because I will be printing these images over 40 inches on the long side.
Pin Forest
Heart Tacks
Spent Nails
I hope this little post has inspired you to create some images of your own! I would love to see what you come up with! In these difficult times connecting with each other will hopefully help keep us all grounded. Stay safe and wash your hands for 20 seconds!
-Michael Pacheco