Black and White Still life
35mm SLR, 100mm
f-2.8 macro lens, Kodak T-Max 100, Bogen tripod and ball head.
One photo flood. Incident metering with Minolta Auto Meter IIIf, 1/8 sec at f-8. Manual
exposure mode and manual focus.
You have great freedom when it comes to
photographing still life in your studio. You set up the still life, control light, and
need only simple equipment to take photographs. The actual photographic process is much
easier than the set up. Any person with the basic knowledge of photography can produce
well exposed shots and control light. The difficult part is the set up. Set up requires
patience in selecting the objects that relate to each other and their arrangements. I'm
more comfortable photographing outdoors where objects are present and all I have to do is
to create a nice composition out of a scene and calculate the right exposure. I think
easier if objects are already present. I find the best spot, select my lens, and look
inside the viewfinder to see if I need to change composition. Still life on the other
hand, is about you not just creating the photograph, but also creating your subject.
Combine this with black and white and it gets more difficult.
We see in color which makes photographing in color much easier. We can instantly relate to
objects. There is nothing unusual about a blue sky or green grass. In black and white
photography, everything looks unreal. If you are setting up a still life for color
photography, you need to make sure objects and colors relate to each other. All you have
to do is look through the viewfinder and add or remove objects. Not so in black and white.
Objects still must relate to the rest of the scene, but how they will look in the final
black and white print in terms of contrast is the main consideration. I have shot all
kinds of still life in color and black and white, in and out of the studio. I must admit
that I failed to make a successful shot 80 percent of the time when I shot in black and
white. I would shoot the same scene in color with perfect result, but the images weren't
satisfactory in black and white. Contrast and exposure were the main problems. I would
spent hours in the darkroom to solve the problem with no success. After many failures, I
now know how most colors will look in black and white under different lights.
Start with a simple set up and minimum of objects unless you know exactly what you intend
to do. Don't worry about light and exposure for now. Once you find the best setting, start
by moving your lights around and looking through the view finder. A simple photo flood and
reflectors will work fine. A second light can be used to fill in shadows or to control
contrast. Use lights one at a time and use only lights you absolutely need. Now you need
to think in black and white. Look at each object and try to envision how they will appear
in black and white. This is the toughest part. You may want to shoot a test roll by moving
your main light around and also using filters. You can produce some unusual effects by
using filters. You can lighten an object by using a filter the same color as the object or
darken it by using a filter that absorbs the color of the subject. As for equipment, any
camera will do just fine as long as you have options to change its settings. A 50mm or
85mm lens will be your main lens, or any zoom that covers this range. Film choice is your
choice. I prefer T-Max 100, but you should try several types and pick the ones you like
best. I also strongly recommend printing your own pictures. You'll have full control over
final result. How to set up and arrange a shot will be up to you. That is the area where
artists are separated from the rest.
| Recommended reading:
Black and White Photography : A Basic Manual Synopsis A photography instructor guides individuals in the mechanics of taking, developing, and printing black-and-white pictures.
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