Still Life shooting is a lot of fun, and a relaxing way to practice our craft. For this image I used a very simple and classic still life setup.

The image was to be used for a full page in a brochure and will have a headline and copy over the top half. It was important to have the lighting make the shot and it came to me in a layout from the AD. We put the image together leaving space for tightly designed copy and headline, but still with a feeling of a stand-alone still life.

I spent a few hours locating the props and we found the painting at a local second hand art store. The other props were gathered from a friend who is a painter.

I wanted to show the texture on the painting as well as the paint on the cloth. I also wanted the brushes to be so sharp and alive that they were hyper-real. Shooting on a large 4×5 camera, I knew I would have the sharpness, so I lit for the highlights.

I brought a large softbox in from the top of the image and then carefully added modifications around it so that the texture and integrity of the image would be maintained. You can see the black flag at the top of the set casting a faint shadow across the top of the image to give it depth. In the front I added another black card so that the feeling of vignette would be a little more powerful.

I needed a small black card to block the light at the top of the softbox to help the front go slightly darker and found that it also would make the brushes too dull. I then added a small card right over camera to reclaim the brushes by reflecting in the metal and adding some fill to the handles and fibers.

It is very important to keep the camera lens from flaring, and also to make sure that the focus is as deep as the image. I tilted the lens toward the plane of the image to maintain a deep focus.

Toyo 4×5 camera, Schnieder 90mm lens, Ekatchrome 100.