SUMMER SCHOOL 2019 CLASS ONE

SHOOTING STILL LIFE WITH INEXPENSIVE GEAR
Class by Barbara Sherman, Flagstaff, Arizona

 I don’t own much equipment and no studio so my images are often made by a window in the corner of my bedroom using white and black boards, pieces of reflective paper and anything I can put together for a background and sometimes a single speedlite.

I first set up my background board in front of the window so light was coming over the top and around the sides.(It’s an old fence section cut down to a small size and rubbed with chalk).

For this photo, I wanted to have “sparkly” water while lighting the fruit so added a speedlite bouncing off a white wall and back through a diffuser to the left side. A piece of black construction paper was clamped onto the diffuser to flag the light on the left side of the glass so the highlight would be the size I liked. To add some contrast and eliminate reflections on the right side of the glass, I placed a small black card on the right side of the water jug. Notice the jar is sitting on a large beer mug turned upside down so the spigot is at the right height  …Staying cheap here!

I shoot alone most of the time and have found a wireless remote set to a 3-second delay works great. Get in position, hit the remote count to 2 ½, start the action, move your hand quickly out of the way…..REPEAT.

Homemade backgrounds, limited equipment, found space and your imagination and you can shoot anything.