How Not To Shoot Still Lifes
To start off, let's first take a look at how not to take still life scenes. (Hint: AUTO should just be something you drive on the road.) Here, we used the Olympus EVOLT E-500 camera primarily because of its ability to shoot in both AUTO and Manual modes. It is important to note, however, that you can get perfectly terrible results with just about any make of camera should you opt to shoot in the AUTO mode.

After returning from the florist with these calla lilies, we put them in a vase and placed them on a table against the wall. Then, we turned the Exposure mode dial to AUTO, activated the built-in camera flash and took a shot (figures 1 & 2).

Perfectly terrible, wouldn't you agree? Then again, the word "terrible" implies that there is at least some element of the image that somehow grabs the attention of the viewer. But not in this case. Nope, the adjective in this result is much more severe: BORING.

Photographing beautiful flowers this way could be compared to playing the piano with winter gloves on. You can probably get the job done, but who really wants to witness it?

Setting Up Simple Studio Lights
To illustrate some basic techniques for lighting these calla lilies, we decided to set up a makeshift shooting space in a small home office (8'x8', 8' ceiling). For lighting, we just used the two lights included in the Photoflex First Studio Product Kit. Each light unit is comprised of a light fixture with a parabolic reflector, a 250-watt bulb, a cord with switch attached that plugs directly into the wall, and an LS-2205 LiteStand (figure 3).

We then brought in a wooden table, set it against the wall and set the vase of calla lilies on it. We set the lights to either side of the set, attached the camera to a tripod and made some adjustments to the camera settings.

Switching To Manual
The first thing we did was deactivate the flash. With the Olympus EVOLT E-500, this simply means pressing the flash down until it clicks into the body. If you are using a different camera, check your owners manual to see how to disable the flash. Next, we changed the Exposure Mode dial to M (Manual) so that we could adjust the shutter speed and aperture settings manually (figure 4).

To learn more about exposure, aperture and shutter speed, check out the Switching To Manual Exposure Mode section of this lesson.

Adjusting White Balance
Lastly, we needed to change the White Balance setting so that the color of our images would be neutral, or color-balanced, with the Tungsten lights we would be using. To change the White Balance setting on the EVOLT E-500, first press the WB button on the back of the camera, then use the arrow keys to select the light bulb icon (Tungsten/3000K). Once selected, press the OK button to set this selection (figure 5).

To learn more about color temperature and White Balance settings, click here.

Positioning Your Main Light
Once the camera was configured, we took one light, turned it on and placed it off to the side to pick up the texture of the flower petals. One of the nice things about working with a continuous light is that you can monitor its effect on your subject as you move it around the set.

Once the light was where we wanted it, we took a few test shots, adjusting the aperture and shutter speed setting for depth of field exposure, and selected this one as optimal (figure 6 & 7). To learn more about depth of field, click here.

As you can see from the result, it is a vast improvement over the earlier shot with the built-in flash. Because the light is raking across from the side, we are able to pick up much more detail in the texture of the petals. This type of angled lighting also helps to render the flowers as having more depth, or as being more three-dimensional.

Still, the shot is fairly high in contrast and you'll notice that the left side of the lilies fall fairly heavily into shadow.

Adding A Second Light
Now many people in this instance would figure that the best way to minimize the contrast and illuminate the left side of the lilies would be simply to add the second light to the other side at roughly the same angle as the first light.

Let's just see what happens when we do this (figure 8 & 9).

The results are interesting. The second light has definitely added more light to the left side of the lilies, but it has also flattened out the overall lighting, as well as the texture in the petals we were getting in the first result. Looking at the shot overall, it's definitely a step up from the built-in flash result, but still rather boring. Also note that the background, while offering some contrast to the lilies, is very flat and uninteresting.

Repositioning The Lights
Next, we decided to turn off the second light momentarily and reposition the first light somewhat to get more of what we were getting in the shot with just one light. We also took some time to reposition the flowers so that they would make a nicer composition in the frame.

Once we had the first light where we wanted it, we then took the second light, brought it closer toward the back, and aimed it directly at the back wall. This second light served two purposes: first to illuminate the wall in such a way as to create a tonal gradient, and also to bounce light off of the wall and into the shadow areas of the left side (figures 10 & 11).

Once the lights were positioned, we took another shot (figure 12).

As you can see from the result, the shot is now much more dynamic. We once again have the detail in the petals, the shadow areas are not too dark, our composition is more interesting, and the gradated background increases the overall sense of dimension.

Creating The Backlit Shot
The adjectives one might use to describe a shot like this last one might be "pleasant", "calming", "pretty"... It's a good exercise to do when you're developing a shot. Leave the room for a minute or two, come back and try to look at the scene or image objectively. What adjectives come to mind? Are these the adjectives you were going for? Remember that the lighting tools you use, and the way in which you use them, will heavily influence the emotional quality of your images.

So let's say that you were looking to change this scene from a "pleasant" one to a "dramatic" one. What would you do? Well, in this case we decided to employ a very effective method called "back lighting" or "rim lighting". Essentially, this type of lighting allows you to light your subject from behind, creating a strong silhouette against the background, picking up any texture that may be visible and rendering the front areas slightly dark in order to create a more dramatic mood (figure 13).

To start, we first turned on the rear left light, pointed it at the back of the lilies and came around front to see how the light was affecting the scene. After making slight modifications to the positioning of both the light and the lilies, we took another shot (figures 14 & 15).

Here's that drama we were talking about. The effect is very graphic, high in contrast, but in all the right ways. Notice how the petals and stems have sharp contrast and separation from the background, giving the shot a rich sense of dimension. Also notice that the slight spill from this single light is giving us an interesting gradation in the background as well.

One Light At A Time
Next, we turned off this light and turned on the right-hand one. We encourage people starting out with artificial lighting to get into the habit of adjusting each light individually. It is much easier to see the effects of one light and make changes to it than when two or more lights are on at the same time. Although this may seem like a hassle at first, you'd be surprised with how much time you can spend chasing your tail with all the lights going, particularly when the lighting elements in your sets get more involved.

Once we had the second light positioned where we wanted it, we took another shot (figures 16 & 17).

Again, very dramatic lighting, but this time from the opposite side. At this point, we were ready to take a shot with both lights on and see what the combined effect would be (figures 18 & 19).

Just the look we were going for. Each of the lights is very effective at illuminating the calla lilies in stark contrast against an elegantly gradated background. And because of their positioning, the lights are not detracting from each other the way they did in figure 7.

Shooting Black & White and Sepia Digitally
Finally, we decided to take a classic approach and shoot some alternative shots in grayscale (black and white) and in sepia tone. The Olympus EVOLT E-500 is well equipped in that it has these and other color selections available with just a few presses of the buttons. No need to "change film"!

To change to Grayscale mode, simply press the Menu button on the back of the camera, use the arrow keys to scroll down to Picture Mode, select Monotone and then press the OK button (figures 20 & 21).

Instant black and white! And because of the dramatic, high contrast lighting, this scene is well rendered in the stark tones of black, white and gray.

To build on this concept but add a little warmth, we decided to try the Sepia option for our final shot (figures 22 & 23).

As you can see from these three final results (figure 24), there are many ways you can develop your shot with respect to mood. The more practiced you become at lighting and camera techniques -- the more you experiment and try different moods -- the better you'll become at creating images you and others will want to print, frame and live with.


Written and photographed by Ben Clay, contributing instructor for Web Photo School.