Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Frugal Still Life #2

In our Frugal Still Life class (which will be offered as a self-paced class beginning in March), the second week is about determining whether to fill the frame with your subject or leave negative space.  Each style has it's pros and cons and ultimately it probably comes down to a question of subject matter and personal preference.  I also used today's Capture Your 365 challenge (yummy) in choosing my subject matter.

Here is my subject with a LOT of white space. I would definitely want to add a quote to this!

Still some white space but coming close to filling the frame

And finally, I have completely filled the frame with my subject. Yummy!

And here is the pull-back shot showing my set-up:

Surprising how simple this is, isn't it? As you can see, I used white foam core board as my back drop and placed the subject near a window.  Even though it is a dark, dreary, rainy day, there was plenty of natural light to take the photo and the white board helped to bounce some of the light back onto the subject.  This is a pretty much north-facing window and I use this set-up a lot when photographing layouts.  I'm shooting with a Canon 60D with a Tamron 18-270 All-In-One lens.  I'm not all that good with any of the "manual" settings yet, so I generally shoot on Program mode and make sure to adjust the white balance setting before taking my shots.

13 comments:

Cheryl McCain said...

Such nice images you've shared Cheri! I keep going back to the 2nd one, love it! So glad you shared your pullback too, great place for it!
http://cherylmccainphotography.com

scrappyjacky said...

I love the second one....such a great shot. I have to admit the first one just looks wrong to me....though it could be perfect with a quote.

Miriam said...

Oh! the second one for me please! The first one needs some text as you say, it would balance it nicely.

Anonymous said...

I especially like that second shot. The lighting is great!

marie grady palcic said...

I love that second image too. the angle added interest, and I loved the space you left

Kara N said...

Great shots. The second is my fave as well. I love the subject matter too - I may have to bake some of those over the weekend.

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if I have some white board around here...have to check. Your images are beautiful, Cheri!! (And yummy!)

Sian said...

It's interesting to see the different looks you can achieve. Sometimes when I'm taking a picture like this I take one with white space and one without, just in case I ever need a landing place for a quote

Karen said...

I love the first two, but the second one has me drooling for a cookie!

The Mann Fam said...

My favorite are the last two. Seeing your "photo studio" is giving me an idea. I think I set mine up too far from the light.

Missus Wookie said...

I am so tempted by the second - love the angles of the kisses on those cookies. But the last is fascinating - my north facing window is where I take my photos too usually. May have to look for some white posterboard...

Evelyn S. said...

I really would like to eat those cookies! They are so 3-D! Beautiful food macro.

Melissa said...

Definitely yummy looking. The third shot is my favorite, but I think with a quote the first one would be nice, too.