I like doing still life photos now and then, because it can be relaxing yet challenging to get an interesting photo. My inspiration for this still life was autumn season, even though the weather begs to differ right now. Really it is the end of September and we been having strings of 90-degree days. For this shoot the set up was simple. I used a black backdrop laid across my kitchen table. The back drop was propped up in the back by a cardboard box. I placed a speed light with a small soft box on a light stand to the camera’s right pointed down at the gourds, basket, and straw. The flash was set to a 25mm zoom and 1/16 to 1/8 power. I also had a gold reflector on the camera’s left to reflect some light back into the image to ensure some definition and separation from the background and to give the image some warmth. (See image to left.) I used a 18-55 mm lens. I was shooting at ISO 100 at a focal length of 18mm with an aperture of F8. ...
Photography and Travel