Since the warm weather has been in full heat here in Florida, I just haven’t been able to get outside and shoot. On top of it I just haven’t been feeling well for a while now, so I am frustrated to say the least. That is where still life photography has become my favorite medium. I just wanted to share a few frames from a roll of still life on Delta 3200.
Still life photography is something I recommend to every photographer. It forces you to be creative and it really helps you to be centered while you get to know your camera, lighting and film stocks. Anytime I am feeling under the weather and am stuck indoors, I take the opportunity to shoot still life photos.
This past week I decided to set up some shots using an empty apple juice jar, and some dried up flowers. I used natural lighting from the window and a black velvet blanket for the background.
At this time I was also testing out the Fuji lenses for my Fujifilm X-t4 and I had shot this same set up using those lenses. I had to do some on film to compare. Can you see the difference?
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The Rolleiflex Automat was my weapon of choice because its light and there is something about the look it gives to still life photos that I wanted to lend to this set.
Final Thoughts about Still Life on Delta 3200
Looking at these shots, I think the Rolleiflex delivered what I was looking for. The only change I would make is the gray poster-board I used on the table. It just doesn’t go well with that velvet black background in my opinion.
I also love Ilford Delta 3200 shot at 1600. I’ve talked about this before. What about you? What are you doing to combat the heat that seems to be overtaking everyone right now? Let me know in the comments. I love talking to you all.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
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beautiful images!
Thank you
Beautiful work! There’s something ironic about shooting still life that features dead flowers. It’s a paronomastic contrast that complements the clear/white/light shades against the black. I think I’d experiment with more crushed velvet in place of the gray poster board. I’m not sure if white, black or a shade of gray would work best, but I’m thinking the finish of the crushed velvet would give you a shimmery effect that would play up the ethereal sense that these photos conjure up.
I’ve really loved this series of Still Life photos. I really like the compositions you create and the lighting that you use. I’m also surprised with the comparison between the digital and film photos. While I didn’t look at them zoomed in, I thought they were actually pretty similar.
As far as the heat I’ve been going out at the tail end of golden hour. Great lighting and the heat isn’t so bad.
Thanks Lance! They definitely were very similar.
They look great!!! Maybe use some type of cloth to rest the still-life on yo make some lines and movement at the bottom!!!
That’s a good idea
Maybe black poster board?
I have a black as well. It’s actually what is holding up the blanket. I’ll try that next time. Thanks Merlin
Like I said last time, these still life’s are great, I did set one up myself with some posterboard, but I still need to finish out that roll in my Yashica C. I think the black velvet looks great, it really gives it that charcoal feel. I’ll have to check out shooting it at 1600. I think if you made a full seamless background with the velvet, it would fix what you didnt like with the table part. Keep up the great photos. It’s been blistering here in California, so I havn’t been out to shoot either.
Thanks Austin. Let me know when you get finished with your roll. I’d like to see what you got.
Aly, I love your still life images you created and shared with us. I love how the light and contrast really add so much interest to these images. I find them very captivating. To me, the beautiful light really highlights the beauty and detail of your dried flowers. I know you mentioned you would change the gray poster-board and my thought (before I read that you would change this) as I looked at your images was how I thought the contrast between the table area and the black background helped the flowers and other objects to stand out yet it wasn’t distracting to me in a way that “took away” from your beautiful still life objects. It’s not my intent to change your mind or anything, I’d also be curious to see how the images would look with any other way you had in mind. I also admire you for not letting the heat and feeling unwell to completely stop you from being able to enjoy some time doing something you love to do. I know it’s not easy to even do things you normally enjoy when you’re not feeling well and think it’s wonderful you spent the time and energy for that even though it likely could have been challenging in some ways. Thank you for sharing with us. I know seeing your images and your determination to continue enjoying photography sure brightened my day—thank you for that, Aly.
Thank you Amanda. Your comments and support mean so much to me. I’m glad you like the way the poster board contrasts with the background. I see what you mean that it helps it stand out better. I guess what I didn’t like was that it didn’t flow or blend with everything. The gray really stood out but I’m not sure what I would use instead. 🤔
💛💛
I’ve been going to a local park early in the day and trying new film stocks on familiar subjects. I do like the idea of still life photography (with air conditioning).
Good idea. Start before the heat gets too bad.