Edmonton Still Life Photography

Still life photography is one of my personal favourite types of photography. Elements like composition, colour, texture and contrast play a role in the still life photo we will look at today.

Design Cues

If you are familiar with my product photography, you may notice I am a little obsessed with diagonal lines. The reasoning behind my obsession has to do with engagement and how basic geometry can help guide viewers eyes and evoke certain emotions. In designing anything from architecture to paintings, there have been studies that show how simple placement and orientation of lines affect mood.

Horizontal lines tend to make viewers feel more at ease, but lose interest more easily. Vertical lines make viewers feel more anxious, and have a more acute way of catching and maintaining viewers attention. This mimics basic feelings in real life, like the calming horizon of a sunset, or the fear of falling off of a tall, vertical building.

The goal is to engage audiences JUST enough so that people stay engaged without getting overwhelmed. This is where diagonal lines come in. Diagonal lines give still life photography structure without leading the eye away from the subject matter. The zigzagging lines that flow through this particular photo give the eye a way of following the photographs many elements. The coffee beans add texture and the circular cups break up the mostly solid table. A large red stripe of seamless paper gives this image a much needed pop of colour.

Finishing the Still Life

The only thing left to do for a layout like this is throw a hard light on set and you have modern, poppy ad for premium coffee. These design elements are constantly running through my mind when doing still life photography. Exciting products that demand attention are photographed with contrasting vertical lines, and calming, relaxing products will be captured with horizontal lines. For layouts in between, a dynamic mix of diagonal lines will be used to draw the eye and give photographs that professional look.

Thank you as always for reading! Be safe out there!