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When it comes to simple basic Still-Life Tabletop Photography, as far as the novice 'wanna-be-photographer' is concerned there is often a mental block, when really it's quite simple, so much so that if you start to do it professionally, after a few years the trick is to stay awake.

I asked UK photographer Phil Selfe why he sold his very successful studios a few years back and he answered, "I just got bored Rog".

I remember when he was my assistant back in the seventies, I would set up the first still-life shot, then say to him, "Shoot off the rest Phil" and go out for the rest of the day.

Of course not all still-life is so mundane and in fact some still-life shots are very exacting, requiring careful planning, construction of the set and attention to lighting details, which would include running test shots to acquire the effect that was needed. Sometimes this could take a day or two to successfully complete.

If you were shooting room sets as I use to do some time back, this would require a lot more work and would involve the use of many assistants, carpenters for set building and in many cases taking days to successfully complete. You would also need some serious studio space to accomplish this type of specialist work, as I use to have.

But as UK comedian Ronnie Corbett would say "I digress", lets get back to the basics of still-life tabletop photography.

For lighting you will need an attachment to your studio flash unit called a 'Soft Box'. This is as it sounds, a box constructed in fabric, which is reflective on the inside, with a diffuse panel at the front, providing a directional soft defused light to illuminate the subject. An umbrella attachment is not sutible for this work as the spread of light is to wide.

If you don't have a studio flash unit you can buy a soft box that will attach to a hammer head flash gun. If you have a second flash head you can put this to good use by simply bouncing it off the ceiling, to help fill any shadow area.

What you will need for Still-Life Tabletop Photography.:

1. Medium Format Camera and a 'macro' lens (close focusing). Better still a 5x4inch. View camera, which has tilt and swing front and rear panels for ease of focusing.

Did you know that only one in fifteen NEW cameras sold to day, are film cameras, this means there are great bargains to be had in the use film camera market, take advantage of that right now.

2. Soft Box Attachment.

3. Tripod, a good solid one.

4. Lighting Stands, you will need two or three.

5. White Card as reflectors or as a background, size 1mtr.x70cm. from your art shop, get three.

6. Background. muslin or material, off white or neutral in color.

7. Low table about 2ftx2ft. 18 inches high.

8. Light Meter for flash exposures.

What to do:

Set up your soft box at an angle of 45 degrees to the left or right of camera and slightly to the back of the set. This should be for small still-life objects and the light should be no more than a meter away from the subject, so you are able to stop down, (set the lens aperture), to at least f22, to get as much depth-of-field as possible so the image will be in sharp focus. If you have a second flash head, use it bounced off the ceiling to help to fill any shadow area.

Fix your reflector, (white card), the opposite side to the flash and an additional reflector the other side underneath the soft box.

Use a good lens hood, such as a bellows lens hood, to keep the light from the soft box hitting the lens. It's also good practice to fix a small piece of black card, suspended over the lens of the camera to prevent any light causing flare from the lens, taking care that the black card doesn't clip the picture area, or effect you meter reading.

Make test exposures to find out the best result and after some experimentation, you will find the results that you want. It's also good to "bracket" your exposures, which means to make three exposures, one at half a stop, (f.stop number), above the reading and one at half a stop below, choosing the best density of the three exposures made. Most pro photographers, even after a tests, use this as standard practice. Film is cheap and digital is nothing.

Now if you think that there is some other 'magic' formula that the pros use to shoot simple still life, your WRONG. This is the most used pro photo still-life set up, but of course there many exceptions to the rule and not all still life work is table top.

Final comment: The best way to become an accomplished photographer in still-life or other work, is go work for one as an assistant. It's the way most good pro photographers make it.

Happy shooting.

To check out the story and images about Still-Life Tabletop Photography go here: Still-Life Tabletop Photography

I'm from London. I started out in the days of the Swinging Sixties and London was quite a place to be. In those days we use to shoot catalog fashion shots with a 10x8 inch View camera, so the color transparency images would be the same size as the image on the catalog page, I have to tell you right now that took quite some doing. Now I spent most of my time with my website: Pro SECRETS of Money Making PHOTOGRAPHY, writing about and teaching photography, occasionally shooting assignments.

To check out more info about Still-Life Photography, go here: Pro Still Life PHOTOGRAPHY

A Guide to Purchase a Digital Camera

Photographic camera became a desired consumer item since it became handheld many years ago. As it became digital with no need for film processing, digital camera became even more popular and it is now considered one of the most wanted optical/electronic consumer products.

However buying a digital camera may be a bit difficult due to the many brands and models being offered. After all there are so many features, one has to be sure of his needs in picking the right digital camera. The following tips might of some help:

1 - Price range: It is recommended that you establish a price range you are willing to pay for your new digital camera. Prices can start from bellow a hundred up to thousands of dollars.

2 - Features: Within the price range previously established, check the features available in digital cameras. Make sure it will meet your requirements for your personal or professional goals. You may find features such as zoom, automatic functions, special effects, black & white images, video recording capability and others.

3 - Battery life: Depending upon the places you go, charging the camera`s battery may not be possible. So make sure the battery life will last long enough during your outdoor activities. Also it may be a good idea to have some extra rechargeable batteries, so that that you won`t have to stop using the camera, while the original batteries are being charged.

4 - Memory Storage: Digital photographs are stored in the camera`s memory. Most cameras have built in memory, but it will accept memory card as well, to increase its storage capability. Depending upon the picture resolution, a user can take hundreds of shots, before it exceeds the memory storage.

5 - Image Resolution: Also known as pixel resolution, this is one of the most talked about features in digital cameras. Although 2.0 mega pixels will deliver good photos for any personal and emailing purposes, nowadays digital cameras with 8.0 and above mega pixels (million of pixels) have become a standard feature. The higher the mega pixel resolution, the better it will look the pictures in larger prints. For those thinking about image enlargement, high mega pixel resolution is a must.

6 - Lens: Beware that the zoom feature may be of two kinds: optical and digital. Optical zoom relies on the lens magnification and delivers a good, sharp and clear image. On the other hand, digital zoom is the magnifying of the digital image and produces a less sharp, grainy image. So make sure that the digital camera offers some optical zoom capability. Also look for lens auto focus and image stabilization features.

7 - LCD: LCD screen is a standard feature in every digital camera, and it works for framing the shot beforehand and viewing it afterwards. Look for LCD screen size 2 inches and above for better clear images.

8 - Online Stores: Whenever looking for the best deals in digital cameras, take a look at some trusted internet stores. Since prices are posted in web sites, people may find very easy to compare them, and get the best deals. Also take a look at some auction sites, for new and used digital cameras.

Digital camera has definitely become a very popular consumer product. The easy of taking shots and emailing to friends have really made this item an absolute must-have kind of product. I guess one could say that people found in digital cameras the perfect tool to preserve special moments by sharing digital photos with loved ones, around this ever growing wide world web.

Roberto Sedycias

IT Consultant for PoloMercantil

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author´s name and all the URL´s (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.

About the Author

This article can also be accessed in portuguese language from the News Article section of page PoloMercantil
Roberto Sedycias has a bachelor degree in Business Administration and over 20 years experience in systems analysis and computer programming. Currently working as IT consultant for www.PoloMercantil.com.br

Where can I get a driver for my webcam?

My Uncle gave me a webcam, but he didn't give me the driver CD. I would usualy just go the manufactures website to get it, but I don't know who makes it because it doesn't have a name on the camera. I googled it and went to one website and the camera looked exactly the same, but the driver didn't work. Where can I get a driver that might work. Bellow is a picture of what the camera looks like.

http://sinofan.com/shop/product_735.html
Oh but it doesn't have the built in microphone.

if you're using Vista...then just plug in the camera....and let microsoft search for your driver. trust me, i got one webcam from my friend which he has no idea when he bought it and whcih company does it belong to...but Vista was able to track down the driver from internet and i am happily using it for yahoo messenger and live messenger...

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