54 DIGITAL CAMERA^ FEBRUARY 2022 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
TOP TIP USE
A REFLECTOR
You don’t need fancy flash or
studio lighting setups to take
great still-life photos: there’s
a multitude of ways you
can change and manipulate
natural light using a simple
reflector. Five-in-one
reflectors usually come with
gold, silver and white sides
to change the quality of the
reflected light. They also
come with a scrim to diffuse
the light, and a black side to
act as a ‘flag’ and take light
away from your scene.USE GLYCERIN
1
When you’re shooting close-
ups of flowers, you may want to
add a drop of water to it to create
a shiny and clear focal point if
it’s lacking an obvious petal or
stamen. However, water will be
absorbed into the flower head;
instead, use a pipette to carefully
place a drop of glycerin exactly
where you want it to be. This will
stay as a large glistening bead.SMALL DROPLETS
2
Adding water to your
flower pictures is a great
way of giving them a shimmer
and shine. For lots of small
water droplets, like on our rose
here, you can pick up a cheap
atomising spray bottle to give
your flowers a light misting
of water droplets. It’s super-
effective at adding extra shine
and eye-catching reflections.ADD WATER DROPS
Dan Mold3
Fantastic
florals
Achieve fantastic results with a simple set-up
of flowers in a vase, plus some budget-friendly
props that you’re likely to have at home alreadylowers are fantastic
subjects for still-life
because they’re
readily available –
you may even have
a wondrous arrangement in your
garden! They’re full of colour and
look fantastic, too. You can pick up
a brilliant assortment of flowers at
your local supermarket from just £3.
Get an arrangement with plenty
of different colours that you can
experiment with, and look for ones
in good condition: wilted flowers
don’t make good photos.
Here we’re going to show you
some handy camera skills that you
can use to elevate your flowerstill-life images. The best news
is that you don’t need an expensive
studio setup: it can all be achieved
F on a strict budget.PRO SHOT
Flower arrangement
This image shot with a 100mm
macro lens demonstrates how a
simple setup can create a striking
still-life image. No fancy lights
were used here: a large window
to the left of the flowers provided
all of the lighting and contrast
needed for a fantastic shot.PRO ADVICE
Keep your props clean
Save time editing by making sure
your flower vase is free from dirt
and greasy fingerprints. Use a
camera-cleaning air blower to
gently blow away any specks
of dirt on the flower petals, so
you don’t have to spend time
fixing your shots in post.FRESH PHOTO IDEAS FOR 2022