Still life

[Copy_Kot]

Just a practise shot, any suggestions on how it could be improved would be appreciated... Also, any suggestions on what material could be used in the future for backgrounds and for bases would be appreciated too (I used black construction paper for this one).

It's a Russian or Ukrainian doll, not sure which (could be Georgian for all I know).

[Trevor Ash]

Good start! The light is very hard and a bit contrasty for my personal tastes. Try moving the light in MUCH closer to soften things up a bit and/or use anything you can to diffuse it a bit. That should help with the hard edges a bit. For the contrast you can try using a reflector to fill in the shadows a bit. Finally, move the light source off to the left ot right a bit instead of directly above it. It'll give it a more natural look. You don't need any other light sources, these three suggestions alone should make a huge impact.

[Trevor Ash]

By the way, I find that round bottles make excellent practice objects for still life. Try also playing with textured things and experimenting with the light. I spent a lot of time dabbling in things myself and find it to be tremendous fun

These were made using a single light source manipulating the light using the same tools I mentioned earlier (and some PS)

[Copy_Kot]

Thank you Trevor that was very helpful. I've got a set of similar bottles sitting on my kitchen counter that I will try next. The coloured vase looks GREAT!