To start off I have flagged the pictures that I would like to use and crossed off the ones that I don’t like as much.
Secondly I pressed the flagged button on the dropdown box so the pictures that I didn’t need are not visible and I can only see the ones that I would like to work with.
Then i pressed the X and Y button to compare two images, you can also zoom into details by using the magnifying glass which helps you to compare the details. and see what one has better focus or better lighting.
then I started editing the pictures, e.g. changing that saturation and the texture and just generally playing around with the settings to see which was more appealing to me.
I then exported the photo into my folder twice once at 2000 pixels and once at 4000 pixels. I did this so I have two pictures at different sizes
Then picked out the different neutral tones that where in the picture by using the colour picker
Still life is derived from the Dutch word ‘stilleven’. Originating in the 17th century during the popularity for paintings of objects throughout Europe. The term ‘still life’ defines art that shows inanimate objects from the natural or man-made world. e.g. fruits, flowers, baskets, bowls, etc. There are probably about 4 main categories of still life; flowers, banquet or breakfast, animals, symbolic. Symbolic still life refers to art that shows an ordinary object which will portray a deeper meaning.
Pieter Claesz – Still life with a Skull and a Writing Quill (painting)
Still life photograph taken by Garreth Paul
Paul Cézanne – Still life with Quince, Apples, and Pears (painting)
Vanitas
A vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death.
Jan Jansz. Treck – Vanitas Still Life
Memento mori
Vanitas are closely related to memento mori still lifes which are pieces of art that portray the shortness and fragility of life. Memento mori is a Latin phrase which translates ‘remember you must die’. They include symbolic objects like skulls and extinguished candles. Other examples of symbols include; musical instruments, wine and books to represent the explicitly of vanity.
Still life photography is “a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects.” or just inanimate objects in front of a camera.
These inanimate objects can be anything ranging from flowers and plants to food and man-made objects.
STILL LIFE TIMELINE
Still life artwork had origins in the ancient Egyptians and Roman times as well as having appearances during the Middle ages and Renaissances eras. Paintings in ancient Egypt mainly consisted of common foods and objects but historians believe they had a much deeper meaning.
A detail of an offerings scene from the burial chamber of Menna (c. 1422-1411 BCE)
Still life is derived from the Dutch word ‘stilleven’ which was made in the 17th century when the popularity of objects in paintings increased throughout Europe. Still life photography originally arose during the 20th century with art photographers such as Baron Adolf de Meyer making it more popular.
Flower basket(between 1640 and 1684) by Jan van den Hecke
Modern art still life was brought back with art movements such as Impressionism where artist like Vincent Van Gogh made a new meaning for the genre.
Its with the immense rise of modern still life art and the wonders of photography that still life photography was born.
WHAT IS VANITAS?
Vanitas – Latin for ‘vanity’ – is symbolic works of art showing the transition from life to death along with themes of: symbols of arts and sciences (books, maps, and musical instruments), wealth and power (purses, jewellery, gold objects), and earthly pleasures (goblets, pipes, and playing cards); symbols of death or transience (skulls, clocks, burning candles, soap bubbles, and flowers); and, sometimes, symbols of resurrection and eternal life (usually ears of corn or sprigs of ivy). It was a common genre during the 16th and 17th century and originated in the Netherlands, evolving from simple pictures of skulls and other symbols of death.
WHAT IS MEMENTO MORI?
Memento mori – Latin for ‘remember that you [have to] die’ – symbolises the inevitability of death. Items typically found in the pictures are skulls, hourglasses, clocks, candles, fruits, and flowers. The memento mori genre rose to popularity during the 17th century, a religious age where almost everyone believed that life on Earth was just a preparation for the afterlife.
WHAT KIND OF METAPHORS AND SYMBOLS ARE USED IN STILL LIFE AND WHY?
Still life can be interpreted and seen in many different ways but the main symbolism includes:
Fruit: religion (forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden), pleasure, lust
Skulls: life, death, morality
Candles: death, God (light of Christ), loss
Flowers: life, growth, danger (poisonous types), love (red rose)
Aperture is the feature which controls the amount of light that comes into the camera. To do this you would shrink or enlarge it.
Aperture also affects the depth of field. By changing how the image is focused. For example, the image could be focused on one isolated object in the middle of the image whilst blurring out the background. or it could be focused on the whole image.
The higher the focus is than the smaller the amplitude will be. You can also adjust the aperture settings on your camera by turning the dial to the ‘A’ button and then spin the wheel at the front of the camera.
My aperture experiments
We tested the aperture by taking pictures of different things we collected from the beach such as, Shells, Rocks, Flip Flops and seaweed by Using two types of set ups, The first one we used was the infinity table which gives the illusion of a infinite white background in the image. To change the colours We used different coloured gel sheets covering the lights which eventually changed the colour of the images. Our second set up was using more natural light, with a white backdrop.
Our second set up was using more natural light, with a white backdrop.
The picture below was taken with a big Aperture
and the picture below was taken with a smell Aperture
You can see the difference as the first image is focusing on only the centre point of the picture when the second one shows the image as a whole with no CenterPoint.
This is one of the still life photos I took in the studio. I really like how it has come out. I have used editing techniques on Lightroom to change the appearance of the photo and I really like it. The filters I used are shown in the right of the screen. This edit has subdued pale yellow colours, this really lets the objects I have used speak for themselves. The pale yellow links with the beach objects as it resembles sand.This is the same image, however, I have changed the temperature a lot. The dark blue colours give the image an ominous tone. On the other hand the luminous pink colours give the image a upbeat tone and it balances out the deep blue. I have accentuated the shadows and I am happy with how it has turned out.For this edit, I have gone for the same style as the last. But, I have turned up the vibrance and saturation which further accentuates the pink colour. I have also decreased the highlights and shadows which decreases the colours of the background which makes the pink light seem artificial and almost magical.I really how this image has turned out. The light coming through the objects looks great. The purple background gives a great contrast. It also accentuates the reflection of the objects. I have got rid of the white background by increasing the temperature and tint and almost completely decreasing the whites.
Still life photography is a genre of photography used for the depiction of inanimate subject matter, typically a small group of objects. The English term ‘still life’ is derived from the Dutch word stilleven, in the 17th century when still-life art was at the height of European popularity.
Timeline
What is Vanitas?
A still life artwork which includes various symbolic objects designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldly goods and pleasures. Vanitas are closely related to memento mori still lifes.
What is Memento Mori?
Memento mori still lifes are artworks that remind the viewer of the shortness and fragility of life (memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die’) and include symbols such as skulls and extinguished candles.
What kind of metaphors and symbols are used in still life and why?
1633 – Francisco de Zurbarán (Spanish, 1598-1664)
The objects portrayed here contained significant religious meaning, the measured placement of the three motifs, for example, would have been instantly understood as an allusion to the Holy Trinity. The painting has been interpreted as an homage to the Virgin, with the oranges, their blossoms, and the cup of water symbolizing her purity, and the thorn less rose referring to her Immaculate Conception.
Common symbols in still life
Fruit
Not only does a basket of fruit offer the artist a variety of colours and textures to utilize, but it also offers a variety of religious and mythical symbols. For example, in Christianity, apples signify temptation and knowledge in reference to the Old Testament account of Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
Skulls
One of the more heavy-handed symbols that appears in vanitas still life paintings is the skull, which is a striking reminder of the certainty of death. Such a symbol is called a Memento Mori, a Latin phrase meaning “Remember that you will die.”
Candles
Candles represent the inevitability of the passing of time—the longer they burn, the smaller they get until there is nothing left. A lit candle symbolizes light, truth, and knowledge. An extinguished candle symbolizes loss and death. In Christianity, a brightly burning candle indicates faith in God or the light of Christ.
Still life photography is a form photography that shows life less objects. Still life photography originated from still life paintings as they were immensely popular throughout Europe. When taking still life photos you have to find a way to make your images interesting and unique. This could be done by changing the lighting, background or the arrangement of the objects your photographing.
Examples of still life photography:
These examples show how still photography can vary from simple images with little props in the photo or to a complicated image with quite a lot to focus on in the image. They also show how different lighting and backgrounds can be used to bring out different elements in the image such as how dramatic the image is.
Examples of still life paintings:
Still life Photography Timeline:
Still life photography started after still life paintings got popular in Europe in the 17th Century. It started off with photos being taken of famous sculpture. For example in the late 1830s, Baron Armand-Pierre Séguier, created a photo that features small-scale copies of famous sculptures in the Louvre and Uffizi museum collections.
In the mid 1800s still life photos of plants started to be taken. Charles Aubry formed a company that would manufacture plaster casts and make photographs of plants and flowers.
As we got into the 20th century photographers started to show surrealism and mystery to their images. For example this image taken by Man Ray
What is Vanitas?
Vanitas is a symbolic work of art showing the short lasting of life, the pointlessness of pleasure, and the certainty of death. Vanitas often contrasts symbols of wealth and symbols of and death.
What is Memento Mori?
Memento mori is an artistic or symbolic expression acting as a reminder of the inevitability of death. Memento mori originated from the philosophers of classical antiquity and Christianity and mainly appeared in art.
What kind of metaphors and symbols are used in still life?
still life is a painting or drawing of an arrangement of objects, typically including fruit and flowers and objects contrasting with these in texture, such as bowls and glassware.
There are multiple different types of still life which are: Flowers which symbolises life and growth, Banquet or Fruit which can symbolise religion e.g. Adam and Eve, Animals or skulls which symbolises mortality and other symbolic items
Still life started in the 17th century when paintings of objects developed a great popularity in Europe. The momentum for this term came as artists created compositions with greater complexity, whilst bringing together a wider variety of objects to communicate symbolic meanings.
Vanitas is A still life artwork which includes various symbolic objects designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldly goods and pleasures.
The term “vanitas” originally comes from the opening lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible: ‘Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.’
Vanitas are closely related to still life which is artworks that remind the viewer of the shortness and fragility of life and include symbols such as skulls and extinguished candles. However vanitas still life’s also include other symbols such as musical instruments, wine and books to remind us explicitly of the worldly pleasures and goods.
(memento mori is a Latin phrase meaning ‘remember you must die’)
Memento mori is Latin for ‘remember that you must die’. This is an artistic symbol and has appeared in funerary art and architecture from the medieval period onwards.
The most common motif of this is a skull, often accompanied by multiple bones, coffins, an hourglass and flowers to symbolise the impermanence of human life.
Adobe Lightroom is a creative image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Inc. Lightroom helps you import, organize, manage, and find your images. Lightroom is also a photo management and photo editor, combined into a single tool.
Using the X and P keys – I selected which images I wanted and didn’t want to keep.Then filtering the unwanted rejects out to leave me with only the images I want.I then put two similar images on a split screen to compare.Using a star rating system I decided which images were definitely going to be used (4 star), not sure yet (3 star) and not going to use (2 starts)To look at the images in more detail i zoomed in (using the magnifying glass) to get a closer look at certain aspectsAgain I used the filter to remove the images i had given less than 3 starsfiltering again this time red-keep yellow-rejectthen i put the RED images into develop from library to start editing the images. This image shows me adjusting the image and changing aspects such as the exposure, contrast, highlights etc.This image shows a snapshot of comparing the before and after of editing one of my images – Showing the progression of the photos.This shows me exporting my edited image and editing the image sizing.
