How do you find inspiration for creating “lifestyle” or situational photographs for your work?
Do you just gather items that you already own and tie them all together with the piece you want to photograph?
Have you bought specific props to set the scene?
Do you use space within your own home to photograph them in or do you have a studio space where you set up your props?
I’m struggling to find items that tie in with my work and I don’t have a very inviting, country cottage home to create the ambiance that I would like!
Do you look at lifestyle magazines for inspiration?
I only use one prop if that! Sometimes I will use and interesting stone or occasionally a flower if it is not too spectacular and distracting. When it comes to props, less is usually more.
For your buttons, you could use a ball of wool (to suggest knitting) or a nice pair of sewing scissors and some thread.
I suppose you could put pens or flowers in pots and fruit in bowls.
I know what you mean Sarah @thedotterypotter - most of what I own is run down, old and broken which doesn’t bother me but I’m not sure it would enhance my photographs! Some things, like my animals, I take into the garden (even that is overgrown and full of weeds!) but mostly I just dont bother with lifestyle photos. With a lot of my things, due to their size, if I went lifestyle I would have to have to worry about the state of my home too!
The props I use for my photography are items I found around the house, which I felt worked well without cluttering up my photos.
I use a light box on the dining room table. I sit with the window behind me which seems to be the best spot for natural light. I have horizontal blinds too which help as I can tweak them to allow more light in or out.
I’ve been tempted many times to buy a few different little flower arrangements when I’ve seen them in The Range or Hobby Craft but I’m running out of storage space now so I guess I need to restrain myself from the urges
Getting some inspiration from magazines is a fab idea Sarah.
I really struggle with photos but I’ve been trying really hard to improve them. I now have two canvasses covered with wallpaper that I use as a base and a back - white-ish distressed wood for the base and white brick for the back. I prop them on a chair with a north facing bay window behind me in my living room.
I usually use my own ornaments from around the house but I did recently buy a bottle of artificial white tulips from the range because I thought it would work well in my photos and it was cheap. I only use ornaments for the larger items so that they don’t overpower the shot. I’ve also started using a book (with the jacket removed so that it’s plain) and an assortment of magazines in my bag photos.
For my bags and cushions I also usually take a shot of them on a wicker dining chair in the same bay window - the painted wood panelling and wood effect floor set it off quite well and I include my Yukka plant in the background. Shots like that might not work for you though because your items are so much smaller.
I think my photos are now much better than they were but I’m often still not happy with them. It’s now mostly the colour and brightness that bother me rather than the composition.
For my suncatchers I don’t use props but do for my fused glass pieces. I have a box full of ribbons and bells and hearts and bits of jewellery and also wander the house to find colour matching ornaments. I now actively look for good accessories when out, my super shiny red mug from a French supermarket is favourite for rainbow coasters and trivets.
My worst problem is a lack of white surfaces. My windowsills are nearly all brown varnished and fused glass need shiny white. I often have to resort to the edge of the white bath and try not to knock my glass over the edge !
I generally use stuff I already have in the house, usually some kind of plant or flowers, although it can be soooooo tempting to buy all sorts of pretty things! I’m so jealous of people who know how to do good photography, I really struggle, especially with getting decent light in my tiny house with only 4 windows…
Thanks for all of your replies - I see that most of us are still facing the struggle with good photography!
I know that I should be able to, but I just can’t picture my items in any specific interior.
I keep thinking that I should at least bake some biscuits and photograph them alongside my mugs!
Bad weather and I use a photo cube, with the white background, from eBay. I’ve got slate, which is a table mat and coasters, I picked up in Wales. I’m most pleased with my desert rose, I went looking for it in crystal shops. The curves and ridges let me drape and hang pieces from it, and a piece of nature’s beauty.
If the weather is good I use a deep bay windowsill at my parents’ 2nd floor flat, and their carved or inlay wooden boxes. Dad accused me of ‘liberating’ it when he first saw the shots. Occasionally I use my classroom windowsill and a dictionary for dressing, I get morning sun on a bright day. I know I need to go through and update old shots, but I’m bad enough at shooting new stuff, or selling it before I’ve shot it. Wish I could get them good enough to be featured.
I’ve found props don’t work for me. They just don’t seem to fit right with my art and cards, so keep to plain backgrounds. I really like the way other people use props, I’m often inspired to try again but it doesn’t really work.
I generally use what I have around the house, I’ve used coins for size, pencils and paintbrushes, sometimes books or spectacles, sometimes a flower, fir cone or leaf it often depends on the subject matter. I’ve been known to use sweeties or a biscuit or two, of course they need disposing of afterwards I like to keep it quite simple and usually do at least one pic without props and on a plain background.
