July 3, 2022

Sometimes an image creates itself in front of you, with lighting to dream of. I’m normally not one to whip out my cellphone to take a quick snapshot when that happens, but in this case, I was at home and had my DSLR nearby.

The scene was a pair of ceramic vases on a wood dresser, lit from the side by a window nearby that had some late-afternoon sunlight pass between the back wall and the closed blinds. I changed absolutely nothing in this still life composition. Not the arrangement of vases, not the lighting.

Black and white still life photograph of two vases vases with side lighting — **Vase Still Life III**

This scene was a great reminder that directionality of light can be an important compositional element and tool to provide interest to common objects. Another thing it taught me was that light reflecting off a wall or other object, however faint, can play a large role in illuminating the subject at hand. In this case, light being reflected against the left wall toward the left-hand vase, and between the two vases, provided just enough definition on the otherwise dark left side of the vases, helping the whole composition to be balanced. It was an interesting contrast between harsh and soft lighting, and this scene managed to showcase both.

With the bright light being highly directional and lighting otherwise quite dim, color did not really add anything to the image, and a black-and-white conversion was an obvious choice. This yields a moody, minimalist still life - perhaps inspiration for a future photo session with strong, focused side lighting and a few simple objects!

A Vase Still Life

Defining The Scene

Color as Subject