Lighting and Equipment Overview for Still Life Photo: Toxic Egg

Having seen the visualisation and planning for Karl’s Toxic Egg image, this class focuses on the lighting and equipment used to create the final image.

As part of this class, Karl explains some of the further creative decisions that he’s made since starting the shoot and his thought process behind these. As he walks you through the setup, showing you the base surface, egg and cup, and background, you’ll also see the lighting of the shot as he gives an overview of what’s doing what.

Class objectives:

  • How to do still life photography
  • Still life photography setups
  • Lighting techniques for still lifes
  • The angle of view and the impact on an image

In the previous class Karl explained the visualisation and planning for this image; next, he shows the testing before the final shoot. Further still life photography ideas can be found here.

If you have any questions about this class, please post in the comment section below.

Comments

  1. Karl,

    I am looking at picking up some Opal Acrylic to start experimenting with it as a modifier after seeing it in a lot of your videos.

    Are you using 3mm or 5mm thick sheets?

    Kind Regards,

    Matt

    1. Hi Matt, I actually use both but the 5mm is the better choice as it’s stiffer and easier to handle.

  3. Gary Stasiuk

    Hey Karl..
    This answers the fresnel question I had in lighting. I personally don’t have a load of cash to spend on lights, so often I have to be quite resourceful and find things I modify, or make from scratch. For instance I have loads of old process camera parts, slide projector parts or other odd useful items I repurpose for a job. I found a source to buy some fresnel lenses that will work to convert a tight snoot into a quasi picolite.. I even have an aperture iris to allow control. I should be able to make one or two quasi-pico lights for under $200. The little pico softbox also gives me some food for thought.

    I love the detail you delve into concerning the different sheen and textures of the surfaces. Through many of your videos it has gotten me to focus on the details that I would have overlooked before. The subtlety of light and colour .. they are everything.

    1. Thanks Gary, you will also see the Fresnel pop up in a few more videos with further explanations.

    1. Hi Shweta, it’s actually just frosted acrylic that lets light through. You can source it from most plastic suppliers or sign makers.

  5. Karl,
    I’m sure you mention this somewhere in your lighting discussions but I haven’t caught it yet…..

    While shopping for used lighting I met a pro who warned me against buying a variety of types and brands of lighting because often mismatched color temps, when used at the same time on the same product, will be unacceptable to some art directors, despite how the end image looks. If this were so then couldn’t slight variations in tones of gels or scrims be used to better balance the temps until the eye could hardly notice?

    Thank you.

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