High-key still life?

Hello,

 

I'm making my forays into studio still lifes, and obviously have a lot

to learn in terms of lighting. This week am trying to create a simple

high-key scene: basically a wooden cutting board on a white cloth.

 

My understanding is that to achieve high-key effect one needs:

1 Overall light subjects (few/no deep blacks in the scene)

2 Soft, low-contrast lighting (e.g. a softbox at 1:1 distance)

3 The background exposed 1-2 stops more than the main subject.

 

So, to the questions. How do you expose the main subject? Would it

still be metering for the shadows (or rather, the darkest parts in

case of soft light), or is an additional exposure necessary?

 

I intend to shoot onto B&W sheets: are there any specific techniques

w.r.t. developing and printing? It's been mentioned somewhere that

underexposing the neg and printing it on a contrastier grade may help,

but wouldn't it sacrifice the tonal range?

 

Also, how do you typically highlight the background in still lifes?

Flags? Underlight?

 

Any other suggestions or hints would be extremely welcome.

If you're illustrating something, the something will dictate the lighting.

 

Soft boxes tend to be used as all-purpose lights (because they reduce unattractive shadows), but they also tend to take character out of images in many instances.

 

"High key lighting" with a soft box is a poor way to depict things that are wet (for example) because the moisture gets a glazed look...to illustrate moisture you need specular light (thinking of wet veggies you might have on the cutting board, or the moist look of a shiny finish on some wooden cutting boards...I've made those shots commercially, but in color).

 

B&W is more demanding sometimes...sometimes really cries out for multiple lights, with or without soft box.

Try going to www.ezcube.com They have examples etc. They recomend their lights but I find strobes much nicer in the cube. I picked up a brand new 30x30x30 for $29 on ebay and I love it. My first shots looked pro.

Eugine...handsome Gallery! You can see my point when you compare your dripping water faucet photo and your plate-and-forks photos to your other photos. IMO "high key" doesn't necessarily mean lack of shadows.

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

 

John, the still life so far contains no objects other than wood. I actually plan to add some sliced meat later, so the glare (or lack thereof) can be an issue - thanks for pointing that out.

Eugene, I once photographed various kinds of meat, shellfish and fish on a cutting board and on a marble surface, used a soft box (meter square...small but very close) with white cards as reflectors, AND I used aluminum foil in places to get a few specular highlights: very soft image with highlights.

 

It's hard to show the texture and juiciness of food when one relies entirely on light that prevents shadows.