How to, Vanitas Lighting?

Hello everyone,

I'm trying to take on a project where I would like to take photos of still life that have this dark moody

lighting like in Vanitas Painting

Please see some example from Google Image

http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=vanitas&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Could I please have some advice from fellow photoneter on how to recreate this sort of light?

Many thanks

If you're referring to the first image, it's a painting, not following very literal rules. The shadows on the wall do not match the light on the subjects.

To do that in photography, one large soft light (the proverbial north window) slightly left of center for the main for the skull A spot (a lantern?) above the book. Dark background and two spots to add the light areas to the background (or paint it to match).

You could start with a single light..remembering the best images tend to appear as if lit from a single source. The size of the light can be adjusted by moving closer or farther from the subject.

Dark and moody is depends on the subject, as much as the light.

eg: Dark ...is not always moody.<div></div>