Still Life Questions Please Help

dragon300zx

This was apparantley a bad idea that a simple no would have been a good answer to.

bfjr

No I think you call those "Action Shots" rofl

Shay Stephens

Study
Unless you are intending to fail your assignment, I would suggest doing some basic research into what constitutes a classic still life image. Until you know the basic fundamentals of what it is you are being taught, you won't make efficient use of your time in school.

So for example, if you don't know what constitutes a still life, that tells me you have not done your part to learn the basics. I am not going to tell you, and I wouldn't recommend anyone else telling you either. This is something that has to come from you, from your own drive and inquisitiveness, from your own research and study. Otherwise, you won't really learn anything, and you will not be in photography for very long.

dragon300zx wrote:

I Have a still life assignment for school. Still lifes are not my strong point as I don't have a clear deffinition of what makes up a still life.

rainforest1155

You can find some more or less good examples through google image search and here are some definitions.

Your idea is a good starting point, but I guess you have to minimize the elements used. Your story is to much for a single photo.

Khaos

I always thought of it as the wine bottle, or bowl of fruit or such. My version of still life:

wxwax

Shay Stephens wrote:

Unless you are intending to fail your assignment, I would suggest doing some basic research into what constitutes a classic still life image. Until you know the basic fundamentals of what it is you are being taught, you won't make efficient use of your time in school.

So for example, if you don't know what constitutes a still life, that tells me you have not done your part to learn the basics. I am not going to tell you, and I wouldn't recommend anyone else telling you either. This is something that has to come from you, from your own drive and inquisitiveness, from your own research and study. Otherwise, you won't really learn anything, and you will not be in photography for very long.

Alright, enough BS Shay, what are you really thinking? Great advice, BTW.

dragon300zx

Shay, I freely admit still isn't my forte. Normally I would do more research on it online but unfortunatley I'm stuck with dial up right now while I am waiting for my dsl to be installed which kinda hinders things and makes it hard to check out photography websites that are bandwidth intensive. If you didn't want to help fine don't. Delete the post if you really want. But if I wanted to get flamed I would have posted on FM. I have always liked this site because of the friendly people and helpfull moderators. Maybe you are having a bad day I don't know but if you are go have a beer. I guess I won't be coming here again if I have a question and need help.

Kinda sucks to get flamed in a forum that is supposed to be about helping people learn. Specially when it is the moderator who is supposed to be supporting the forum and making it a positive place.

Thank you for your help rain I know have a better idea of what I need to come up with.

Shay Stephens

I sure hope your teacher is tougher than I have been here. You don't need to be coddled, you need a kick in the pants. Why, because I know you can take it.

Buck up, you will face much more formidable challenges if you stick with photography. Better learn to deal with it now while the heat in the kitchen is at a low level.

dragon300zx wrote:

Shay, I freely admit still isn't my forte. Normally I would do more research on it online but unfortunatley I'm stuck with dial up right now while I am waiting for my dsl to be installed which kinda hinders things and makes it hard to check out photography websites that are bandwidth intensive. If you didn't want to help fine don't. Delete the post if you really want. But if I wanted to get flamed I would have posted on FM. I have always liked this site because of the friendly people and helpfull moderators. Maybe you are having a bad day I don't know but if you are go have a beer. I guess I won't be coming here again if I have a question and need help.

Kinda sucks to get flamed in a forum that is supposed to be about helping people learn. Specially when it is the moderator who is supposed to be supporting the forum and making it a positive place.

Thank you for your help rain I know have a better idea of what I need to come up with.

Mongrel

So many...
thoughts came to mind when I read this thread.

I'll boil it down to this...

Kudos to Shay for doing the right thing. Probably the best photographer who participates in this community gave a student of photography direct, objective advice. It wasn't mean spirited or demeaning in any way. This type of advice is necessary to growth and there is no need to suger coat it or make it pretty.

Shay, ANY time you feel the urge to "kick me in the pants" about something I post-please go for it. Life is too short to pussy-foot around. If our goal is to become better at the craft of photography we need to get solid instruction and advice "straight from the horses mouth" as it were.

I'd be both thankful and humbled to get the same attention.

dragon300zx

My teacher is a joke which is part of the problem. I don't mind doing the research thats why I came here to ask the question as I thought it was a place where it was ok to come and ask questions. Shay treated it as if I was coming here to get my assignment done for me. I thought this board was a resource where I could come and ask questions for doing research.

Mongrel

Dragon,
I don't know how old you are or what your situation is. I'm 42 years old so the way I was taught may be light years from the way you are being taught. One of the first things I remember my father teaching me was how to find and how to use 'resources'. One of the first resources he introduced me to was a *common* collegiate dictionary. Mine happens to be a Websters but I'm sure there are others that are just as good.

On page 1143 Websters Collegiate Dictionary has this entry:

still life-

1: a picture consisting of predominantly inanimate objects

2: the category of graphic arts concerned with inanimate subject matter

Following the 'flow' we break it down even more:

inanimate-

1: not animate: a: not endowed with life or spirit b: lacking consciousness or power of motion

2: not animated or lively; DULL

animate-

1: a: possessing life : ALIVE

END Webster's input...

Right there we have the building blocks to formulate what a 'still life' is. From a common dictionary. No internet needed.

What is becoming increasingly frustrating to people of my generation and older is a younger generation that is dependent on the internet or other cyber-resources. It's almost as if books are never considered as a primary resource or even a secondary resource. I'm not trying to be critical-this is just an observation. But I've seen it in my own children and in the school where I work. There's an expectation with many young people that they can get 'instant' answers without having to do the leg work to get them.

In your case, you came here asking "what makes up a still life?" Why should Shay or any one of us have to answer that for a student of photography? It felt like a Sunday night 'oops' I forgot to do this assignment bail-me-out kind of question. Certainly even if you have a 'worthless teacher' as you say, there must be resources where you can get an answer to a fairly simple question like "what is a still life?" As I said above, I'm not sure what your situation is, but certainly if a local library was available you could go there and find plenty of information and inspiration for a still life project.

What I believe is at the heart of this thread is the now somewhat cliche'd-

Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. TEACH a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime.

Dude, Shay's just trying to teach you how to fish.

Shay Stephens

Aha! Bad, teacher, bad results. See, I knew something was wrong here. Is it possible to change teachers? Seriously, this teacher is stunting your growth. You need a much more vigorous teacher who will crack down on you.

I assumed you had a good teacher and were just a poor student. In that case, it is a simple matter of trying to motivate you to knuckle down and learn while you have the chance. But to also have a bad teacher, well, you have a bigger problem than I first thought.

You are not being challenged. If you can't change your teacher, then you have to take the bull by the horns and become both teacher and student. Take the assignments the teacher is probably just reading out of the book and really make it your own. Learn as much as you can about it. If you have questions, study like there is no tomorrow until you find the answers. This is the only way you will find any benefit from this class. Otherwise, the class will wind up being a detriment to your learning. You will learn bad habits, bad technique, and loose your love for photography, or at least some of it.

I would also encourage you to challenge your teacher to do better. You may not be popular with the teacher, but be firm and consistent in requiring the teacher to teach, answer questions, and challenge the students to demand excellence, not mediocrity.

Worse case scenario, you have to teach yourself. That is what I had to do.

dragon300zx wrote:

My teacher is a joke which is part of the problem. I don't mind doing the research thats why I came here to ask the question as I thought it was a place where it was ok to come and ask questions. Shay treated it as if I was coming here to get my assignment done for me. I thought this board was a resource where I could come and ask questions for doing research.

And you have to learn to stop whining, it's getting you nowhere. If you do make it into the business, this kind of attitude will close doors on you, people have no time for this and won't tell you why the answer is no. So learn the hard knocks now while people are willing to teach you and give you feedback, because you won't get it when you are out of school.

DoctorIt

Shay Stephens wrote:

And you have to learn to stop whining, it's getting you nowhere. If you do make it into the business, this kind of attitude will close doors on you, people have no time for this and won't tell you why the answer is no. So learn the hard knocks now while people are willing to teach you and give you feedback, because you won't get it when you are out of school.

this is great lol3

wxwax

dragon, it's tough love... but it is love. Yer getting some good advice, not a flaming.

Jekyll & Hyde

J: WooHoo I love it!

H: Will somebody please kick me in the @ss?!!

J: Seriously, I had some really poor college teachers at times (two of them were Photography teachers, a couple were Physics profs, etc). You will have more before you're done.

H: You can certainly overcome this limitation. It'll just take some perseverence on your part. You are truly fortunate to have this community to help you along.

J: (I didn't see your original post, so I can only infer what's going on here). So you just gotta suck it up and take Shay's advice.

H: And mine

J: Photography is all about Communication. Keep this in mind and your work will benefit.

H: Here's an example of a still life. It's titled "Do Bears Dream?"

Good Luck,
J&H

dragon300zx

So I played it safe. Went with a traditional style still life. Dried roses. Looked pretty good I pushed the exposure's some but it worked really good. Teacher says that the pictures are really good and techically he wouldn't change a thing (he was impressed by the sharpness since it was handheld at 1/15s). He said he wished I wouldn't have done a traditional style still life cause he knows I can take good pictures he was hoping I would push the envelope so to speak. So I will reshoot (pictures technically arent due till wensday) even though he said that it wasn't needed, and spend all of monday night in the lab to turn in another set of prints to him.

Jekyll & Hyde

J: I say go for it! Shoot as many as you can find.

H: If you can tell a bit of a story, so much the better.
J&H