Assignment 5: Still Life

Sarrah Nomanbhoy: Vanity

I wanted to capture a kind of "aged vanity" for this still life. I wanted to scene to be kind of guady and feminine, so I chose a floral fabric for the background. I also draped another lacy off-white table runner that made the scene look more antique. I elevated the porcelaine figurine and hung pearls on her. I think placed a jewelry box below and let the jewelry hang out to emphasize flashy opulence. I then placed dead flowers in the foreground as a reminder that beauty will fade with time.

I lit the scene from the top left because I wanted the figurine to be lit in a flattering way, and have the foreground darker. This way, your eye focuses on the figurine first, and then moves down to the dead roses (young beauty--> old faded beauty). I used Aperture f/11.0 to get everything in focus, and I used a flash to compensate.

I cropped the image in photoshop, enhanced contrast, and played with the warmth of the photo to make it look a bit dated.

I lit the scene is backlit, with backlighting from the left and behind the figurine. I used Aperture f/11.0 to get everything in focus, and I used a flash.