All this week we will be posting the shortlisted pictures in the Still Life DLR Photography Competition.  We have shortlisted 10 pictures and on Saturday, these 10 pictures in the shortlist will be posted again with the opportunity for everyone to vote for the photograph they feel deserves the top prize. The shortlist is in no particular order...

Blazing by Anna Lordi

Guitar by Maralee Park

Following on from yesterdays post, Still Life does not have to involve a studio, construction of an image and complex lighting.  Still Life subjects can be "found" and photographed in situ.

The image below is a garage scene at a museum of vintage cars.  I found the scene by accident wandering around the museum and by composing the scene carefully I was able to use the overhead electric light as well as natural daylight from the window and door.

"Still life is the stylized photography of objects, often composed and lit in a way that is either evocative of certain scenes....or aims to convey the beauty and qualities of the materials from which the objects are made"  Nigel Hicks - The Photographers Guide to Light 2005.

The best still life shots in my mind are those that are simple in construction and composition, well lit and conveying more about the object than expected.