tips | Cristina Colli

Nov

How to hold your camera correctly

Photography tips / 4 Comments / 8th November 2018

The best way to get sharp photos is to use a tripod, but if that’s not possible, or you choose to hand-hold your camera, you need to know how to properly hold it.
Today I’d like to share with you a simple video tutorial I made to show you how to hold your DSLR camera correctly, to prevent camera shake and get sharper photos.

I’m also sharing how you can improve your chances of getting a sharp photograph when you are hand-holding your camera and are using a slow shutter speed.

This is my first video, so please bear with me – it’s far from perfect, and I’m sure you can tell that I’m way more comfortable behind a camera that in front of it…but I do hope you find it useful :)

Enjoy!

Jul

Still life photography tips

Photography tips / 4 Comments / 12th July 2018

Today I’d like to share some simple tips to improve your photography skills and create beautiful still life images, but first I’d like to say a few words about the reasons behind my love of still life photography, and why I think you should give it a go.

I like do things slowly and purposefully, and still life photography suits my calm nature perfectly.
Some people thrive when they’re under pressure, but I don’t. When I force myself to do something quickly, I get flustered, and often end up forgetting some essential steps. This leaves me frustrated at the best, and stressed out at the worst.

With still life photography, slowing down is part of the process, and I can take my time creating an image without the fear of missing the perfect moment. I can lose myself in the process of moving objects and flowers around, trying different set ups, and playing with light.
The whole experience feels almost like a meditation, and when I allow myself to play and be present to the act of creating I forget my worries, and feel at peace. So if you are looking for a simple way to slow down and practice mindfulness, I recommend trying your hand at still life photography.

Apart from its therapeutic nature, creating still life images is also a fantastic way to practice your photography skills in a controlled environment, and learn how to use your camera. Nothing moves, you get to decide everything, from subject to light, and you can take your time to compose the still life, choose the camera settings, and frame the photograph – a perfect learning process for beginners.

So here are 10 tips to help you create beautiful still life photographs:

1 – Choose natural light or daylight bulbs. Photography is all about light, and choosing the right one is vital. Set up your still life very close to a window, and turn off all lights, so that you don’t get the yellow-orange cast typical of house lights.

Natural light has a colour too, a temperature (your White Balance) that changes with the time of day, weather, and season. I take photographs by a glass door exposed to the North, because the light changes less during the day.

North light is soft and diffused, and produces soft shadows, but if the only available window you have is not exposed to the North, don’t panic :)
Use white sheer curtains, or even some tracing paper, to cover the glass panes and soften the light, and try to take photos more or less at the same time of the day, so that your whites are consistent.

If taking photos in natural light is not an option, consider investing in a couple of studio lights with daylight bulbs.

2 – Choose manual or aperture priority mode. Automatic mode might work in some situations, but if you want creative control you need to learn how to take photographs in manual mode, or at least aperture priority mode.
This way, you can control your depth of field – how much of your still life will be sharp, ad how much will be blurred and out of focus.

Depth of field is a powerful creative tool that helps direct the viewer’s attention to parts of the image, and evoke different emotions – something essential if you want to create images that tell a story.

3 – Use reflectors to bounce off light or block it. Use a white reflector to bounce off the light coming from the window and soften the shadows, to get a bright and airy look.
Use dark reflectors to block light so that it hits only some areas of your still life, for a dramatic look.
You can use white, or black, boards, or paint some cardboard. The bigger the reflector, the more light it will bounce off (or block).

4 – Use a tripod. A tripod keeps your camera stable and lets you take sharp photos in all occasions, even with a slow shutter speed setting. If a tripod is not on your budget, try to place your camera on a table or similar, to stabilise it. I also use a remote control to avoid touching the camera, but if you don’t have it just use the self-timer setting.

5 – Keep your still life simple. Start with simple arrangements of two, three or five objects, and add more details to the scene when you feel more confident.
Choose a simple background that complements your subjects, and when you frame your photograph remember to leave some empty space to make them stand out (negative space). Place objects close enough, to show a relationship between them, and try to have different heights to create interest.
Arrange your subjects in a way that directs the eye to several parts of the image, to keep the viewer engaged.

6 – Play with colour & texture. Colour is very important, and can make or break an image. Unless you’re a master at using colour, limit your palette to one or two hues, with maybe just a small pop of a contrasting colour, to create a harmonious look. Textures can add depth and interest too, so experiment and try pairing objects with different textures that complement each other and evoke the same mood and look (like cosy, rustic, vintage, modern, romantic, and so on).

7 – Check your still life on camera. Keep in mind that what your eyes see is different from what the camera sees, so once you’ve set up your still life you need to check how it looks on camera. I often make small adjustments and move objects around, until I’m happy with the way the composition looks on my viewfinder.

8 – Move around. Instead of standing just opposite your still life, try taking photos from several angles, and also at several distances. Move your tripod closer or farther away from your subjects, and notice how the mood of your image changes and evokes different emotions.

9 – Edit your photos. Editing is a powerful creative tool, so use it! Don’t skip this step, because it can turn a good photograph into an amazing one. Aim to take photographs that are correctly exposed and framed, and then work some magic with editing. I use Adobe Lightroom for all my editing, and also Photoshop for some final touches.

10 – Practice, play, have fun. Create your still life with objects you love – I adore flowers, but we all have different preferences so choose something you’re passionate about and that feels fun, to keep you interested for a long time. Don’t expect to learn everything and become a master in one day, or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed and discouraged.
Just practice, practice, practice…and remember that everyone starts out as a beginner, so don’t compare your recent photographs to other people’s work, only to your older photos – it’s the only way to measure your progress and improvements.

I hope you find these tips useful, and if you do please feel free to share this blog post with friends and on social media :)

Mar

BTS: Blossomzine Spring cover

creativity / styling / 8 Comments / 15th March 2018

The spring issue of Blossomzine is just out, and I’m thrilled to see my image on the cover! I enjoyed creating the cover image very much, and I’d like to share a little behind the scenes of the whole process.

The brief

When SBM Life Science commissioned the spring issue cover of Blossomzine, director Dana Frigerio contacted me to create and photograph the image. I’ve been a regular contributor of Blossomzine since November 2015, and met Dana a couple of years ago. We regularly Skype to brainstorm ideas and chat about all things creative, so I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with her.

The challenge

The company asked Dana to feature their NutriOne fertiliser in the cover image in a subtle, creative way.

The brainstorming

We had a long brainstorming session on Skype. We discussed the concept for the cover, Spring, and the way it symbolises rebirth and growth. We talked about plants, and how they need water, nutrients, and good soil to develop strong roots and grow.
After looking at many images of spring flowers, roots, seeds, and bulbs, we decided that Dana would paint an illustration of roots using NutriOne fertiliser as ink, and that we would use spring flowers and bulbs. Some of the bulbs would be whole plants, complete with roots and possibly soil.

The collaboration

Dana painted the illustration of roots, to fulfil the brief, while I chose the flowers, and created and photographed the composition.

She flew over here with her precious illustrations, and her trip was an adventure! Storm Emma got in her way, and after one cancelled flight and a delayed one she finally arrived at my place at 3.30am, chilled to bone and exhausted.

I had placed an order with my florists days in advance, but after reading the weather forecast I started to fear that I couldn’t get my delivery. I scoured every possible place in town, and even asked my husband to visit a florist and supermarket close to his office, to get as many flowers as possible. Thank goodness for this, because the delivery guy couldn’t reach my florist, so I had to make do with the bits and pieces I’d managed to buy the previous days, and a single snowdrop that I managed to salvage from the garden.

We chose the grey backdrop together, from a selection that I had just painted. The storm had a silver lining though: I take photos in natural light, by a large glass door, and the snow covered ground acted as a giant reflector – the light was beautiful!

The styling tips

I paired flowers in odd numbers – like five yellow flowers, three blue grape hyacinths, and so on.
I always work in odd numbers – this is called the rule of odds, and even though I don’t like rules I always follow this one.
Using an odd number of subjects makes the image visually interesting. We naturally try to pair items, and when we cannot find the pair we keep looking, staying engaged with the composition.
The only exception to the rule is the couple, as two subjects work well together too.

I added some soil to the image as texture, to soften the edges of the illustration and tie all the elements of the composition together.

Reflections

Having too many directives often stifles creativity. The best scenario, in my opinion, is when you have creative freedom with one single challenge. This is a good starting point, as it prevents the “fear of the blank canvas” and leaves plenty of room for individual creativity – do you agree?

Dana and I only had one requirement each: she had to include the fertiliser in the cover, and I had to use her illustration in the image. SBM Life Science gave us creative freedom, and that let our creativity shine – a perfect job!

Blossomzine is a bi-lingual e-magazine about flowers and plants. The articles are both in Italian and in English, so head over there to feast your eyes with beautiful photographs and read interesting articles.

Please feel free to let me know your thoughts about your idea of a perfect job in the comments below :)

Jan

How to make inspiration boards

creativity / 6 Comments / 25th January 2018

At the start of every new year I set intentions for the months ahead, and then create an inspiration board. This helps me have a clear picture of what I’d like to create in the coming year, and keeps me going when I hit a creative slump or feel overwhelmed by the tasks ahead.

Creating an inspiration board is like a ritual, feels a bit like playing with magic, and can lead to further discoveries and insights on my intentions and goals.

I light a candle and some incense, brew a cup of tea, and put on some relaxing music. I let intuition guide me, and choose images that evoke a strong emotional response.

Once the inspiration board is finished, I keep it somewhere where I can see it as often as possible – like pinned on the wall by my computer, or on the first page of the notebook where I jot down my ideas.

All inspiration boards are powerful tools. The moment you glue pictures and words onto paper, you are giving shape to your dreams.

Inspiration boards are so effective because the images trigger the emotional response necessary to feel inspired and motivated to take action – they take you closer to your vision.

Pictures bypass the mind and its negative thoughts of self doubt and fear, and bring to life the emotions behind the goals.

Every time you look at your board, you are basically practising a short visualisation, a mental training technique that’s been effectively used for decades in sports, to improve performance.

Beside reminding you of your intentions, on a practical level inspiration boards can also help you make decisions.

Nowadays, when opportunities and requests pop into my inbox, I ask myself: is this aligned with my intentions? Will it take me closer to my goal?
When I’m not sure, a quick look at my inspiration board is usually enough to help me decide whether the project I’m asked to work on is in line with my goals or not.

This whole process of setting intentions and making inspiration boards gives me clarity and motivation, helps me avoid distractions, and makes it easier to follow my own path.

One of the first inspiration boards I made is about my core values and desires, and that’s pinned to the wall by my desk. This way, every time I raise my eyes from the screen, I can see a reminder of what motivates me to create.

I set intentions and make a board each time I start a big project. For example, before I create a new e-course, I think of how I want the class to feel, what I want to share with my students, and how. The inspiration board helps me stay on track, and gives me the push to overcome challenges and doubts.

I also set intentions and make a simple collage every time I start a new journal, on its first page.

I do this for two reasons: to have a reminder to keep discovering more about myself, and to overcome the fear of the blank page.

For years I was afraid of spoiling a brand new journal, and often put off writing in it – silly I know, but that’s how I felt. Having a collage on the first page is a way of leaving perfectionism behind and to just focus on the process, on writing and exploring, rather than on unnecessary expectations: journalling is not about writing a masterpiece, so there’s no need to feel precious about it.

Tips for making an inspiration board

You can set intentions and make inspiration boards for all areas of your life: work, relationships, personal growth, home, and so on.

‣ Start with finding clarity on your goals, and explore the reasons behind them in your journal, to get to the core of your desires (see some tips here).

‣ Choose a few keywords that sum up your intentions – they can be words like balance, abundance, healing, or combinations like “healthy mind & body”, “be present”, “mindful eating”, “connect from the heart”, and so on.

‣ Inspiration boards are all unique. There are no rules, no set layouts or design guidelines. What’s important is to choose images that, in your heart, bring your vision to life.

‣ Set aside a couple of hours of uninterrupted time just for yourself, perhaps at the weekend, or in the evening or early morning. Create your own ritual, perhaps with candles, a favourite drink, some music, to make the whole process even more special and magical.

‣ Gather some magazines, scissors to cut your images, glue or double sided tape, and some card to use as a base. Choose magazines with articles that resonate on what your topics are. I like to use Breathe, Psychologies, The Simple Things, Womankind, and magazines about yoga and natural health. You can also use washi tape and coloured felt tip pens to embellish your board, if you like.

‣ Tear out pictures and cut out words from the magazines, and put them aside in a pile. Choose all those images that evoke the emotional response attached to your intentions, those images that make you “feel” your goal and vision. If you cannot find a word to cut out, just write it on a piece of washi tape or on a paper label.

‣ When you think you’ve gathered enough material, start making your board. Move pictures and cut-out words around, until they feel right, and then glue them, or tape them, onto the board. You can slightly overlap some of the images, place one in the middle and arrange the others around, or even create a simple grid.

‣ Remember to enjoy the process and keep the whole experience playful: you’re not making a business presentation ;) The inspiration board is just for you, so don’t worry about doing it wrong – just follow your intuition, and make sure that you find the board inspiring.

‣ Once your board is done, keep it somewhere where you can see it often, as a visual reminder of your goals and intentions.

Enjoy!

Parts of this text originally appeared on Breathe magazine, issue 8

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Nov

Dark & moody photography tips

Photography tips / 13 Comments / 10th November 2017

I often get asked how I create my dark and moody images, so I thought I’d share a few tips here.

I always take photographs in natural light. I work in my north-facing dining room, which has large glass doors and so plenty of light coming in.

When I create “classical” still life images, I arrange all my flowers and props on a table very close to the window, and keep the curtains wide open to make the most of the natural light.

When I want to take low key photographs I still work by the window, but I move the table a bit farther away from it, and partially close the curtains to leave just a small area in full light.

I place the main subject in the full light area, and then arrange the other props, keeping in mind the degree of light that they will receive.

Once I’m happy with the styling, I place a black reflector by the table, immediately opposite the window, to absorb the light and make the whole scene darker. The reflector also blocks any light that might come from other places (My living & dining area is open plan, with a window on the opposite side of this one, and the reflector blocks that light).

If you don’t have a black reflector, you can use some cardboard painted black, or even a piece of fabric like black velvet, which absorbs the light.

I usually take my pictures in manual, so that I can have full creative control and select the settings – aperture, shutter speed, and ISO – that I want.

In this set up situation, the camera meters the light available and it automatically wants to lighten up the photo, just because it sees a lot of darkness (the backdrop and tablecloth). For this reason, I usually underexpose these low key photographs a little bit, so that they don’t turn out too light.

I always take several photographs, and if I’m not happy with the way they look on the LCD screen I make a few tiny changes – I close, or open, the curtains just a bit, to change the amount of light hitting the subject, or move the subject slightly closer to the light, or farther away, until the photograph is as close to what I want to achieve as possible.

The next step is editing. I think of editing as an additional creative tool that allows me to bring my vision to life. It’s important to get your photograph right on camera, of course, but editing really takes it to another level.

I use Lightroom for my editing, and sometimes Photoshop for some finishing touches.

Have a look at the images below: the first one is straight from the camera, in RAW format. I only cropped it square, so that it’s easier to compare it with the final image.

The original image was too warm for my taste, and the colours were too intense.

I cooled down the photograph by changing the white balance, desaturated the orange and yellow, softened the look with Tone Curves, and used a brush to make a couple of local adjustments, before finally sharpening the image.

I made a video to show you all the steps of my editing – please bear with me, I’m not exactly a natural at speaking into a microphone :D

This is not the only way to edit dark and moody photographs, of course – this is just how I do it, following my own vision. There are many different ways to edit a photograph, and there’s no right or wrong. It all depends on your own preferences, and style – your own creative voice.

Maybe you liked the image as it was before the editing, warm and with vibrant, intense colours, or maybe you like it cool but would prefer more contrast, or more muted tones…

That’s absolutely fine. The important thing is just to practice and practice, to improve your skills and create the kind of photographs you love.

I hope you found this blog post useful, and if you enjoyed it please feel free to share it with others :)

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Jul

Making a painted backdrop

Photography tips / 16 Comments / 29th July 2015

A couple of months ago I read the book In Detail by Hans Blomquist. The book is full of wonderful still life images, and I particularly liked all the beautiful textured backdrops that Hans created by painting over pieces of canvas with wall paint.

In_Detail_book

His approach inspired me to create some textured backdrops for my floral vignettes, however since I do a lot of flat lays I decided to paint on a wooden surface rather than on fabric.

So off I went to the hardware store, and bought:

a sheet of plywood
a mini roller set (roller & tray with two sponge sleeves, in the decorating aisle)
a small decorating sponge
a selection of paint sample pots
an interior wood primer and undercoat

My lovely husband sawed the plywood sheet in half, so I ended up with two pieces roughly 24 by 36 inches (tip: remember to lightly sand the edges before painting, or you might end up with splinters in your fingers…like I did!)

I then primed the plywood with the interior primer & undercoat, to seal the wood and avoid resins to reappear on the surface and cause yellowish stains. The stains wouldn’t show so much against dark paint, but they do show on light paint so I recommend priming to get a nicer foundation to paint over.

When the primer & undercoat was dry, the fun started. I donned a large apron to avoid splattering myself with paint (it’s happened before…) and gathered all the paint pots, the roller set, and the decorating sponge, that I cut into pieces roughly 2 inches wide.

I wanted to create a warm backdrop that ranged from white to grey, but that wasn’t too yellow…that meant choosing off-white paint with cooler undertones, plus some with a hint of pink-grey, a pure white, a light ivory, and a few shades of french greys (warm greys).

painting a textured photography backdrop

First I used the roller to paint the base: I poured some of the lighter paints and kept painting over with other off-whites, whilst the paint was still wet, in a kind of random way. This gave me a base that was a mix of off-white, light but not even – which was exactly my aim.

After that I started using the sponges to create textured effects. I put a little paint on the sponge, and then dabbed it on the board, at times also twisting the sponge, and at times swiping it lightly to create a smoother effect. I kept doing this using the darker greys at the edges, whilst keeping the middle of the board lighter.

Fading rose

I worked fairly quickly, so that the paint was always more or less wet, and I could blend the colours nicely. When I didn’t like an area, I just went over it again with the sponge until I managed to get the effect I wanted. It’s all about layering the colours one on top of the other, in a random, organic way. I enjoyed painting the backdrops very much, probably because I knew that if I made a mistake I could simply paint it over, and that gave me the mental freedom to experiment and have fun.

I wanted to do a video of all the different steps, but taping my iPhone to my camera tripod didn’t really work – the phone kept sliding down – and the brand new mini tripod I bought recently for the phone didn’t work that well either: the iPhone kept moving, and I didn’t want to risk it dropping on the floor…I ended up with lots of blurry footage of my wrist and forearm…sorry! By the way, I recommend using gloves if you don’t want to end up with paint all over your fingers too :-D

I also made a dark backdrop, using all the dark greys I could find, a tiny bit of black, and a smudge of dark blue here and there. It works well for dark and moody images:

Next time I want to make a blue backdrop, but I’m not sure what kind of blue…turquoise, or indigo? Decisions decisions….

Jul

How I edit my iPhone photos

Photography tips / 4 Comments / 22nd July 2015

Editing for me is part of the process of creating an image, and I thought you might find it interesting to see how I edit my iPhone photos before posting them on Instagram. I take photographs using natural light, and I use a reflector to bounce up light and soften the shadows (see my iPhone photography tips here) but even though the iPhone camera is brilliant, it doesn’t give the same control that you get when using a DSLR….so I always edit my photographs to give them the exact feel I want.

There are lots of editing Apps, including Instagram’s own editing tools, but I mostly use the Photoshop App. This is the image straight from the camera:

I don’t want to crop it, so I click on the little sliders icon and start with adding Clarity to increase the details

editing tips for iphone photographs

then I adjust the Exposure and lighten the image

editing tips for iphone photographs exposure

I then increase the Highlights

editing tips for iphone photographs highlights

and open up the shadows a bit to further lighten the image

editing tips for iphone photographs

I usually add a tiny bit of contrast

editing tips for iphone photographs

and finally a small amount of sharpening

editing tips for iphone photographs sharpen

That’s it, now I’m happy with my image and I can upload it on Instagram.

still life photograph after editing

Here’s the before and after, side by side.

editing tips for iPhone still life photographs

The adjustments I make are simple and take very little time – basically I lighten up my images as I tend to go for a light and airy feel. Some adjustments are tiny and perhaps you wouldn’t notice the difference, but they all contribute to the final image. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend doing too much editing, as the quality of the image is often compromised…if the image is too dark to start with, for example, then lightening it up would reveal a lot of noise, and the result wouldn’t be so pleasing.

Of course I don’t use the exact same editing for every photograph. Some pictures may require no exposure adjustment, or perhaps they might need a tiny colour pop (Vibrance tool), more (or less) clarity…sometimes I also use the Temperature tool to slightly warm or cool the image, depending of the quality of the natural light which changes with the weather and the time of the day…but in general this is how I edit my iPhone photographs.

That’s just my style, and thank goodness for personal taste or we would all end up with the same type of photographs…and wouldn’t that be boring!

Let’s say, for example, that you prefer “dark & moody” images: you could increase the clarity, and then darken the exposure, shadows, and highlights to your own taste, until you’re happy with the result. Here’s the same image, but with a moody feel: I increased the clarity same as for the “light & airy” edit, slightly decreased the exposure, darkened the shadows, lightened the highlights just a smudge to make the white pop, increased the contrast, and finished with a little sharpening.

before_after_editing tips_moody

And these are the three images – straight from the iPhone camera, bright & airy edit, and dark & moody edit.

editing tips for iPhone still life photography

As I said, I usually tend to prefer lighter images…They cheer me up, probably because they remind me of blue skies and sunlight flooding in through a window, and that instantly lifts my mood…having said that, I also appreciate the beauty of dark and moody photography, and sometimes I experiment with dark backgrounds, low lighting, and “moody” editing. Which style do you prefer? I’d love to know :)