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Project Educate: Still-Life-Stills Education cont.Groups for Still Life work are fast becoming popular on deviantART - but finding one that covers all of Still Life and sticks with being just Photography orientated is quite difficult. Therefore myself and *claremanson have today launched #Still-Life-Stills - a group for all of your Still Life needs. Whether that's exposing your work, getting tips and help, or just salivating over awesome food in the gallery or staring in wonder at fantastic cut flower shots or ornaments - we have it all! I've also enjoyed pushing Still Life Photography this week for Project Educate and therefore we are keen to continue the trend over at #Still-Life-Stills and keep educating. The group launch was inspired by this weeks #projecteducate - so hopefully we can continue the general theme of being helpful!

Members are very very welcome - so head over now and join if you're interested and start sharing your work. Our submission rules are

Project Educate:Still Life with *LuizaLazarStill Life Photography here on deviantART whilst an overlooked gallery for the majority of the time is vastly becoming popular among conceptual and food photographers. *LuizaLazar, a female photographer from Romania has shared her thoughts and feelings on the gallery including some useful tips.

:icondyingstate:
You & Still Life Photography...
Most of my Still Life works are based on fruits and flowers. I love to photograph raspberries (maybe because they are my favorite fruits, but I'm also attracted by their color and shape), cherries, rain drops or tiny objects. I must say I love food photography, but I'm not quite able to do the shots I wanna do. Other than that, I don't cook very often, therefore I have no item to photograph

Your Likes and Dislikes about Still Life Photography...
What I like about Still Life Photography is the fact that you can arrange the elements in

Enhancing Still Life Shots with LieveheersbeestjeSo you've got a still life shot but it looks nothing like those epic pieces you see hitting the front page here on deviantART - the lighting, hues and general feel of the piece is just not as good as you feel it could be. Well that's okay! Photoshop in particular helps you enhance your shots to bring out the best in them - or the worst if you're not careful.

These are basically the processes that she goes through to edit a shot - saved and uploaded to deviantART for your use (provided you read the rules.) There are many floating around - and they add that little something.
So How Do They Work?
All you need to do is download a file that contains such actions...

In this particular one =lieveheersbeestje shares her Photoshop Silver & Bronze Actions. Once you've downloaded the file you just open it as you usually would and it will go straight into photoshop ready for use

Project Educate: Interviewing Orwald!*Orwald has been on deviantART for just a year but has astounded the Still Life Photography community with her fantastic works. As well as putting together beautiful features of others works, *Orwald strives for the best with her own and shares some of her tips here...
What inspires you to explore Still Life Photography?
I like to show the things around us. It`s very interesting to find some ordinary objects at home and try to show them from different views/ I can`t say that there is some area of Still Life photography that I like the most but I recently noticed that there are a lot of "fruit" and "cup" shots in my gallery

What are the difficulties and rewards of Still Life?
I'm not a professional photographer so there is always a dilemma - how to place all objects together, how to make the light and whole the scene look naturally. I like to play with colour combinations and it`s the

Project Educate: Expressing and EmotingEssentially, these are mostly the same thing with a few minor differences which are explained below. But before we move onto that, there's an important message to share when it comes to categorising your work. To get the best out of the photography galleries it's vitally important that you categorise your work properly. That' why these weeks exist in some respects, to help educate you through that. With regards to Daily Deviations - Community Volunteers will not give features to pieces of work that are mis-categorised. They might assist you by moving your work or explaining where it should go, but seeing a deliberate miscat is a bit off-putting when it comes to choosing pieces to showcase. Take some time to have a look through your gallery (I'm going to do the same!) and figure out if everything is in the right place. If you're struggling, just ask. We're here to help. What we won't do is rearrange your whole gallery for you. We will however, work with you to try and straighten things

Project Educate: Getting Started with Still Life Getting Started with Still Life Photography...

Your Homemade Studio
You don't need a studio or amazingly fancy lighting in order to achieve some of the most popular still life photography shots that you see on deviantART. I take most of my still life photography shots on the window sill in my bedroom because the colour is neutral and the lighting best.
You can start pretty much anywhere in the home - using a backdrop of mottled glass will give a different effect to plain glass and so on - the possibilities are pretty much endless! Using paper, books, scarfs or other bits of material can provide excellent backdrops. Raindrops on windows can create a fantastic bokeh...

Your Subject

Fruit and Flowers are overdone. It's true. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try them out and if you have a creative concept in mind go for it. However there is so m

Project Educate: The Traditional Still Life

Traditional Still Life shots are few and far between in this modern era with Photoshop
becoming a vastly popular tool to soften images with and more materials becoming available to make Still Life something adventurous and different. So it was an extremely nice surprise when I stumbled across *Somebody--else's gallery to find that there were some good wholesome traditional shots there - with a few modern touches to finish it off. *Somebody--else agreed to be interviewed so that I might find out a bit more...
What area of Still Life Photography do you gravitate towards the most and why?
I don't really have a preference, maybe a tiny one for flowers and books as we can use those in many ways.

What do you find are the challenges of staging your photographs to achieve still life shots?
For me, the biggest challenge while staging photographs is to be able to

Community Voices: What is a Daily Deviation?DDs: The deviantART definition
So, as the title says, What in the world IS a Daily Deviation (DD), anyway?
You know what deviantART says about it, right? Under :faq61: it says:
A small assortment of submissions are chosen each day by a select group of staff/volunteer members who wish to showcase an image which they found impressive or otherwise interesting enough to deserve being brought to the attention of the community-at-large.
That says nothing about a DD being a perfect specimen of art-- in fact, it doesn't even use the word "art" at all.

Basically, as CVs, when we are giving a DD, we are doing so because we think the image is interesting and well-done and deserves your attention. It may be technically exquisite. It may be technically quite good but exceptionally thought-provoking. It may be exceedingly creative. It may be all of these things! Above all else, it should stand out in some way from others in that medium or gallery.

PE Daily Deviations: What if...?
Hello everyone!

After news articles explaining 'The Myth and the Legend' of the Daily Deviations, how to suggest them, tolerance towards Daily Deviations, the negativity, the focus on the notes and what it actually is, this article tackle the 'What if...?' scenarios t

PE Stereoscopy: How to View Stereoscopic 3D ImagesHow to View Stereoscopic 3D Images
There are three basic methods of viewing the stereograms we have on DeviantArt. There might be other methods which differ slightly, but these are the main ones:
Anaglyph (and other glasses methods)
Viewing stereo images with glasses is great, because because you don't need to squint your eyes or focus in strange ways to see in stereoscopic vision (stereo 3D). Furthermore, anaglyph images are fantastic, because you don't need a special TV or screen, just a pair of anaglyph glasses. These are pretty easy to get, you can find them with some old 3D films, books, or even in some stores. Chances are you might have a pair lying around the house.
Most anaglyph glasses are red on one eye, and cyan on the other, these are the most common for people to own. But there's a whole range of types of anaglyph using different colors. the whole point is to hide part of the image for each eye, so many opposite-colors can work.
Because yo

A crafty chat with - battledress

:iconcommunityrelations:
A Crafty Chat With

A crafty chat with `Battledress!
Hello! Tell me who you are and what your craft is!
I'm an artist that specializes in developing adaptive techniques.
I'm most noted for my work as a body painter.
My current field of interest is culinary artistry.
How did you get into it and how long have you been doing it?
THAT's a long story.
I've been body-painting for almost a decade - culinary decorating for about 4 years.
What difficulties have you found as you progress?
Surprisingly enough, the preconceptions in the art community itself.
What/who are your inspirations?
Everything. I mean that quite literally.
Earliest inspirations was anything I saw in National Geographic.
Are you a member of any dA Grou

Project Educate: Dragonfly-oli on Still Life`dragonfly-oli is fast becoming one of the most well known Still Life Photographers on deviantART. Whilst she has only been here for 2 years her artwork has certainly made its mark on the community. Here she shares a bit of insight into what she does and why.

:icondragonfly-oli:
Tell us about your style...
I do really like close-ups, as you can see in my other shots. So I tend to take pictures of little objects. All in all I do really like to do conceptual shots, because I cannot implement my ideas in nature photography.

What are the trials and tribulations of Still Life Photography in your opinion?
Well, it's easier than taking pictures of people or nature! It's a challenge to search for the right object to make a conceptual piece out of it. The light and composition are essential for a good photo here, because people look for the message and the technique in general.
Merits are th

Still Life Photography - The Beginnings Still Life Photography
Whilst Still Life Photography is often considered to be the staging and shooting of a group of inanimate objects - it's more than likely best recognised especially on deviantART as singular items and in particular dishes - such as meals or baked foods. It's an under appreciated art form for sure in that those who don't actively engage in the set up of such shots do not actively appreciate the effort that goes into staging, lighting and composing such pieces. A Still Life Photographer Makes a picture rather than just Take it.

Photography -> Still Life -> Food and Drink
Aims of this Project Educate Week

Project Educate Interviews: Porcelainpoet:iconprojecteducate:
Project Educate Interviews: `PorcelainPoet :
`PorcelainPoet is a well recognized photographer around the halls of deviantART; her stunning, and sometimes shocking images are meticulously crafted and brought to life, then shared with us here for all of us to enjoy as well.
She was gracious enough to offer me the opportunity to ask her a few questions on her craft.
1) What was your first camera, and what did you foresee yourself doing with it? Did you imagine that you would be a nature photographer, or a portrait photographer, or was it an easy transition to creating darker work for you?
`PorcelainPoet - I think my first camera was a Kodak point and shoot. Something as small as maybe 5.0 megapixels. I just knew I wanted to start doing portraits with it. And I didn't have any models yet, so I used myself. I was doing daily self portrait sessions for my first year or so of photography exploration. At that time I was 15

Shoot Yourself: Self Portraiture Contest "Shoot" Yourself - A Self Portraiture Photography Contest
The idea is to get creative and move away from those myspace style self-portraits. Admit it, most of you did them - and fine tune your photographic skills by taking your own picture! Using technique that you possess, can learn from tutorials or may pick up this week, you need to take a shot of yourself as creatively as possible.
Start Date: 27th August
End Date: 2nd September
Submission Folder: Here!
Rules

Entries MUST be NEW - this means created on or after 27th August 2012

One entry per person

Manipulation must be kept to a minimum - entries MUST be Photography with minimal editing.

Editing allowed - retouching, black and white, colour adjustment, blur and other m

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Submitted: May 17, 2012
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Project Educate: Still Life with ClareManson

Thu May 17, 2012, 11:18 PM

People & Portraits

*claremanson pretty much had me addicted to her photography the moment I stumbled into her gallery. Clare not only photographs her awesome creations but she also shares the recipes. But what really hooked my interest was the Oreo Pizza...

What area of Still Life Photography do you find yourself favouring?

It has to be food photography. I love to bake and i love to photograph so being able to bring the two together is a great feeling. There is nothing more satisfying to me than being able to capture the beauty of something you have put your heart into making.

What are the challenges and merits of undertaking Still Life?

The biggest challenge for me is lighting, being in the UK where the sky is often overcast natural light can be hard to come across.
A lot of the time i plan my baking and photography sessions around the weather and time of day to get the best possible light into my kitchen where i do most of my photography as i do not like to use the flash unless i really have to.
The other challenge is presentation. I spend a lot of time playing with camera angles, different plates, bowls, colours and other accessions to try and compliment the subject to get the right shot.

Who inspires you on deviantART with their Still Life Photography?

There are some wonderful food photographers around DA. There are a few in particular who really inspire me and have helped me learn a lot about the subject just by studying how they stage their photos.
~kupenska ~sasQuat-ch ~munchinees
All three have their own distinct style and i just love that i can identify a photo of theirs without having to look up the name to know it is theirs, i love individuality!

What about Groups? Are there any that you find help promote still life photography?

I am in many groups on DA but ~WhatsOnTheMenu has to be my favorite, it's all about food photography and only except quality photos so i am constantly finding inspiration and new photographers to follow and admire.

You're going on an all expenses paid holiday and can take an Artist, a Writer and a Singer with you. Who do you take?

The artist would have to be *ginas-cakes she is an amazing cake artist. I love how she gets inspiration from everything around her and thanks to her i have started to pick up that same mentality, i will see an object such as a pretty bowl or certain ingredient and be able to plan a whole baking and photography session around it.

The writer would be Corey Taylor, his autobiography is amazing and taught me if you want to be good at something to keep at it and to think of the failures and mistakes as a lesson not as a defeat.

Singer, now that's easy! Marilyn Manson, he has been my idol for ten years, the ultimate inspiration for me to do what i love, to be creative, to find my own style and keep trying to better to better yourself.
I think if i went on holiday with all them all i could come up with some pretty epic photography!

Finally, do you have any tips for those starting out with Still Life Photography?

Practice makes perfect! The more you photograph the better you will get. When i first started out it took me longer to photograph my subject than it did to make it. I would spend up to 2 hours and over 300 photos some days trying to get that one perfect shot, it was very frustrating when i didn't but it's all a learning process.
Also study, look at other peoples photos, read books and tips. Don't use these resources to copy other people but to help you find your own style that suits you.
Most importantly enjoy yourself! If you have love and passion in what you do it will show in your photography.