Still Life Photography Online Portfolio Website

Still Life Photography Online Portfolio Website

Wondering how to create a still life photography business and stellar portfolio? This guide to creating a stunning still life photography online portfolio website can help boost your online presence and grow your business.

The start of still life photography dates as far back as the early days of photography itself. Given the long exposures that were required to develop photos in its infancy, static objects were once deemed as the perfect subjects for photographers to work with. Many years later, still life photography has remained visually interesting for a myriad of reasons.

The most important thing about still life photography is that it requires the photographer to create interesting images of oft-ordinary or uneventful objects using the right lighting, composition, backdrops, and props. Popular subjects in still life photos include products, food, plants, rocks, shells, and more.

Let’s review some tips on how to make a still life photography business work. This includes creating a beautiful, eye-catching portfolio website that will truly showcase your skills, abilities, and body of work.

Thinking Of Starting a Still Life Photography Business?

If you’re thinking of starting a still life photography business, you’re off to a great start. In fact, still life photography is amongst one of the most in-demand photography niches, given the vast need for stock photography libraries in today’s digital landscape.

Still life photography also encompasses other popular niches such as product photography, food photography, catalog work, and much more.

Still life photography can be a lucrative business because many different media (magazines, catalogs, websites, and art galleries) require product shots. Contrary to many other photography niches, still life photography brands are also slightly easier to get off the ground — as one of its most notable features is that it doesn’t require you to have a studio space or fancy location for shooting. To begin, all you need is a clear area in your home. Consider a table by a window for natural light, a complementary backdrop, or your own lamps for lighting.

You may also need to purchase a tripod and shutter release for your still life photos, depending on which lighting situation works best for your shots. This will allow you to create variety in your work and shoot from varying heights and angles.

There are also far fewer obstacles involved with capturing the right still life shots. Unlike portrait, wedding, or landscape shots, your creative content is much easier to access in a still life photography operation. Your biggest challenges are about how creatively and engagingly you shoot your subjects, rather than what you shoot.

Creating the Ideal Still Life Photography Portfolio

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or a novice, your portfolio is your best tool for showcasing your creative abilities and concepts. This is crucial if you want to start or grow a still life photography business.

Creating the ideal still life photography portfolio isn’t just about arranging your best work to show off. When building your portfolio, apply the same logic that goes into creating a great still life shot.

While individual still life images can be powerful on their own, a series can be even more so. This means choosing shots that are similar in technique, tone, color, background, focal length, and creative concept.

To create the perfect still life photography online portfolio website, you’ll need to:

  1. Find a website builder that has all the tools you need to run your website and your photography business. Sign up for Format for a 14-day free trial!
  2. Choose a template that reflects your creative work, personality, and brand.
  3. Upload your best work onto your portfolio. Consider including behind the scene photos of your still life photography as well.
  4. Review your portfolio website to make sure you have your about section, projects, and a contact page so potential clients can reach out to you.
  5. Personalize your website according to your brand colors. Don’t forget to include your logos and any personal touches to make it yours.

Which Templates Should You Choose For Your Still Life Portfolio?

We’ve discovered that the following three templates have been popular with still life photographers in the Format community.

Amazon

One of Format’s most beloved templates, Amazon is youthful, fun, and image-forward — making it a perfect platform to capture the eyes of prospective viewers. Featuring a masonry-style grid, Amazon includes click-to-enlarge images to ensure that every detail of your still life shots is brought to life. It’s also highly customizable, offering users the ability to place images at the front and center of each page.

Horizon Left

It should come as no surprise that Horizon Left is also one of Format’s most popular templates for photographers and other visual artists alike. With an intuitive, crisp, and easy-to-navigate design, Horizon Left allows potential clients to horizontally scroll through enlarged images. For the best viewing experience, viewers can also access a left-hand menu to learn more about your brand.

Foray

With big, bright, and beautiful slideshow galleries, Foray will also allow you to place your work at the forefront of your portfolio. With its clean and classic design, Foray also ensures that still life images truly serve as an ideal portfolio’s focal point. You can also choose from a variety of menu layout options to customize your portfolio website with ease.

Got some ideas on what your portfolio should look like? For some extra inspiration, let’s take a look at some well-composed black and white photo portfolios from Format’s community members:

Jørn Veberg – Jørn Veberg is an award-winning music photographer who shoots his images in only black and white. His images showcase the perfect execution of light and dark, with heavy use of contrast, shadowing, and shallow depth of field — all hallmarks of captivating black and white imagery.

Website URL: https://www.jornveberg.com/

Richard Israel – Richard Israel’s work consists of stunning black and white portrait photography. Here, we can see the incredible way he illuminates his subjects’ skin and features, all while casting them against dark backdrops for the perfect measures of contrast.

Website URL: https://www.portraitprovocateur.com

Romain Leclerc – Romain Leclerc is a nature photographer who shoots only in black and white. His images highlight the magic of nature’s many textures, shades, shadows, contrasts, and wonders.

Website URL: http://www.rlphotographe.com

Still Life Photography Portfolio FAQs

Want to know more about still life photography and creating a portfolio? We answer some of the most frequently asked questions:

Still life photography is the term used to describe any work of photographic art that depicts inanimate subject matter. This ranges from common, everyday items that are either natural (such as fruit, herbs, plants, shells, rocks, flowers, or dead animals) or man-made (such as food dishes, baked goods, dishes, stationery, books, jewelry, and much more).

In most cases, still life photography depicts a subject in an artistic or conceptual way. This means that, unlike product photography, artists are encouraged to be creative through the use of composition, lighting, color, texture, and backdrops.

To create a successful still life photo, your first step should always be to begin your composition with a strong creative concept. Your photo shouldn’t just showcase an object — it should serve as a piece of intentional imagery, with a clear and thoughtful message attached.

This means that to ensure your still life photo is successfully composed, you should plan it out thoroughly and not rush into snapping it. Successful still life photographers often take time to think about and plan their shoots, sometimes even sketching out their concepts or hashing out other exercises to help them visualize their idea. This will help you achieve the perfect placement, angles, lighting, color schemes, background, and more.

Lastly, your goal in shooting still life photography should always be to draw the viewer towards your image and fully capture their attention. To do this successfully, good composition is key. Of course, you’ll need to ensure your image has a creative concept — but adding the right amount of symmetry, layers, lines, lighting, and color will help you compel your viewers and perfect your visual execution.

To see some great examples of visually compelling, still life eye candy, we encourage you to check out these awesome still life portfolios from some very talented members of our Format community:

Lindsey Wernli – Using the perfect combination of color, composition, and warm, pastel tones, Lindsey Wernli breathes life into her close-up shots of glassware, jewelry, fresh fruit, footwear, and much more. Based in Philadelphia, PA, she will travel for commission, exhibition, and publication worldwide.

Website URL: https://www.lindseywernli.com

Theresa Hood – Born and raised in New Jersey, Theresa Hood is a freelance photographer now based in Monroe County, PA. With gorgeous still life shots reminiscent of Vanitas paintings, Theresa’s images have won numerous awards at the local, national, and international levels.

Website URL: https://www.thoodphotography.org

Olesya Stryzhak – As an expert food photographer, Olesya Stryzhak creates delectable images by capturing stunning, texture-rich close-ups of various food groups.

Website URL: http://www.olesyastryzhak.com

Still life photography is amongst one of the most lucrative photography niches, given that it is in demand across many different industries — particularly advertising and marketing. Genres such as stock photography, creative product photography, catalog marketing, and food photography require talented still life photographers to achieve brand visions or creative concepts through the lens of a camera.

Still life photography can be found on many images we see in our everyday lives — such as engaging images we might find on magazines, billboards, stock photos, and much more.

Build a Still Life Photography Portfolio With Format

Format’s portfolio website templates have been designed with photographers in mind. Artists can sell prints, organize their operations, and join an international community of ambitious photographers and visionary professionals.

With the ability to showcase enlarged images and allow for easier viewing through clean-cut navigation tools, building a still life photography portfolio with Format will be the perfect way for you to show your future clients your best work.

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