Creating Valentine Still-lifes

If you're stuck inside because of the winter weather,

have some fun inside creating

Valentine Still-Life Photos!

I love to invite my photography buddies to my house

for a Still-Life PARTY!

We all bring stuff we have around the house, found

at a thrift store, plus any other confections we can find.

I lay out all the goodies on my kitchen counters.

I set up shooting stations by several

windows for natural light.

I like to use various fabrics, blankets

and table linens as backgrounds.

Here's my friend Terri laying out her still-life

on my rose fabric.  I bought a yard of it at the fabric store.

The fabric adds texture in the background.

Terri was going for a very simple look against white!

SO many ways to use a white poster board and props

you have around the house!

You will find a ton of fun uses for these simple white background photos.

You can use them for greeting cards, thank you cards, or invitations.

Add a sentiment and share it on social media.

I had pink peppermint ice cream in the freezer 

so we scooped some of that into a champagne glass!

We seem to love FOOD still-life's best...ha! ha!

Terri thought of hot-gluing the heart candy to the end of the colorful straws.

Speaking of champagne..we put neon pink food coloring gel into

water to create this drink.  I chipped a corner off of an Alka-Seltzer

to give it some "champagne" bubbles, but it doesn't really show up in the photo.

We were laughing so hard at our gymnastics trying to capture the natural light!

We went all out for this baking set-up.  Terri found the adorable vintage

rolling pins at Target for just $5 each which sparked this idea.

I bought the Pillsbury sugar cookie dough to make it easy.

Yes, we were standing on the kitchen counter to get our shots!!!

I think they are SOOOOO cute!

The adorable decorated heart cookies are magnets I found at Goodwill!

This sparked the idea for my Vintage VALentine shoot!

We had about an inch of snow on my snow table, so I snapped this:

I cover a card table with a plastic tablecloth and keep it on my back porch

all winter to collect snow to use for still-life photos!

We also had a Christmas Still-Life Party

where the five inches of snow on my back porch made for some 

great still-life photos!

The table makes it simple to set up photos in the snow!

Hopefully this will inspire you to try some Valentine or winter

still-life photography of your own.

Your friends will love to see your fine work on social media

such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

Enjoy!

Vintage VALentine 2017

Our Vintage VALentine shoot for 2017 was sparked by a

baking set-up we created for our Valentine Still-Life Party.

It looked so vintage, I KNEW Vintage Val must wear the pretty

pink floral apron I found years ago in a boutique while on vacation.

I placed my large white board behind her in my kitchen

and later added the FAB vintage PINK kitchen!

The pink vintage mixing bowl is from a thrift shop and

the wonderful pink rolling pin is from Target!

My Vintage Val shoots take careful planning and attention to details.

No way was I going to mix up a batch of cookies.

I simply bought a few rolls of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie dough!

I baked a batch of heart-shaped cookies the night before the shoot and

my hubby wanted to eat my props...ha ha!!

I LOVE the pink mixer in the background! 

We shot the cookie decorating photos at my kitchen table

with the white board behind her so I could add vintage wallpaper.

Of course, Vintage Val had a romantic Valentine's date planned

that evening.  Here, she is cozied up by the fire waiting for

her date to arrive!

These photos were a lovely challenge!

I photographed them by the fireplace in my family room

at about 4:30 pm when it was getting dark outside.

The only light in the room was those few small candles on the table,

and from a 3-bulb lamp I placed

across the room to illuminate her face!

I was going for a rich, warm, golden tone.

I added the flames in the fireplace and

 resulting glow in photoshop!

This scene idea was sparked when a neighbor bought this vintage

red dress from an online shop in China.

When the dress arrived it looked sadly cheap

and was tiny.  She asked if I'd like it for Vintage Val.

Fortunately, it photographed beautifully in

the warm glow setting!

The door bell rings!

He's here...

♥♥♥