Macabre Still Life on Jerry Rigged Equipment for C&C

[Snakeguy101]

I took these for an assignment in my photography class. I made myself a makeshift still life table using old plexiglass, some plywood and resin and it worked very well imo. I also used a few lights that I bought from home depot for about $5 each. If you couldnt tell, I am limited on funds but I feel like I got the same effect. Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions to make a more permanent still life table for next to no cost since this one was so flimsy I trashed it after the shoot. Thank you in advance.

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[Lovelace]

I think the lighting, composition, etc. are good in these pictures, but it doesn't look genuinely macabre. For one thing, you seem to be implying that the skull was hacked out of some animal's head, yet it's completely clean. There's not a spot of blood on it. I suppose it could have been washed off after being removed from the bloody mess, but what's the fun in that? You need to be messier. It needs to have stains, blood, and bits of muscle-looking stuff all over it. Not necessarily to the extent that it's swimming in gore, but enough so that it doesn't look like a butcher just happened to place a sort-of-bloody knife next to a random skull. Also, I can tell that the stuff on the knife is made of strawberries or some other fruit... Gotta find better supplies to make a mix. You could try using real raw meat and dipping it in watered down, dark red paint or something. If you're worried about getting your props too dirty, then you can't really do macabre. Macabre is all about death, decay, rotting, gore, etc. Without that, it's just a bunch of random props sitting on a table. I realize you might have been on a time crunch because it was an assignment, but if you really want to get into this genre, take your time with it and go all out. Even if you have to let stuff soak in bowls of fake blood and risk permanently staining your props, it'll be worth it if you get some good shots. All in all, you've got the right idea, but you need to make the gore more realistic to achieve a true "macabre" feel. As for your table situation, try looking for something thicker than a sheet of plexi-glass. I realize most good materials are expensive, but if you're creative and look in the right places, you never know what you'll find. Even cheap stores like Wal-Mart might have something you can use. Just keep looking. Good luck.

 

[rlemert]

I think #1 has the most potential - but needs to lose the crate of tools in the background. They keep drawing my eyes away from the main subject in a "what's that" kind of way. #3 also has some potential.

 

[kundalini]

A swing and a miss. A few cutting instruments and ketchup on a clean skull does not equal macabre in the least. Your lighting is too clinical.

You want macabre? Do a search for threads started by Chiller. He is the reigning king for the unsavory. Most of it will be in the Dark Side gallery.

 

[Snakeguy101]

Thanks everyone. I agree that macabre may not have been the best choice of an adjective. I kind of wanted the gunk on the knives (strawberries- you nailed it LoveLace) to be a wink and a nod to the viewer for seeing that it is fake. I know it is over saturated and a little obvious it is fake but I didn't intend it to look real. If you have ever seen the movie version of Sweeny Todd, the red paint used as blood is sort of the feel that I was going for. I guess it didn't work but I was also a bit pressed for time and materials.

I did a search for Chiller and all I can say is WOW. That dude needs therapy but what a great photographer.