Selected edits

I wasn't happy with the lighting in the studio, it was flat or simply looked unusual pairing still life and "man-made" lighting, and not in a good way. Therefore I moved forward to natural light. Researching traditional Still Life paintings, the tonality and lighting is soft. The lighting is mostly one-directional, with a subtle highlight from another direction. 

The set-up: Main source of light from large window to the right, subtle highlight with reflector (home-made) to the left. 

The reflective surface has several purposes: to reflect more light and to reflect the objects shape, literally doubling the form within the frame. 

Again I continued to use the "typical" still-life objects. 

In this first image I played with irony, a wilting-flowers' impending doom. It lays slumped, its body language saying it's almost given up. The irony comes from its bed, the vase of potpourri is its future. The flower appears to be looking upon its reflection, in deflated thought about its future.

The below image has two potential meanings. The stalk is a depleting timeline, the flower slowly lowering to its grave, the pit of dead beneath it. That - or the flower is defiant, standing strong and tall against its nature that eventually, it too will die in a dry, crisp state.

It is here where I start to play with an objects use/nature. Replace or wrongly use. Confuse use. Misunderstand or not know at all.

Visually, these images work well. Minimal, but stimulating. The minimalism leaves more to be read/thought about the image and the objects. Focus is also brought to the shape and form of them. The stalk towers and the flower head looms above, lamp-like. Held within a candle-stick holder. The golden-brass is bold, yet still soft thanks to the use of natural light. 

Below is another visually strong image. To start with, the background is two-tone and (almost) 50/50 to frame. The objects stand two-tone also, bowl and fruit stand side-by-side, typically 'brothers' in Still Life format but this time they stand separate in some sort of stand-off. Our eyes place the orange in the bowl but it is not what we're shown.

The below images were from a previous shoot, but stood out to be selected. The illusion is simple, but the image is bold. Upon showing the image to peers the impact of these images were obvious, and I asked them their preference between the above style and the below. They seemed to agree with me that the above had more to say, holding much more depth and meaning, but the below appealed to them on an aesthetic level. Bold colours, humorous style and intriguing illusion.