Some of my photography students and workshop attendees have said that they are interested in exploring still life imagery ,but they are not ready to jump into investing in expensive flash and strobe systems. I wanted to create an image in my home using readily available light at night. I occasionally use natural light from a window, but on a cold late afternoon in January the sunlight is practically non existent. Here is a behind the scene photo of my set up taken in a kitchen.
I often will create a setup that sits within a pocket of diagonal light and shadow cascading across the backdrop. For this setup I place a few objects on a wooden box and used my cabinets as a background. By placing a piece of board on the left of the setup (and an existing vent from my stove at a 90 degree angle from the background an interesting diagonal shadow was created. The light source was a light in the dining room that was high up at ceiling height. I placed a dark board to the right to provide some negative fill.
I'm encouraging my students to be on the lookout for interesting light whether in a studio, out in nature or out on the street....
Even though studio lighting provides much more flexibility, don't let that be an excuse not to go out and create images with the light that you have at hand.