Still Life - First Attempt

[waday]

For this year, I've started a "52 week" project. I need something to push me to take photos, think about photos, and to actually take good photos, haha.

The first two weeks were horrible. Had the flu/cold, so the shots were taken simply to check boxes. I'd like to go back and revisit later. Anyways...

The third week's theme is "red". I racked my brain on what to do, then saw the tomatoes in the kitchen. I always wanted to try a still life.

Processed to be slightly warmer than normal, and slightly "matte".

Thoughts?


Week 3 - Red by Wade, on Flickr

 

[jcdeboever]

I like what your doing. I have still life on my Hedgecoe project list. I really have limited advise but I see some technical success here, I will comment only. Nice color and clarity, composition is pretty decent, I see the background needed something. Hopefully @Tim Tucker chimes in but I haven't seen him here in a while. He is fantastic at this sort of thing.

 

[waday]

I like what your doing. I have still life on my Hedgecoe project list. I really have limited advise but I see some technical success here, I will comment only. Nice color and clarity, composition is pretty decent, I see the background needed something. Hopefully @Tim Tucker chimes in but I haven't seen him here in a while. He is fantastic at this sort of thing.

Thanks for the comments! I can totally see what you mean with the background!

Hmm.. maybe I'll revisit this one later. I'll have to restock on food, though...

 

[smoke665]

I can tell you from experience that "red" is the most evil, hateful color in the world to deal with. LOL I admire you for your fortitude!

Personal opinions/nits. All in all not bad for your first try. The red in the tomatoes there's a couple of areas that look a little oversaturated in places on my monitor, and a couple of blown highlights. I would have moved the tomato on the left in some making a tighter composition, and opened up more negative space at the top. Could have also used a little more light into the shadow areas. I think what JC might be talking about on the background and table is the color doesn't really complement the subject. Photography Course: Complementary Colors | Icon Photography School . Again, these are only personal opinions, and I'm sure there are others more qualified that can guide you. Tim Tucker, whom JC mentioned is great, he's given me some solid advise in the past.

 

[waday]

I can tell you from experience that "red" is the most evil, hateful color in the world to deal with. LOL I admire you for your fortitude!

Personal opinions/nits. All in all not bad for your first try. The red in the tomatoes there's a couple of areas that look a little oversaturated in places on my monitor, and a couple of blown highlights. I would have moved the tomato on the left in some making a tighter composition, and opened up more negative space at the top. Could have also used a little more light into the shadow areas. I think what JC might be talking about on the background and table is the color doesn't really complement the subject. Photography Course: Complementary Colors | Icon Photography School . Again, these are only personal opinions, and I'm sure there are others more qualified that can guide you. Tim Tucker, whom JC mentioned is great, he's given me some solid advise in the past.

Thank you!

Agree with red, haha! I did bump the saturation overall, but maybe I went too far.. I like your idea of a tighter composition and increasing the light in the shadows. Thanks for the link to the color matching.

Comments from both you and JC are extremely helpful! Appreciate it!

 

[JonA_CT]

I have no idea how to fix this, because this is so not my area...but it seems to me that the lighting also accentuates the imperfections of fruit. I know finding perfect produce doesn't affect the taste and isn't possible probably in January, but I that's the "flaw" that jumped out at me the most when I looked at this photo. Either way though, I still think it's nicely done.

 

[Rick50]

What has been mentioned already plus the green plant just looks too wimpy for me. Maybe another plant choice. I don't mind the background as is.

 

[waday]

I'd like to revisit a still life again in the future... All of these comments are great! Thank you, all!

I have no idea how to fix this, because this is so not my area...but it seems to me that the lighting also accentuates the imperfections of fruit. I know finding perfect produce doesn't affect the taste and isn't possible probably in January, but I that's the "flaw" that jumped out at me the most when I looked at this photo. Either way though, I still think it's nicely done.

Thanks! I probably could go in and fix the imperfections, but decided to leave them. It matched well with the wimpy herbs I'll see if I can go in and make it look prettier.

What has been mentioned already plus the green plant just looks too wimpy for me. Maybe another plant choice. I don't mind the background as is.

Thank you! Agree on the plant! We had some really nice, very real looking fake-herbs.. that we got rid of LAST WEEK! Argh. If I had known, I would have kept them as props!

 

[smoke665]

In addition to fresh subjects free of blemish, spray/mist the greens with water and put them in the refrigerator over night. Wipe or spray the tomatoes and other items with a little olive oil. Seems excessive I know but little things on a still life add up to make a good image great.

 

[waday]

In addition to fresh subjects free of blemish, spray/mist the greens with water and put them in the refrigerator over night. Wipe or spray the tomatoes and other items with a little olive oil. Seems excessive I know but little things on a still life add up to make a good image great.

Good tips! Thanks!

 

[Didereaux]

From my perspective forget about 'perfect' vegetables. The thing that stands out, but shouldn't is the disconnected tomato. It should be close enough visually to appear connected to the basket containing the other tomatoes. As it stands it looks to be trying to escape!

 

[waday]

From my perspective forget about 'perfect' vegetables. The thing that stands out, but shouldn't is the disconnected tomato. It should be close enough visually to appear connected to the basket containing the other tomatoes. As it stands it looks to be trying to escape!

Thanks! I didn't notice it while shooting, but I do keep looking at that space between the basket and the tomato.

It tried to make a break for it, but got caught up in a salad.