When one leaves onions unattended for too long... C&C

[crimbfighter]

They begin to grow all over again! I neglected this onion for a couple of weeks, on my kitchen counter. Then, as it began to take on a personality of its own, I couldn't bare to see it eaten.. I thought it could make for an interesting photo, and this was what I came up with. Thoughts?

My own critique, would be I wish the background would have been a little brighter and more white. I think it was picking up some of the tones from the wood stool the onion was sitting on.. Or maybe it's my imagination? Maybe some fill light on the white foam board to wash it out and brighten it up? I PP in LR4, so if anyone has suggestions on how I could adjust it in post, I'm all ears. Anyway, setup was a white foam board about 14" directly behind the onion, perpendicular to the lens. Natural light from the cameras 8 o'clock through a patio door on a cloudy day.

1. f/22, 1 1/2 sec, ISO200
D5000, Nikkor 105mm f/2.8

 

[cgipson1]

If you want WHITE baackgrounds, you have to light them to be white! Usually want to overexpose the background about a stop and a half or so.

but a curves adjustment on the background works pretty well too!

View attachment 7213

 

[Derrel]

Adjust the curves as shown in the attached screen grab I just made...the background will go pure white, the rich green shoots of the onion will look about the same, and there will be a nice lightening of the onion skin, right where the verdant green shoots are bursting through the skin!!! It looks good that way!

 

[JustinBloch]

Nice shot, I've never seen an onion do that by just sitting. Very cool.

Amazing edit cgipson1!

 

[crimbfighter]

cgipson1 and Darrel, thanks for the tips, they made a subtle but huge difference. When it comes to adjusting curves, I'm sort of a trial and error editor.. The screen shot was very helpful, Darrel, thanks. Niice edit cgipson! I probably wouldn't have thought to overexpose the background by that much, but I will keep it in mind for the future. I tried the curves adjustment myself, and viola! Thanks again for the tips. And thankyou JustinBlock for the comment! I didn't know they'd start sprouting without water or soil, but alas, it did! And it just keeps growing! It's almost become a science project now...

 

[OscarWilde]

Potatos do the same thing (or are at least similar )

I like that edit Charlie! Looks much more crisp and clean! The greens are MUCH more vibrant as well!

 

[Frequency]

That is a wonderful image, aptly corrected by CG

Congrats

 

[mommy-medic]

I find myself sitting here trying to figure out WHY I love this image so much. I can't explain it, but I like this shot more than anything I've seen in a very long time. The old skin vs. new growth, browns vs greens, lines of the skin vs lines of the new chutes... thumbs up!

 

[crimbfighter]

Thanks for the compliments!

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Awesome image