partner once again coerced me into shooting vegetables. he literally pointed a chocolate bar at me so i would shoot his tomatoes.
he likes this shot, but i don't because of the gray background that i can't seem to get rid of whether there's more light or less, high or low ISO or exposure. i think the problem is that there is not much space, just two feet from the tomato at the back to the backdrop. also, the four reflections bugger the heck out of me.
what do you think, folks?
i told him we need a frog on the tomatoes but he said "no way!" he's so out of touch!
i'm the wrong person to ask... i don't do food, i don't do colour, and i don't do still life ;p
that said, i don't think the reflections bother me... should they?
as for the backdrop - it would be nice if it were a little whiter (altho' i think it's pretty decent as is)... does any of your sofware allow you to correct white balance? that's the first thing i would try...
the red of the tomatoes, however, is perfectamundo! now... where's the salt? ;p
@northy - i've been playing with it all night on pse but i'm not getting any good results. i'm over it, maybe i'll give it raw to the printer and they can etsooi it to remove the dark background. thanks for the feedback, though. i did capture the 'live' colour it's the stupid background that kills me.
Lovely shot actually the reflections some how make it that bit better, i know if this was going in a british camera club competition though, it might not get anywhere because of these reflections, but this is a fun shot and as such what the heck. Plus you don't win a little trophy at the end of the year, so with that in mind keep up the good work @summerfield
I think it's lovely. Wonderful vibrant colour. For me the slight grey in the background gives it some depth, maybe with a pure white background it might give more, who knows! I also don't find the reflections an issue but if they really bother you, you could clone them out quite easily. I love the addition of the ribbon!
I actually don't mind the background, it makes the tomatoes pop, I also really like the addition of the ribbon, hope you got the chocolate bar after taking this shot
This is really colourful and attractive! If you didn't have the reflections on the tomatoes, they would look dull and flat. You expect there to be some specular highlights on them. As for the grey background, they are the bane of my life. You could try a bit of fill in flash (not advisable though with shiny tomatoes!), changing the white balance or selecting the objects then inverting the selection then whacking up the levels on the grey areas. But in this case, I like the grey, it does give a bit of depth and with a purely white background you risk them looking as though they are just floating around in the ether. Great still life!
Your reflections didn't bother me, but a while ago I was bothered by ones I got on vegetables in the supermarket. I suppose we're more aware of it when it's our own work.
Anyway, on a different note -- I see we are again paired for get-pushed. How about photographing something that makes you "laugh out loud".
I'm way, way, way from being an expert on lighting, and I've obviously no idea what your setup is, but did you use natural light for this or some lamps? The only way I can ever get true white is in natural light.
I love how you capture this one my friend, I say that because it looks so delicious. I guess I let me stomach be the judge and give it a FAV. As far as lighting and all that I agree with @sturnus the shadows make the shot more inviting. Well done.
@kaesebiscuit - lamps! without anything to filter the light through, now that i'm thinking about it. must try tomorrow morning or use a shadow box to at least soften the reflections. thank you.
thank you, ladies and gents, for your valuable feedback; they are much appreciated. i shall try to re-do the shot during the day (ideally it should've been today, but the old back acted out so bad almost the whole day) or maybe using the shadow box (the tabletop studio) so i can filter out the reflections. i did try cloning out them out but what you said was true - they looked like pretend tomatoes, dull and lifeless. so, you might yet see the tomatoes again, not these ones per se because partner ate them already. ooh, i see squash!
fancy smancy tomatoes - they never looks so elegant!
Nothing about reflections or background bother me - you are too critical on yourself. However, with that said one thing you can try to do is go to Ipiccy, go to the curve and play with it by dragging the line up and down in different spots. You can even drag it all the way up so it whitens the whole thing and then take the eraser and go over the tomatoes and whatever you want showing.
Again, I like it
September 17th, 2013
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that said, i don't think the reflections bother me... should they?
as for the backdrop - it would be nice if it were a little whiter (altho' i think it's pretty decent as is)... does any of your sofware allow you to correct white balance? that's the first thing i would try...
the red of the tomatoes, however, is perfectamundo! now... where's the salt? ;p
Anyway, on a different note -- I see we are again paired for get-pushed. How about photographing something that makes you "laugh out loud".
@salza - i tried to clone them out but didn't look natural. :-) thank you, sally.
@ness50 - of course, i got the chocolate! :-) thank you, vanessa.
@jackie8 - thank you, Jackie.
@sturnus - uhm, i don't really know much about fill ins. i'm so afraid of pse. it's installed but heck so afraid to use it really. thank you, carol.
@libertylady - thank you, alice.
@denisedaly - thank you, denise.
@claireuk - i put ribbons on everything...well, uhm, not everything. :-) thank you, claire.
@mcsiegle - thank you, mary.
@henrir - thank you, henri.
@olivetreeann - yes, you did drive me crazy with the fav, but i know how much you love tomatoes so... :-) thank you, ann.
@lafish - thank you, laurie.
@kaesebiscuit - lamps! without anything to filter the light through, now that i'm thinking about it. must try tomorrow morning or use a shadow box to at least soften the reflections. thank you.
@eniaral - thank you, laraine.
@cathrinemitch - thank you, cathy.
thank you, ladies and gents, for your valuable feedback; they are much appreciated. i shall try to re-do the shot during the day (ideally it should've been today, but the old back acted out so bad almost the whole day) or maybe using the shadow box (the tabletop studio) so i can filter out the reflections. i did try cloning out them out but what you said was true - they looked like pretend tomatoes, dull and lifeless. so, you might yet see the tomatoes again, not these ones per se because partner ate them already. ooh, i see squash!
Nothing about reflections or background bother me - you are too critical on yourself. However, with that said one thing you can try to do is go to Ipiccy, go to the curve and play with it by dragging the line up and down in different spots. You can even drag it all the way up so it whitens the whole thing and then take the eraser and go over the tomatoes and whatever you want showing.
Again, I like it