#31 - Summer Harvest, Sealed Shut

whiterice

My first idea didn't go so well....:rofl Here's my second option (my wife's been busy this summer).



My primary concern is whether this is theme worthy. I can reshoot if necessary, that's not a problem. Perhaps use a larger DOF?? I was originally drawn by the complementary colors of the composition.

Again, your c/c much appreciated.

Katmitchell

I like where you are going with this, but for sure you need to increase the DOF.. Too much blur too soon, as on that middle green jar and its lid. The colors and textures of the veggies pulls the viewer in but then the blur pushes back out too fast..

I love your backdrop color and hopefully you can retain the creamy in it even if you increase the DOF. and I am digging that wood table, but the blur is picking on the table too.... What about other props to off set the pattern of just jars? Something to consider.. Perhaps something that goes along with canning, maybe some of the tools etc.. or a basket or something like that...

Just some ideas and thoughts to ponder.. I have always been fond of your creamy blurred backgrounds they always look so nice..

Kat

DsrtVW

Now this is coming from a home canning standpoint if you went with a slightly higher perspective to show the lids are sucked in and sealed. Love the colors the background, the wood.
I am waiting for my pomegranates to ripen so I can make some jelly
Oh wait one more thing, maybe one jar open with knife next to it with some jam on it. Then you have both open and closed

travelways

DsrtVW wrote:

Now this is coming from a home canning standpoint if you went with a slightly higher perspective to show the lids are sucked in and sealed. Love the colors the background, the wood.
I am waiting for my pomegranates to ripen so I can make some jelly
Oh wait one more thing, maybe one jar open with knife next to it with some jam on it. Then you have both open and closed

* You don't have to actually open one of these jars (maybe your wife wouldn't agree with the idea...)
but you can buy something similar in a store and remove the label

The Curious Camel

Hi Christopher. I like your idea.

I have a few suggestions.

First thing I notice is that you shot it straight on and all the tops are silver with the exception of one.
I would get down a little and shoot a little from an angle. I also think that the two colors of green veggies in the jars don't really standout against that awesome bokeh color. The wine colored veggies are lovely. Maybe add some equipment that your wife uses for canning or even a basket of the fruit or veggies she's canning. If you reshoot I would use a greater dof.

I think this is very theme worthy. I'm jealous, I don't have anything yet.

Again I love the idea. The textures on the table really bring it home.

Hope that helps.

g

whiterice

Katmitchell wrote:

I like where you are going with this, but for sure you need to increase the DOF.. Too much blur too soon, as on that middle green jar and its lid. The colors and textures of the veggies pulls the viewer in but then the blur pushes back out too fast..

I love your backdrop color and hopefully you can retain the creamy in it even if you increase the DOF. and I am digging that wood table, but the blur is picking on the table too.... What about other props to off set the pattern of just jars? Something to consider.. Perhaps something that goes along with canning, maybe some of the tools etc.. or a basket or something like that...

Just some ideas and thoughts to ponder.. I have always been fond of your creamy blurred backgrounds they always look so nice..

Kat

Kat - thanks for the great feedback!

I agree...way too shallow DOF to really make this work. The work is actually an old crate - and I really need to increase the DOF so that I can bring out the great detail in the wood grain.

Now here is the problem, the green is the paint color in the kitchen. This photo was taken near a window a west exposure. So to replicate this shot, I need to be home sometime around 3 or 4 pm to reshoot. Problem though is that I work 2nd shift the next 5 nights.

whiterice

DsrtVW wrote:

Now this is coming from a home canning standpoint if you went with a slightly higher perspective to show the lids are sucked in and sealed. Love the colors the background, the wood.
I am waiting for my pomegranates to ripen so I can make some jelly
Oh wait one more thing, maybe one jar open with knife next to it with some jam on it. Then you have both open and closed

Thanks Chris - you are 200% right...a slightly higher prespective.

BTW - I won't tell my wife about your pomegranates - she would hunt you down and steal all the fruit from your trees!!

whiterice

photo-bug wrote:

* You don't have to actually open one of these jars (maybe your wife wouldn't agree with the idea...)
but you can buy something similar in a store and remove the label

I don't know Tatiana....I've toyed with the idea of other props and I'm not convinced. I did think of opening a jar, but then that sort of went against my title. Thanks for the feedback!

whiterice

The Curious Camel wrote:

Hi Christopher. I like your idea.

I have a few suggestions.

First thing I notice is that you shot it straight on and all the tops are silver with the exception of one.
I would get down a little and shoot a little from an angle. I also think that the two colors of green veggies in the jars don't really standout against that awesome bokeh color. The wine colored veggies are lovely. Maybe add some equipment that your wife uses for canning or even a basket of the fruit or veggies she's canning. If you reshoot I would use a greater dof.

I think this is very theme worthy. I'm jealous, I don't have anything yet.

Again I love the idea. The textures on the table really bring it home.

Hope that helps.

g

Thanks Gail for the indepth feedback - much appreciated!

So do you think I should keep the green background? I don't know, I've struggled with this decision. I didn't want it to compete too much with the fruits and veggies, but I did like the red/green relationship.

DsrtVW

Pomegranates are protected by Mitter Kitty, she will have to deal with him. Well at least scratch his belly to get to the fruit

whiterice

DsrtVW wrote:

Pomegranates are protected by Mitter Kitty, she will have to deal with him. Well at least scratch his belly to get to the fruit

Oh my gosh....look at those claws! Who needs a guard dog when you've got Mitter Kitty!

kds1

whiterice wrote:

Thanks Gail for the indepth feedback - much appreciated!

So do you think I should keep the green background? I don't know, I've struggled with this decision. I didn't want it to compete too much with the fruits and veggies, but I did like the red/green relationship.

I think the green kind of takes away from those two jars that are green veggies. It goes well with the purply ones but kind of clashes with the green of the 2 jars. again, just my inexperienced eye, so wait for others to chime in on that!

whiterice

kds1 wrote:

I think the green kind of takes away from those two jars that are green veggies. It goes well with the purply ones but kind of clashes with the green of the 2 jars. again, just my inexperienced eye, so wait for others to chime in on that!

Thanks Kara - I'm starting to have second thoughts about the background color too - and don't worry, I'm even more inexperienced than you....which causes me to leech off everyone here. Luckily, they are all pretty good sports about it.

kds1

whiterice wrote:

I'm even more inexperienced than you....

NO WAY! Noooooo! :jawdrop Yer goooood! I don't even know half the photo lingo and get confused sometimes because of it! Takes me forever to figure out what people are talking about (okay, like Kat)

I'll try to hang in there, have fun and learn as I go if you keep reminding me every now and then (and if you keep posting your beautiful shots).

whiterice

kds1 wrote:

NO WAY! Noooooo! :jawdrop Yer goooood! I don't even know half the photo lingo and get confused sometimes because of it! Takes me forever to figure out what people are talking about (okay, like Kat)

I'll try to hang in there, have fun and learn as I go if you keep reminding me every now and then (and if you keep posting your beautiful shots).

WHATEVER Kara.....you're being too kind.

But it doesn't take long hanging around here to catch to lingo. I remember that I had to google SOOC to figure out what it mean't.

kds1

whiterice wrote:

I had to google SOOC to figure out what it mean't.

Hey - I just came out and asked! That exact same one, SOOC, I was stumped, so when I saw it used again I just did a comment and asked and was very politely informed.

WhatEVER!

divamum

If I may self-referentially follow y'all's tangent for a moment...

One year ago - practically to the day - I was lurking around in here, watching the "Communication" round. I'd only just started my personal mission to FINALLY (after quite a few years) come to grips with basic technique, and that particular challenge caught my eye. I just sat on the sidelines and watched enviously, until Jeffreaux and achambers gently prodded me into trying a bit more despite my inexperience and total lack of skill!

My first entry was not exactly great art but I decided to try it anyway, if only to push myself. I slaved over that stupid glass, utterly clueless about any kind of lighting and with pretty much no equipment (that was shot with a flashlight precariously balanced on a dishwasher cutlery basket ) While I make no claim for brilliance now, a year later I have learned more than I can even begin to outline, and find myself firmly entrenched not only into the dgrin challenges, but this mysterious photographic obsessions/lifestyle.. Dgrin has - quite LITERALLY - changed my life forever. I even have a couple of flashes, now!

(I posted similarly in people a few days back although it kind of got buried in the current exercise, but fwiw)

In any case (she said, rambling to a point) - keep submitting and (more importantly) keep shooting. If I can grow this much in a year, anybody can!!!!

DsrtVW

Ok I just had to google SOOC too Hey this is one of the funnest and maddening places to gain knowledge and sharpen your skills. Hang out here at your own risk. Or soon you will haunting old barns and jumping over rattlesnakes or getting strange looks from people just to get a shot for the current challenge.
But you will certainly learn and improve skills. Become bolder and do things like self portraits you thought you would never do. Runaway now

Katmitchell

divamum wrote:

If I may self-referentially follow y'all's tangent for a moment...

One year ago - practically to the day - I was lurking around in here, watching the "Communication" round. I'd only just started my personal mission to FINALLY (after quite a few years) come to grips with basic technique, and that particular challenge caught my eye. I just sat on the sidelines and watched enviously, until Jeffreaux and achambers gently prodded me into trying a bit more despite my inexperience and total lack of skill!

My first entry was not exactly great art but I decided to try it anyway, if only to push myself. I slaved over that stupid glass, utterly clueless about any kind of lighting and with pretty much no equipment (that was shot with a flashlight precariously balanced on a dishwasher cutlery basket ) While I make no claim for brilliance now, a year later I have learned more than I can even begin to outline, and find myself firmly entrenched not only into the dgrin challenges, but this mysterious photographic obsessions/lifestyle.. Dgrin has - quite LITERALLY - changed my life forever. I even have a couple of flashes, now!

(I posted similarly in people a few days back although it kind of got buried in the current exercise, but fwiw)

In any case (she said, rambling to a point) - keep submitting and (more importantly) keep shooting. If I can grow this much in a year, anybody can!!!!

====================

Tangent?

Why do you call it that Mum... are you cranky today? bad


Kat

kds1

DsrtVW wrote:

Become bolder and do things like self portraits you thought you would never do.

Chris - Hey, speaking of that, I did! A few months ago, I did my first self-portrait session, results of which are on my smugmug gallery in various places and as my avatar thingybob on here. And I do get kind of weird bold, if that counts. I just did a fun re-work of my entry for this Open Closed challenge and put it up as my daily photo yesterday if you want to check it out!

divamum

Katmitchell wrote:

====================

Tangent?

Why do you call it that Mum... are you cranky today? bad


Kat

Not cranky at all... it's just it wasn't really anything to do with the canning jars (which I like - great colours!), but the secondary conversation which had emerged....

Kinkajou

Personally,I like to use SOC (as in 'straight outta camera') over SOOC, because first off, that's a lot of OOs. Second, I feel like if we're using, 'of', then we should include 'the' - don't want to leave that guy out by himself! But then SOOTC gets so long that we might as well write out the whole thing... * sigh * life is hard.

Aaaaaanyway... My two cents on the image:

Love the colors. This image has grown on me a lot. At first glance I thought it was nice, but it didn't arrest me. I kept looking at it anyway and now every time I look at it I like it more and more; I think it's the simplicity of the image and the balance of colors. At this point I just love it. So, my suggestion would be to keep everything exactly the same and just do a greater DOF on a reshoot. To me, opening one of the jars or adding something else to the scene would detract from the classic feel of this image. It's like a painting. Just beautiful.

Katmitchell

divamum wrote:

Not cranky at all... it's just it wasn't really anything to do with the canning jars (which I like - great colours!), but the secondary conversation which had emerged....

oh, ok.. well ya threw me there for a minute.. I did not know what you were talking about..D

Good to see your not cranky though.. wink

adbsgicom

Sorry that I'm late to the party since the preserves look so yummy. The green background doesn't say 'yummy' to me, and I think you need DOF for all of the jars. Lastly, Mitter Kitty definately says open & closed -- eyes/claws/teeth all open; touch-me == closed.

whiterice

Kinkajou wrote:

Personally,I like to use SOC (as in 'straight outta camera') over SOOC, because first off, that's a lot of OOs. Second, I feel like if we're using, 'of', then we should include 'the' - don't want to leave that guy out by himself! But then SOOTC gets so long that we might as well write out the whole thing... * sigh * life is hard.

Aaaaaanyway... My two cents on the image:

Love the colors. This image has grown on me a lot. At first glance I thought it was nice, but it didn't arrest me. I kept looking at it anyway and now every time I look at it I like it more and more; I think it's the simplicity of the image and the balance of colors. At this point I just love it. So, my suggestion would be to keep everything exactly the same and just do a greater DOF on a reshoot. To me, opening one of the jars or adding something else to the scene would detract from the classic feel of this image. It's like a painting. Just beautiful.

Thanks for the feedback Kristin....you're way kind. I did reshoot today....we'll see if I can pull it off.

whiterice

adbsgicom wrote:

Sorry that I'm late to the party since the preserves look so yummy. The green background doesn't say 'yummy' to me, and I think you need DOF for all of the jars. Lastly, Mitter Kitty definately says open & closed -- eyes/claws/teeth all open; touch-me == closed.

The whole background color issue is a most difficult decision. Really confused on this one...

adbsgicom

Our discussion on the way to dinner was that reds and oranges are supposed to excite the pallete.

whiterice

adbsgicom wrote:

Our discussion on the way to dinner was that reds and oranges are supposed to excite the pallete.

What about yellow or yellowish??!!?!!

Kinkajou

Aww, you're welcome!

Well, I guess the question is whether you're going for 'yummy' or something else, like a color contrast for the reddish preserves. Everyone get out their color wheels!