CH 32 Stan

Stan · February 18, 2005

Shot against a sheet of white paper with a 20 watt halogen desk lamp colour corrected in ps raw with the dropper and usm.

My six year old son was very blunt and to the point and asked my why I had bothered to take it :rofl He may well be right.

All comments appreciated especially if they make my son look like he knows what he is talking about Thanks

Angelo · February 18, 2005

Stan wrote:

My six year old son was very blunt and to the point and asked my why I had bothered to take it

Because!?

:

Khaos · February 18, 2005

The shot is a little soft, did you crop it or is it the true size? I think if you would allow more of the shadow and a little more on the right, the overall effect would be better.

Stan · February 18, 2005

Angelo wrote:

Because!? :

Maybe I should listen to him more when he looks at my pictures. :cry

Stan · February 18, 2005

Khaos wrote:

The shot is a little soft, did you crop it or is it the true size? I think if you would allow more of the shadow and a little more on the right, the overall effect would be better.

Thanks Khaos
I shot at F/2.8 the light was very yellow I tried to pull some detail with shaddow in the raw processing but there's not alot there without using full ps

Nee7x7 · February 19, 2005

Stan wrote:

Shot against a sheet of white paper with a 20 watt halogen desk lamp colour corrected in ps raw with the dropper and usm.

My six year old son was very blunt and to the point and asked my why I had bothered to take it He may well be right.

All comments appreciated especially if they make my son look like he knows what he is talking about Thanks

Hi Stan!

I think this image might be a little more effective (and fit the challenge better) if you had a red background perhaps. All that red with the little bit of green stem would really pop! I think the idea of the challenge is to have the majority of the image be in one dominant color group (I could be wrong... that's just my interpretation of it). While the red bell pepper takes up a good portion of the scene, the background color is also strong in the sense that white tends to overpower. So the two colors kind of cancel each other out as far as dominance goes. Red on red...that's my suggestion! And more depth of field as others have suggested. Hope this helps! ~Nee (by the way, it's a nice still life study...the shape and texture of bell peppers makes them a terrific subject!).

whamilton101 · February 19, 2005

I like the white background.

What if you let the shadow play into the photo more.

Light it from the bottom left and let the shadow drift to the top right of the pic.

wh

Stan · February 19, 2005

Thanks Nee
I agree with the background> I will try it because the light should graduate the colour across the photo as with the white background

And I have a sheet of red paper somewhere, now to buy a fresh pepper

Thanks whamilton101 I will try for a reshoot and change the lighting
1. More sharpness
2. More contrast
3. Better background

Nee7x7 · February 19, 2005

~

Stan wrote:

Thanks Nee
I agree with the background> I will try it because the light should graduate the colour across the photo as with the white background And I have a sheet of red paper somewhere, now to buy a fresh pepper

Thanks whamilton101 I will try for a reshoot and change the lighting
1. More sharpness
2. More contrast
3. Better background

I can't wait to see the results! Your basic idea is very good, so I hope you didn't think I was implying I didn't like the first photo with the white background! I just felt for this particular challenge it was a wee bit iffy as far as what the judges would be looking for (they only choose 10 of the entries for finalists!). ! Best of luck to you... ~Nee

:

Stan · February 20, 2005

Nee7x7 wrote:

I can't wait to see the results! Your basic idea is very good, so I hope you didn't think I was implying I didn't like the first photo with the white background! I just felt for this particular challenge it was a wee bit iffy as far as what the judges would be looking for (they only choose 10 of the entries for finalists!). ! Best of luck to you... ~Nee :

None offence taken, I am always amazed if I make the short list, and another perspective is worth alot

Stan · February 20, 2005

Nee7x7 wrote:

I can't wait to see the results! Your basic idea is very good, so I hope you didn't think I was implying I didn't like the first photo with the white background! I just felt for this particular challenge it was a wee bit iffy as far as what the judges would be looking for (they only choose 10 of the entries for finalists!). ! Best of luck to you... ~Nee :

OK I reshot another pepper at F/14 to give a better DOF and hopefuly more contrast and then played with a border

One with the red background

And another with the white background

I would be interested in any thoughts,
thanks

snapapple · February 20, 2005

Stan wrote:

OK I reshot another pepper at F/14 to give a better DOF and hopefuly more contrast and then played with a border One with the red background

And another with the white background

I would be interested in any thoughts,
thanks

These are really great Stan. I'm impressed with the change. I like the red background for this particular challenge.

When I try to rate the entries (in my own mind) I use a scoring system. First comes "Theme of the Challenge". How well does it express the theme? So, the red rates highest here.

Second, "Photographic principles". How well does it conform to the principles of good photography? Composition, focus, depth of field, etc. You've done well with the depth of field. I like the horizontal orientation, but I would put the pepper off to one side a bit more. Not dead center.

Third, "Does the picture invoke feelings or have something that draws me in, engages me? How long did I look at it? This is the problem with still life subjects. How do we make them interesting? My suggestion here would be to add something to the image, tell a story. A sliced pepper and a knife on a cutting board or a red plate.

Fourth, "Originality and Creativity". Does this picture have something special? Not all pictures do, but if they do, it puts them ahead of the pack.

So, I'd go with the red, but add something special to it. Bright light from one side would give it some punch. A cut pepper with some juice drips would draw me in, make me hungry. Just throwing out some ideas you could try. Get creative!

Angelo · February 20, 2005

Stan:

I like the red background, plague and border. I find the rear shadow distracting. It appears more as a stain on the backdrop.

lynnma · February 20, 2005

snapapple wrote:

These are really great Stan. I'm impressed with the change. I like the red background for this particular challenge.

When I try to rate the entries (in my own mind) I use a scoring system. First comes "Theme of the Challenge". How well does it express the theme? So, the red rates highest here.

Second, "Photographic principles". How well does it conform to the principles of good photography? Composition, focus, depth of field, etc. You've done well with the depth of field. I like the horizontal orientation, but I would put the pepper off to one side a bit more. Not dead center.

Third, "Does the picture invoke feelings or have something that draws me in, engages me? How long did I look at it? This is the problem with still life subjects. How do we make them interesting? My suggestion here would be to add something to the image, tell a story. A sliced pepper and a knife on a cutting board or a red plate.

Fourth, "Originality and Creativity". Does this picture have something special? Not all pictures do, but if they do, it puts them ahead of the pack.

So, I'd go with the red, but add something special to it. Bright light from one side would give it some punch. A cut pepper with some juice drips would draw me in, make me hungry. Just throwing out some ideas you could try. Get creative!

Nice critique Snap.. and I agree.. I like the red background definitely..

Stan · February 20, 2005

snapapple wrote:

These are really great Stan. I'm impressed with the change. I like the red background for this particular challenge.

When I try to rate the entries (in my own mind) I use a scoring system. First comes "Theme of the Challenge". How well does it express the theme? So, the red rates highest here.

Second, "Photographic principles". How well does it conform to the principles of good photography? Composition, focus, depth of field, etc. You've done well with the depth of field. I like the horizontal orientation, but I would put the pepper off to one side a bit more. Not dead center.

Third, "Does the picture invoke feelings or have something that draws me in, engages me? How long did I look at it? This is the problem with still life subjects. How do we make them interesting? My suggestion here would be to add something to the image, tell a story. A sliced pepper and a knife on a cutting board or a red plate.

Fourth, "Originality and Creativity". Does this picture have something special? Not all pictures do, but if they do, it puts them ahead of the pack.

So, I'd go with the red, but add something special to it. Bright light from one side would give it some punch. A cut pepper with some juice drips would draw me in, make me hungry. Just throwing out some ideas you could try. Get creative!

Thank you Snappy, for your very thorough critique. What began as a very unpromising challenge for me has turned into an interesting project. Still life does nothing for me and as you say I never find myself looking at it for very long so to work on the theme was a good challenge. So thank you for all the input. The results have deffinately improved, but whether they are of any merit is beyond me as I do not find the subject that interesting so let me know which is more interesting

Thank you Angelo and Lynn for your thoughts also

lynnesite · February 20, 2005

Stan wrote:

Thank you Snappy, for your very thorough critique. What began as a very unpromising challenge for me has turned into an interesting project. Still life does nothing for me and as you say I never find myself looking at it for very long so to work on the theme was a good challenge. So thank you for all the input. The results have deffinately improved, but whether they are of any merit is beyond me as I do not find the subject that interesting so let me know which is more interesting

Thank you Angelo and Lynn for your thoughts also

The second one! The pieces are more symmetrical and represent building blocks rather nicely, I really like the offsets and the color rendition.

Lynne

Angelo · February 20, 2005

Stan: These are a great improvement on the theme. I love the second one; better structure, IMHO. I hope you agree that cleaning up the rear shadow helped. I don't know how many peppers you have handy for this project (lol) but I would only suggest you now try the shot with attention to detail like drips, an errant seed, clean slices, etc. (Sorry, the AD in me is fighting to emerge, but only because I really like this)

Khaos · February 20, 2005

Wow, great improvement. You took it and made it your own. Two very nice shots.

snapapple · February 21, 2005

Stan wrote:

Thank you Snappy, for your very thorough critique. What began as a very unpromising challenge for me has turned into an interesting project. Still life does nothing for me and as you say I never find myself looking at it for very long so to work on the theme was a good challenge. So thank you for all the input. The results have deffinately improved, but whether they are of any merit is beyond me as I do not find the subject that interesting so let me know which is more interesting

Wow Sam! I like this one! No. 2.

When you look at it after seeing your first shot, you blink and do a double take. This one says something.

I love the total red with just one touch of green. So simple and such a strong impact. I like the uneven slices. They add interest. I find myself looking closer to see the tops of each slice. I don't know why. Maybe to see what's in the middle of the pepper. I like the single seed in front. It adds life to the shot. Makes the pepper more real. Without it the shot would be more sterile. This is not a "perfect" pepper. It's a "real" pepper. One that I can eat. I love it!
And somehow the tilt and uneven slices sort of add a touch of humor. Almost like it's making fun of those perfect "still life" shots. It makes me think and feel all these things.

Nee7x7 · February 21, 2005

Wow...I love what you've done with the place!
Stan, your little "project" has turned into something quite exceptional! What I especially liked (besides the fantastic results) is the way so many gave helpful input. That is what community is all about...and Dgrin rocks in that regard! Now, get your *baby* entered...and best of luck to you!

Cheers!
~Nee

Stan · February 21, 2005

Nee7x7 wrote:

Stan, your little "project" has turned into something quite exceptional! What I especially liked (besides the fantastic results) is the way so many gave helpful input. That is what community is all about...and Dgrin rocks in that regard! Now, get your *baby* entered...and best of luck to you!

Cheers!
~Nee

And all because I listened to a bit of advice from you in the first place

Stan · February 21, 2005

Angelo wrote:

Stan: These are a great improvement on the theme. I love the second one; better structure, IMHO. I hope you agree that cleaning up the rear shadow helped. I don't know how many peppers you have handy for this project (lol) but I would only suggest you now try the shot with attention to detail like drips, an errant seed, clean slices, etc. (Sorry, the AD in me is fighting to emerge, but only because I really like this)

Thanks Angelo, I wiped all the seeds off the pepper cos I thought they looked messy and distracting, but I did wonder......

Stan · February 21, 2005

lynnesite wrote:

The second one! The pieces are more symmetrical and represent building blocks rather nicely, I really like the offsets and the color rendition.

Lynne

Thanks Lynne

wxwax · February 21, 2005

Stan, this is a very cool photo! I've missed your thread until now - great stuff!

Stan · February 21, 2005

wxwax wrote:

Stan, this is a very cool photo! I've missed your thread until now - great stuff!

Thanks Wxwax

gus · February 21, 2005

wxwax wrote:

Stan, this is a very cool photo! I've missed your thread until now - great stuff!

Me too...thats a nice shot stan.

CH 32 Stan

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