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jutia · Joined: 15 Apr 2012 Posts: 290 Location: Dominican Republic

critical to this latest version of the mangos, now horizontally

semmickphoto · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:41 am

Image looks flat. It needs more pop/contrast. And not crazy about the grey background either. The whole scene needs to look mouth watering delicious.

Do you think it looks like any of the examples Dave and Laurin gave you to work with?

rinder99 · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:15 pm

I don't normally do this for folks but.Here ya go.

semmickphoto · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 12:17 pm

What a difference +1

jutia · Joined: 15 Apr 2012 Posts: 290 Location: Dominican Republic

jutia · Joined: 15 Apr 2012 Posts: 290 Location: Dominican Republic

semmickphoto · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:19 pm

You chose a very busy background and the red flowers are distracting to me. See how Laurins background is quite calming and peaceful, its adding to the photo but not distracting from the subject.

And your background has a whole area with white overexposed sky which is also distracting.

rinder99 · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:02 pm

Ron is correct But....Im impressed. OK now go shoot the trees these came from if ya can. In nice late evening Light, Blur it and give that a try. Good Job.Watch for sky hotspots, Make it a background, Not another subject like you did with the berries.It is competing with the fruit.or just blur more and make the sky blue.

rinder99 · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:18 pm

Or.....LOL a nice vintage look for your wall, white mat/Black frame.

jeffbanke · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:51 pm

I find the color to green so warming it up a tad might help, and punch up the vibrance a bit

jutia · Joined: 15 Apr 2012 Posts: 290 Location: Dominican Republic

jutia · Joined: 15 Apr 2012 Posts: 290 Location: Dominican Republic

rinder99 · Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 11:56 pm

You shot it girl. all I did was see it.Your doing the work. For me that's all it takes. You do the work Im all in for you.Lots come through the fire here, They read stuff, Get pissed because we/I didn't tell them what they wanted to hear. You didn't. You settled down and now It's time to go for it. Im all in For you and anyone else that shuts up. Listens,Does some work and moves ahead.Hang in there.I teach photography, I DO NOT teach stock that's a small Part of the picture. Don't ever forget that theres so much more.If ya want Send me the original full size and I'll convert and size it for you. PM me for my e-mail.

Laurin.

hhltdave5 · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 6:39 am

One thing I would like to add is don't just automatically go to replacing backgrounds when doing your work. Sometimes it works quite well when there is a reason for it but just to do it because you do not want to take the time to set up the shot properly in the first place is not the way to go. All it does is give you practice on how to replace a background. How about learning how to create the shot correctly in the first place?

It may take time to collect the necessary props but you will be surprised how little you need and how inexpensive it is. You probably have much of what you need in your house right now.

Here's an example. One cupcake, raspberries, powdered sugar and a piece of brown paper. What does this do? It shows off the food, it showcases it.

http://www.shutterstock.com/g/hhltdave5#id=29795110

Want something even simpler? A muffin tin and blueberry muffins.

http://www.shutterstock.com/g/hhltdave5#id=4746529

It's all about what you do with the food and how you bring it to the forefront so the viewer's mouth starts to water with anticipation.

The philosophy I go by when cooking is simple, let the natural flavors of the food come out. You don't need 30 different spices to make something taste amazing. I do the same when I style and set up food, I let the food do the talking and keep it simple. All it takes is a little imagination and time.

jutia · Joined: 15 Apr 2012 Posts: 290 Location: Dominican Republic