Here’s another feedback request. What do you think about this avocado photo? Continue reading to learn about the goal of this photo and then help a fellow reader by giving a honest and constructive feedback.
If you’d like to get feedback or critique on your food photos, please email me at neel[at]learnfoodphotography[dot]com
Avocado Photo
This feedback request comes from Evi Abeler. She took this photo in a recent self-assignment on avocado. Evi is looking for your feedback, here are more details:
My Goal:
I have been a photographer for a few years and this Winter I began to work with food. I started out with single items or a bowl of fruit etc, now I am ready for a bit more advanced compositions and more storytelling.
Equipment & Settings:
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
ISO Setting: ISO 100
Aperture: F 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/13
Question:
This is my favorite image from a recent Avocado session. I love the composition, colors, story, flow…. Now, my question is…deep breath, do you all think it is good enough for a promo piece to Bon Appetite, Martha, Real Simple…or…deeper breath….not?
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What Do You Think?
So now that you know what Evi is trying to achieve and what do you think about this photo? What would you do to make this photo better? Also tell what you like about this photo? Tell us what would you change? Share your thoughts below.
I totally love this photo and the mood it breaths… If I was gonna be picky; the only thing that I like a little less is the fact that both avocado’s are almost placed one behind the other. That is the only (little) thing that I am not so fond about. For the rest; I would say it is definitely good enough to send as a promo piece. Not sure if you would just send the one photo or more? I guess they would go for the package and if the rest of your photos are as good as this one… It could be a real winner!
I like the natural lighting alot, but have to ask, where’s the avocado? you are showing the skins and the pits, but all of the fruit are missing. so with that being said, what is your picture trying to say? Maybe if there was diced or sliced up avocado somewhere in the picture, it would be more cohesive. If someone had never cooked or used avocado before, they still wouldn’t know what the inside of one looks like. One other comment is, that the counter looks kind of messy under the skins, and how does the lemon in the picture relate to the avocado? I’m asking myself if they are ingredients together, or why is the lemon and juice there at all?
I dont mean to be harsh, but these are the things I wondered about. I’d like to hear more of your thoughts behind it. Keep shooting!
Hi Jessica,
Thank you for your comment. One thing that I should note here is that the title “Avocado Photo” is not something Evi had given. So that being said, Evi’s goal says this is not really about avocado but rather an experiment with composition and storytelling.
Hope that helps.
Thank you for your comments,
- Neel
well there is a nice feeling to the photo. I do find it a bit all over the place, my eye wanders and never really settles anywhere, esp, not on the avocado. I find the cup int he top left distracting. I also find the lemon distracting, like there is not enough of it, or too much of it. either put it in the shot or lose it. I find the distance between the two avocados, top and bottom of the frame, to be too much dead space. The color balance feels too cool to me also. I think there is no real focus in this shot ( not camera focus, but compositional focus ) The spoon is a very bright object that fights for attn. The pit in the bottom right is almost lost completely. I think you are ‘close’ here. A couple of options to try might be to focus more on just the bottom half of the photo and another thing could be to move things closer together. Again, I think your are close, but, after looking at your website, I don’t think this shot lives up the quality of most of the rest of your work which is very nice, btw.
Remember this is just one person’s opinion.
pt
Hi Evi, I love where you are going with this photo, but feel the same way Peter does about the composition. The tip of the spoon, avocado peel stack, and lemon make a horizontal line that cuts across the image. The lemon and lemon juice are cropped almost exactly in half on opposite sides of the frame, the back avocado lines up with the front. There are a few great stories going on here, but they are fighting each other. It is one of those shots that probably warrants a few variations, and a step back to return with a fresh eye. Maybe the lemon tucks behind the juice cup, and the liquid has a few seeds in it? The color of the avocado flesh left in the top shell is awesome, but I’m not sure you need to see it all and repeat the shape of the stack. May be one too many pits in the shot, too. Another thought is connecting some of the elements so that the empty space is dimished, like putting the front group on a cutting board so the back elements drop away, or place the spoon, shells, and pit or lemon on a piece of parchment or wet paper towel. Something subtle, that will break up the plane without distraction.
These shots can be tricky. I worked on one recently with different subject matter but about same complexity and had the same issues. The elements were polarizing and no matter how I cropped it, the image was not comfortable to my eye and so won’t make it to my portfolio.
Also like Peter, I looked at your site, and your images are wonderful. With a little tweaking and revisit to the avocado story, this could be a beautiful addition. Thanks for submitting your shot. It helps us all to reflect not only on your work, but on our own efforts to keep improving our skills.
Paula
http://www.chicagophotostylist.com
blogging at http://www.stilllifestyle.com
I just have to say that the avocado pit on the right really bothers me. Maybe it would look better if it was lit instead of so dark, but being as it is, maybe it should be left out. In spite of that, I like the photo quite a lot, I only would like to have some more light reflected from the right. I think the subject is already dark in itself and a bit stronger lighting wouldn’t harm.
The flesh of the avocado is beautiful so it’s a shame that you didn’t include some in this picture. I’m not sure what I should be looking at in this shot or what story you’re trying to tell. If this is supposed to be an aftermath shot of making something with avocado, something is missing. Maybe ditch two of those pits and add a half avocado with the pit intacted. I like the feel of this shot and the lighting. One more little picky thing, the light reflecting off the pit is a little bit distracting.
The story works for me and I applaud the fact that you are being illustrative with your image. For me, the best food photos do that.
I feel like the really cool avocado set-up is fighting a bit with the spoon. They are almost the same size on the page. It might help to focus in a little more on the pit set-up, making it bigger on the page so we could see it a little better and let all of the other elements become secondary.
Interesting concept as I don’t think I have ever seen just the avocado shells in a magazine. I think it may make more sense to have the avocado in a bowl in the back, or something like that, to tell viewer what happened to the avocado and why there are shells here.
First, I just want to say that the work on your website is fantastic. In this particular photo I love the wood backdrop and the selective focus. I agree with some of the previous posters…I don’t really understand the composition. What are you trying to illustrate with the avocado shells and pits? What did you have in mind for your story? Maybe the avocado half that is out of focus in the background could have been full of delicious avocado fruit. Also, the cup and the lemon are distracting to me. One last thing…I would like it to be a little brighter overall. I like LOTS of light and the other photos on your website are brighter than this one, which I love.
It’s an interesting shot from a conceptual point of view, but I have to say that I’m not such a fan of the composition for the main reason that too many elements are barely a part of the frame – between the lemon, glass, and avocado at top, my eye is led directly out of the photo in 3 different places at once. It makes it difficult to find the main focus of the image. I think the desaturated cool effect can work, but I think I’d have liked to have the green bits from the avocado be placed in such away that the color leads my eye around the frame. I also agree that the 2nd pit is lost in the shadow. Great job though, “process” shots are definitely difficult and something I often struggle with!
Love the photo but it makes me wonder what happened to the avocado, what did it become? Guacamole perhaps? It makes me want to lick the spoon.
firstly, I want to say how brave you are for submitting your photo for critiquing…well done. I like the mood set by the lighting and the original idea of showing the seed in the empty avocado skin. I think the image would be stronger if you included the fruit in the image, either in the skin or in a bowl.
Thank you all very much for your comments!
What I learned is that my composition is not tight enough yet. Too many elements are competing and that the “hero” is not emphasized enough. I did not even see that the top of the spoon, avocado and lemon are forming a line across the photo. (Thanks Paula!) It really helps to have a bunch of people look at your photos! I am a sucker for empty & negative space…as a former graphic designer I always look for spaces to drop in text. Overall the photo seems a little too cool and the shadows are a bit to dark. Many of you would also like to see some of the avocado flesh and were wondering what happened to it…the answer to the riddle is that we like to eat avocados as a snack, cut it in half, put some lemon, salt and pepper and eat it with a spoon. Then as we finish we pile up the empty halfs. When I saw the beauty of that pile I brought it over to my photo studio and set it up as a “controlled mess”.
I looked over my images from the shoot and found this one that focuses a bit more on the hero and has less distracting elements in it.
[img]http://eabeler.squarespace.com/storage/Evi-Abeler-_MG_1827-forLFP-blog.jpg[/img]
Thank you all for your feedback again. I’ll keep working on the avocados.
The first shot was underexposed quite a bit to my eye. The second one is a bit better but could still use more exposure. The focus looks good.
I love this photo. The mood is well suited for the subject. Though I wish it was a little bit less cluttered. The surface could have been cleaner. But that’s not much. Overall, great shot!
I definately like the second one better, esp being warmed up and with no lemons. Other than the spoon being at the same height, this looks better.
Avocado is very delicious and healthiest fruit as I know. We have a tree of avocado at the back of our house from time to time we get there, if we like to eat avocado.