Photographing Gooseberries – Food Photo Critique Request # 4
What do you think about this gooseberry photo? Here is another photograph that our reader Iza sent us for getting feedback and helping readers with developing a creative eye.
Photographing Gooseberries
Iza from KorwelPhotography.com took this photograph and sent us some details. Below is more information on the goal of this photograph, how this photograph was taken and the story behind it.
Goal for this Raw Food Photo
I was observing the fruit ripening in my father-in-low garden, and I wanted to photograph a feeling of summer, fruit freshly picked in the garden, spontaneity.
Photography Gear and The Story
I took my Nikon D300 and my all-around 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6 Nikkor lens. It allows me to focus from surprisingly close for non-macro lens, and I use it all the time.
I started from photographing the bushes, and the fruit hanging on them, but the photographs were not that interesting. So I looked around and saw this old, wooden garden table, and
figured it might provide simple, interesting background for a more complex set-up. The fruit placed on the table by itself were not that compelling either, so I went through cupboards looking for an appropriate plate.
This bowl decorated with flower at first didn’t look like a great idea. I typically use plain dishes, as I feel anything else is distracting from the subject. But unless I wanted to go shopping, there was nothing better in the house. So I decided to give it a try. After all, the flower on the bowl matched in color the gooseberries. I took several images of the bowl filled with berries, and then remembered that food photographers usually "spill" some fruit around, randomly, so I tried that, too. But I don’t feel the loose berries are as interestingly placed as I wanted them to be.
Iza is looking for Feedback on…
I am looking for some thoughts on how to improve the composition of the image. Also, what others think about the bowl itself- is is too distracting or is it perfect for the set?
Technical Details and Post Processing
In the final image, I used aperture of f/29. Anything else was giving me to shallow depth of field. When the fruit in the bowl were in focus, the loose fruit on the table were already too soft. It resulted in shutter speed of 1/10 sec. I was using the tripod, as it was late afternoon, and the sun was already on the other side of the house. I was using only available light, and ISO was set to 400, higher ISO already gives grainy images.
For post-processing, I used Lightroom 3, added some Vibrance and Clarity, decreased a bit the Luminance of Green and added some Vignette to darken the table in the corners.
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My Two Cents
Iza, overall I like this photograph. In my opinion, the dark background and green gooseberries are working together in a great way. It is hard to give a critique if you wouldn’t have specified the goal of your photograph.
One thing I would point out here is that in my opinion the photograph in its current state is beautiful, if we were to ignore your goal. One suggestion would be to try a tighter crop, there is some extra space on all four sides, that can be removed.
Now, bringing your goal of showing “feeling of summer” into perspective, I think we need to start thinking about vision, how to communicate it and the voice. My vision of “feeling of summer” may be different than your vision. In my opinion, if I were to communicate feeling of summer, I would use some iconic fruit, veggie that loudly shouts “SUMMER”. So I have to admit that part is a little challenging for me.
I think overall this is a wonderful photo. I actually like the bowl because it goes with the color of fruit.
What Are Your Suggestions?
What do you think about this photo? What are some compositional suggestions you have for Iza? What do you think about the bowl? Would you suggest a plain bowl or the current one? Does this photograph communicate what Iza is trying to communicate?
Give some suggestions for Iza by leaving a comment below.
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Photograph used is copyright of Iza Korwel. All rights reserved.
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Even though I like dark backgrounds in food photography, this one In my opinion is too strong for this photo. And distracts my eye more than a bowl (which one I yhink suits here very well and creates kinda homey, rustic feeling. As well, compliments the colour of gooseberries).
What i would do to improve this photo? First, I would try to switch background to bright one. Maybe white, ivory or light cream colour.
Egle, thank you for your comments. How would a white color go with bright green gooseberries? Thoughts?
I like the photo as it is. Perhaps you can try a tighter crop on the image.
Hey Mei,
thank you for your comments. Tighter crop is one way to improve this photo… totally agreed.
As Neel said, I would definitely work with a tighter crop to make the photo more interesting. I would also keep in mind the rule of three in composition, so when you crop in, move the bowl to the third left of the photo (which it already is, but you might want to play with it a little more), making it a little more dynamic. The dark background wouldn’t dominate as much (solving Eglė’s issue) if you crop in more.
One other suggestion I might add is to create a shorter depth of field. I think the photo would have a focal place for your eye to go to immediately, if you blur out the back part of the bowl and leave the front berries sharp.
Thanks everybody for all your kind comments on the photo.
. Also, the wooden table is not that dark, I vignetted it, to make berries in the bowl look lighter and draw the eye to the subject.
To answer jackhonky’s suggestion, I went with all-through in focus as I tried wider aperture and was ending up with only front berries in focus and the rest was already soft- they did not look too appealing to me.
I will play with tighter crop, thank’s for this tip.,
I might try this image with lighter background next year- the gooseberries season is over
Iza, Thank you for following up. I think it will be interesting to see some other images that you took. Maybe you already tried some of the suggestions.
I love the photo. I love the dark background specifically because it allows those gooseberries to ‘pop’ and has texture and grain so it isn’t too dark. The bowl fits perfectly with the color scheme. As far as cropping goes? I always seem to be in the minority, and I understand why, but I really like the negative space. I think it’s a well done photo, although to Neel’s point, I wouldn’t look at this photo and say ‘Summer”.
Thanks Chris. I too like the dark background and the color of gooseberries becomes more dynamic that way.
I’d go for a slightly tighter crop, and I’d also move the outlying fruit in towards the bowl a tiny bit.
The background is great – it’s dark, but it’s got texture. I don’t think it overpowers the shot. This is a bit counter intuitive for me – I normally go for white everything if I can, and that sort of scheme would have been great with those gooseberries, but I really like the extra texture and interest that the wood gives. I’d have experimented with different depths of field too, maybe blurring out the foreground to see how that played out.
Overall, a great shot.
Thank you Rich. Moving the outlying fruits is a great suggestion. What do you think about moving the top two g-berries away from the bowl, more towards top right?
I love tis shot, but must agree with everyone else who has suggested a tighter crop, and moving the bowl to the left of the frame. Love the background great contrast to the fruit and bowl. You may also think about getting a lower angle next time a well. Love the subject matter and overall it reminds me of growing up as a kid and help mom make jam.
I’ll have to add my dissenting voice to Christopher’s as I think the tighter crop would take away from the spontaneity of the spilled berries. The space around the object works for me. The floral pattern on the bowl works well too. Perhaps lighting that is less High key would make the colours of the berries stand out more against the dark wood grain but what do I know I’m just learning myself
This is such an interesting site. I don’t know how I ended up here, but I have enjoyed what I have seen thanks, GREG
I prefer darker backgrounds, so I do enjoy this pic I like the pop from the berries, very natural..
sweetlife
Hi. I like the dark background and how it contrasts with the light green of the gooseberries.
I don’t like the bowl. I would have preferred to see only the fruit on the dark table. I think the photo can also improve a lot with a tighter composition and a shorter depth of field and some of the fruits blurred.
Overall I like a lot the photograph, specially the contrast between dark and light green and between the horizontal lines of the background and the curvilinear and organic shape of the fruits.
Since you manipulated the photo already, why not create a dark green hue on the table. You already have several shades of green, you can play on this and this will make your white fruit bowl come out. I like the use of the bowl, it has the right shades of green there and that goes perfectly with your subject. I think the background detracts from the “summer” feeling and creates a cut in the flow of the photograph color. It is not because it is dark really but because it is a tad “bland”. Maybe even a more vibrant brown will work, like the one on the bowl. To me summer is all about vibrant colors and brightness.
Also a little cropping on the right, IMHO, would create more focus on your bowl.
Sorry to post a comment after all this time, but I was on vacation and just started catching up, after all better late than never