Crab Apple Jelly

[janet Smith]

I took these two shots of home made crab apple jelly this morning, 5D 100mm macro lens, I would appreciate comments about the lighting, these were taken in my kitchen in daylight, with large silver reflector and fill flash bounced from ceiling, do you think I'm getting this any better? I wanted to achieve a warm homely feel with these shots, which I think (hope) I've achieved.

PS - Happy Christmas everyone

These are the crab apples the jelly was made from.....

 

[Kathy Rappaport]

Second

Jan,

The second one I really like - the warm tone is really nice. The 1st one, while I like it's lighting, looks like you shot it on an angle that throws me off a bit.

I have a vision of you doing a composite of the three framed and matted with a red frame and filet on white mat.

 

[janet Smith]

The 1st one, while I like it's lighting, looks like you shot it on an angle that throws me off a bit

Hi Kathy

You're right I was at a bit of a weird angle, in retrospect it does look a bit off. I haven't finished going through the stuff I did this morrning, but there are some which are a bit better, that I'm a little happier with. The main point was to try and improve on controlling the light, which I think I've improved on a bit.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.....

 

[Marian Howell]

the first one!

season's greetings jan!
in the spirit of lively discussion i prefer the first shot. i must preface this by saying that i am a Big Fan of warm tones and warm light - often to my detriment! - but i like the clarity of detail and the quality of the light in the first one, and i like the tonal variety of color as well. and to me the shot still seems warm and homey, just like a nice kitchen in the morning light...i can see that you want to keep the bg bokeh as smooth as possible, but if this were mine i would shoot additional focused shots in this light for the words blurring on the edge, and then blend them in to keep all the writing in focus.
caveat: i am no studio photographer, and shoot sports and landscapes, so what do i know?? LOL!
i'm sure everyone will love the jelly )))))

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

I like the first one, angle and all, because the wood and the colored background make a better contrast with the jelly than the plain background in the second version. The flare on the left side is obscuring the label a bit, which could be fixed just by rotating the jar or flagging off some of the light or a little judicious burning in PhotoShop.

 

[janet Smith]

just like a nice kitchen in the morning light...

Hello Marian

Seasons Greeting to you too, thank you for your encouragement, sometimes I feel as if I'm getting nowhere fast, so it helps to have the input of others.......

You're right these were taken in my kitchen in the early morning sun, in a bit of a rush in about 15 minutes between dashing around doing other things, think I'd do better if I could slow down for long enough!!!

I've had a look at some of the others I took now, and there are several better ones, which I'll post after Christmas when I've had time to process them. Right now I'm about to start preparing some more food for tomorrow's lunch, all our guests will be given a jar of the crab apple jelly to take home as an additional little gift which I hope they'll enjoy, I never made it before, but it's turned out well, quite tangy, should be nice with the roast pork and crackling tomorrow. Have a good day yourself.......

 

[janet Smith]

The flare on the left side is obscuring the label a bit, which could be fixed just by rotating the jar or flagging off some of the light or a little judicious burning in PhotoShop

Hello David

I tried rotating the jar, but my kitchen has three very large windows and a glass door, there's light coming in from everywhere, which is lovely in some ways, but for photography can be a problem on a morning. I did use a reflector with the black side to block the light to one side for some of the later shots, which are better, when I have time to process them will burn the afffected area a little and post them after Christmas, I think I've improved the light control a bit, but it's still a work in progress.....

Glad you like the first one, sometimes I look at it and think it looks a bit off somehow then I think I like it!! Somehow I find it really difficult to evaluate my own work! Anyway thank you for your time, input and advice, much appreciated, have a good Christmas......

 

[Arya Wiese]

I love the variety of colors in the background of the first but I am not fond of the jar itself but love the jar in the second but not so much the background. I think you did an awesome job though controlling your light - this is something I too am working on more and more.

 

[janet Smith]

Hello Arya

Thank you for the points you've made, I'm gradually finding ways of controlling the light, I've been using large boards to act as screens to block unwanted light over the last few days and am becoming happier with the results.

It needs a lot of patience and perseverance to get the lighting right doesn't it! still a work in progress for me, I'm determined to do better with food photography, but it's very time consuming.

Thanks for the encouragement........