Per my other post in working with light intentionally I humbily offer my first still. As a chef I dry and keep some things around. These red peppers seemed they would make a good still. Any feed back on composition, exposure, et. al. would be appreciated. Have some fun, the RAW file is available for your interpretations.
I know the set needs some work so I will address that issue. Some, a lot, of the videos I watch use gun lights. The $2k for those is on the wish list so creative subs suggestions is welcome. No flash on this one. Lighting was two led panels lights at about 50% with red filter flanking the peppers. Front light is a cube rigged into a mini light box at about 70%.
Be aware that many YouTube channels are basically gear porn. You do not need many or expensive lights. One Godox and some modifiers is all you’ll ever really need. Broncolor is nice, no doubt, but unless you have more money than sense, you rent it.
This guy is a commercial food photographer in the UK, and as he’ll (seemingly) never tire of saying, the reasons pros use expensive lights don’t apply to those doing it for fun: https://www.youtube.com/@TinHouseStudioUK
His video titles are a bit clickbait-y, no doubt, and he does seem to repeat himself a fair bit, but his advice is rock solid (even if you’re not doing commercial work).
There is a tendency in close-up photography to put the subject in the middle of the frame. In this case, the centroid (centre-of-area) of the subject is indeed in the middle. Some composers will frame such subjects off-center both horizontally and vertically - not so far off as the 1/3 rule but maybe doing the Golden Ratio thing.
As to the surroundings, the peppers would stand out more if the surroundings were of an opposite hue, maybe Teal or Cyan in this case …
Thank you. I am used to the 1/3 and have recently been studying the other formats when I found them in DT. The teal looks good. Time to play with filters.
Either or both. Play RAW to show ideas. Critique for insights. Normally I am out in the woods with the wildlife. Since my car died thought I would take advantage and expand my knowledge base. Lighting intentionally and beyond a flash, stills, and hopefully progress into food photography to marry my photography with my culinary training.
For the curious, below’s the seamless texture used to create the perspective. Would like to share this texture at my Deviant, but only if you allow me to, Fred.
The pepper in the back looks a bit out of place in my opinion. If there were more back there it might’ve worked, but like this I would say it would’ve been better to select a composition where all three are visible in equal amounts, or something different but a bit more balanced. Besides that I’m not a fan of the reflection on the base material. I really like the two front peppers, I think they look good leaning onto each other with their stems each going in a direction
