Ripe Tomato

[rcauley]

Trying out my new Nikon Nikkor 60mm Micro lens on some stuff around the house. I liked this one. What do you think?

[gahspidy]

This seems ok to me, the color is rich and the table or counter the subjects are on is coming off as soft glowing white. Nice. But I think the lighting is reflecting too hard off that main tomato. Just the lighting is not quite right , to me. Excellent sharpness with good rich quality

[Sebastian]

I don't think the empty space in the lower right adds anythign to the shot, I find it very distracting. I think getting closer to the left tomato would have isolated it better. I like the drops in the highlight.

Also, don't waste your time with the polls, I doubt anyone will use them. This site is based around eprsonal responses, and that's all you're pretty much gonna get. If you REALLY need rudimentary ratings that don't really tell you anything, check out Photosig.com.

[rcauley]

Gary - Thanks for your feedback. The photo was shot outdoors under natural sunlight with the tomatos in a white bowl.

[rcauley]

Seb,

Thanks for your input & tips. I'm a newbie here and your advise is well taken. All the best.

[Sebastian]

Seb,

Thanks for your input & tips. I'm a newbie here and your advise is well taken. All the best.

No worries. Many times in the past people have tried to get the moderators here to start using a sort of grading system for the images, ad they always refused. After being here for a while, I started to agree with them. The level of critique you get here is much more personal and supportive than it is anywhere else I've been. Stick around, the more the merrier.

[rcauley]

I don't think the empty space in the lower right adds anythign to the shot, I find it very distracting. I think getting closer to the left tomato would have isolated it better. I like the drops in the highlight.

Also, don't waste your time with the polls, I doubt anyone will use them. This site is based around eprsonal responses, and that's all you're pretty much gonna get. If you REALLY need rudimentary ratings that don't really tell you anything, check out Photosig.com.

Seb,

I took your advice about the Tomato - see attached crop. Your advice changed this photo to have much more initial impact - don't you think?

[gahspidy]

This is a better pic with this tight crop. Very Good. But I keep getting the feeling from that reflection and tone that this was taken inside under a bright flourescent light. I know you said you shot this outside, so I'm certainly wrong about it, but just the impression I get.
In addition to cropping, looks like you made some other adjustment as the stem has a dark shadow area that it did not have in the uncropped version? Don't mind my nitpiks here as I like the image and look forward to seeing more of your work.

[teddeady]

Very nice shot! Might have been nice if they were in something other than a white bowl, but that's where you found them. I liked it before the crop better, because the other tomatoes made it more interesting to me.

[stew]

i like the cropped one better too. the colors are very rich and vibrant, but i have wondered if you used photoshop or some other program to oversaturate them? what causes me to wonder is that the red and the green colors almost "run together" if that makes sense? this is not really a criticism, but an observation. however, if the answer to my question is yes, then i would suggest to tone it down a little if you've artifically altered them.

otherwise, a very nice image!

[Spike]

I agree that the uncropped photo included too much on the righthand side. But I think the crop was a little too tight...I'm just being nit-picky. I think overall the shot is good - nice vibrant colors, good detail and sharpness, good dof.

Spike

[rcauley]

This is a better pic with this tight crop. Very Good. But I keep getting the feeling from that reflection and tone that this was taken inside under a bright flourescent light. I know you said you shot this outside, so I'm certainly wrong about it, but just the impression I get.
In addition to cropping, looks like you made some other adjustment as the stem has a dark shadow area that it did not have in the uncropped version? Don't mind my nitpiks here as I like the image and look forward to seeing more of your work.

Gary - thanks for the comments. Appreciated. It was shot outdoors in the sun and you are correct about the cropped version - I played around with some lighting effects in digital enhancement. This was simply an experiment with a new lens and I learned a lot.

Regards,
Bob

[rcauley]

i like the cropped one better too. the colors are very rich and vibrant, but i have wondered if you used photoshop or some other program to oversaturate them? what causes me to wonder is that the red and the green colors almost "run together" if that makes sense? this is not really a criticism, but an observation. however, if the answer to my question is yes, then i would suggest to tone it down a little if you've artifically altered them.

otherwise, a very nice image!

Stew - your observations about the cropped version are very astute! I played with some lighting effects in digital enhancement. I'm just learning about this sort of stuff. All the feedback from responses here are very helpful. Thanks.

[Old Timer]

Trying out my new Nikon Nikkor 60mm Micro lens on some stuff around the house. I liked this one. What do you think?

I have come back to this image a number of times over the last day or so trying to makeup my mind about it. It seem to have generated some attention here. Let me say first that I like the uncropped version. As some will know about me I generally will urge people to try a tighter crop on many images. However this photo IMHO doesn't hold up in the tighter version. Water droplet lightlights tend to blow out and are not as effective as they are in the first version and the tomatoes red just doesn't seem to have the pop that the orginal does. I disagree with those that have had problems with the light area of the bowl in the lower right of the frame. While it is somewhat over exposed, to me it is not distracting and adds another dimension to the overall image. I think this is a very good attemp at a closeup still life photo. I have been trying to decide between the 60mm and the 105mm Nikkor Micro. Good to see an example of this lenses preformance. Thanks for the post.

[GB1]

The color is good and the sharpness is decent, but the composition and depth of field need work.

I don't think the empty spot on the bottom right is the proper amt of negative space - seems like the overall balance of the picture is affected by it. The strong white is too powerful also. In general, bright colors come forward and dark colors seem to recede, so here it seems that the background is jumping in front of the foreground. (That could be an interesting effect actually..)

The focal point is fine, but when you shoot wide open to blur the background (and foreground), that usually means that you're trying to draw attention to a particular spot in the photo. When I look at the spot that's in focus, its water drops are nice, but its not strong enough to justify the center of the viewer's attention. Just my opinion.

Try shooting this pic using a tripod and a deep DOF, and it might come out stronger.

GB