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I have to produce some images of food for my camera club competition and have been playing around with still life. I know it's been done a million times before, but I thought this might be a contender. Any thoughts, comments, criticisms are very welcome (I think the pov might be a bit high - and I've just noticed a small white fleck above the single clove). It was taken indoors by a window with natural light. Thank you in advance for your time! 
Many thanks to Joline for her UA on Bath Time - it was very much appreciated!
Ann
| Camera: | Canon EOS 60D |
| Lens: | Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5DCMacroAsp.IF HSM |
| Recording media: | RAW (digital) |
| Date Taken: | 5 Dec 2012 - 2:08 PM |
| Focal Length: | 25mm |
| Aperture: | f/11 |
| Shutter Speed: | 0.4 secsec |
| ISO: | 200 |
| Exposure Mode: | Manual |
| Metering Mode: | Pattern |
| White Balance: | Auto |
| Title: | Take one clove.... |
| Username: | 
AnnChown |
| Uploaded: | 5 Dec 2012 - 2:48 PM |
| Tags: | Garlic, Garlic clove, General, Kitchen, Reflection |
| VS Mode Rating |
100 (33.33% won) These stats show the percentage of wins and the rating score that your photo has achieved. You can go to the VS Mode by clicking on this icon. Signup to e2Signup to e2 to see which photo this has won or lost against in the vs mode |
| Votes: | 75 |
| Modifications Welcome (Upload a Modification) |
Comments
I am really not adept at commenting on images of food, particularly items that I like, since my immediate response is that of Pavlov's dogs (though I also look back to my last meal rather than merely forward to the next . . . . ).
I do love garlic, but there will be none in tonight's dinner because we are going out to a meeting afterwards: my enjoyment of this photograph will thus be purely vicarious 
Well, yes, I suppose a lower pov would be a good idea, and a crisp b&w would suit my palate too 
Regards
Bill
Slightly lower would improve it in my opinion Ann.
One thing I found when I was a member of a camera club is that all judges are different of their opinions on still life images. (and most other things really)
I remember one of mine being marked down by a judge in the monthly comp. I used the same image in the yearly and a different judge made it the winner!
Best wishes,
Ken
Nice elegant shot. I agree a slightly lower pov would work. Another thing we learned in class, was that sometimes a light misting of water can make things look fresher. Maybe not for garlic though.
Anne
Good lighting plenty of detail it all depends on who has he/hers likes, if you like it then that's all what matters.
personally I am \not unhappy with the pov. I think sometimes you should do something different. I think it works here. The only thing that i find distracting is the sharp change in the background from the floor (?) to the backdrop. Otherwise it would get my vote.. ....Peter
Hi Ann.
A few things spring to mind, first off the background is not pure black, you can see an image in the background, I had this with Ronnie a few days ago! It showed up on my screen and Ade's screen but not on others, so it depends on the quality of the projector being used if this will show, second is still life works better in odd numbers 1-3-5 and so on, the point of view depends on getting all the reflections included, this has been done, the colours are good, There is some dead space so a crop would work to make a tighter composition, the lighting and textures are good, my mark for this would be 15. hope this helps.
Regards
Trev.
Sorry Anne voted then i got a phone call and forgot i had not commented. Like Trevor i can see a reflection or image in the background also, i think the pov for me is ok think maybe it would suit a square crop. The colour is good and very natural looking and the lighting is spot on
Graham
I like the angle. You have the bulb stem heading diagonally up, the detached clove pointing down. I'm seeing a mother whose toddler is lying face-down on the pavement throwing a tantrum.
Re the white dot (I can actually see half a dozen) - b***** artefacts, where an imperceptible dot in the original gets blown up and brightened in the compression of pixels. I check compressed files over methodically and still miss the blighters...
Moira
I've just crushed some cloves for my winter stew tonight.................I can smell the garlic from here.........lovely still life and very well presented............
Lovely shot !!!.....well lit & beautifully crisp !!!
I suspect that a crop from both sides, to an upright format, might produce a slightly stronger image ??
I might be inclined to 'stretch' the 'reflection' downwards a bit too, & tweek it's contrast ??
I gave up with camera-club judges a long time ago !!.....same experiences as Ken, & yourself !!....inconsistency rules ??.
Basically this looks a very pleasing composition.
Like Trev says three is a good number.
I wouldn't count the reflection in the cloves on left but a judge might.
I too can see several specks to left of cloves on left and some reflections along the top.
So the black b/g does need perfecting. Zoom it up to 100% and you'll probably see them.
Most people are saying crop a bit of bottom. That didn't occur to me but do a copy and judge for yourself.
I like the colour.
You'll want more than 15 so ggod to get all the opinions here first!
Good luck.
Kate
Nice subject, Ann, and I like the way the single clove's tip touches the surface so that the reflection meets it.
I am sorry to say that I see several white dots above the single clove, and patches of grey at the top of the frame, like ghosts. These can easily be remedied by blackening the top of the background.
Quite often, when selecting a background with the Magic Wand, I have found that the wand discovers unwanted bits in the background, and so I zoom in and blacken them out, then try again, until the wand doesn't find them any more.
Good luck in the competition.
Looking slightly down on the screen, rather than up, I can see Pamela's grey patch, plus a difference between two areas in the background. I know my monitor is calibrated slightly lighter than some here - including Pete's, judging by one or two things that he has missed!
Something that I do if I remember, to check a black background, is to view the image with Shadows lightened by 25% - you don't save the change of course, but it will show up imperfections and you just have to remember where they are and correct them when you have cancelled the lightening!
I have read the comments with interest, some cracking comments.
I have polished my reading glasses several times and I can just see the not quite black bg and a few specs, apart from the one above the single clove, I can see some in the reflection area of the lower right hand corner.
Having said that........ I do like the image, lovely colours and detail, and what have you used to get the black bg? I like it......................and now I have said all that .................. I have absolutely no idea whatsoever how judges work
Diane
Super image Ann, great textures and colours, love the reflections too
Hugh
So glad to make this 30 Ann, a really well thought out and taken piece of Work. Can't have too much Garlic in my Pasta's etc 
P.S. My award is because I'm looking at what I'm SUPPOSED to be looking at
John
Ann, loaded a mod with brightness cranked up so you can see the problems people are talking about. AS Moira has mention above, you can do this yourself to identify missed areas, and then paint in with black. Then turn off the brightness layer and flatten image.
Regards
Willie
Judges will spot the slightest mistake or missed mark Ann, Archie gives good advice here, even numbers don't work as well even a piece of the garlic skin might work here, I do like the pink peeping through that papery skin.
If you move the image down the screen so that the top of the image is down near the bottom of your screen you should see the problem with the black background more clearly.
It's a nice image but needs the extra care that judges look for...always.
Dougie
Nice lighting and subtle reflection.
The background is a little uneven having looked at my screen at a different angle. Adding to Moira's advice, if you use Photoshop open a new layer and lighten that layer, you can then select the layer below the lightened one in the list to work on. Once finished just delete the lightened layer.
For my backgrounds I use velvet as it gives an even finish, as long as you make sure it is flat.
Andy
Garlic always looks attractive and often does well in club photography. I like it's dynamism! Good luck, hope you get a judge who can see the image from the right perspective.
Maggie
I was amused by the discussion of judges.... I think we can all concur with some of the sentiments here!
For what it's worth, I think the composition is really nice, I quite like the higher pov and it shows off the single clove perfectly.
you will have to let us know what you score!
Peter
Well you have had lots of solid advice Ann. My opinion for what it is worth is as follows.
1. Lower pov would work better.
2. Compositions tend to work better in odd numbers.
3. How about trying it with more negative space to the left? or with just a few small pieces of skin leading leading across to the clove,/bulbs.
Good luck in the competition.
Derek
Quote: Well you have had lots of solid advice Ann. My opinion for what it is worth is as follows.
1. Lower pov would work better.
2. Compositions tend to work better in odd numbers.
3. How about trying it with more negative space to the left? or with just a few small pieces of skin leading leading across to the clove,/bulbs.
Good luck in the competition.
Derek
Thanks for your input Derek! It's work in progress and I'll certainly take your comments into consideration.
Better late than never with mod
I can see the b/g in the original and felt it didn't add to the photo. I also thought the composition needed changing as the view point is slightly high.
At the moment the composition reads across rather than front to back, which I think would improve this photo. With these points in mind I chose to create a black layer and extend the canvas so there is more space to work with. I lowered the opacity of the black layer so the b/g layer showed through. This allowed me to paint an accurate mask for the garlic and its reflection.
I then selected the single clove and pressed Ctrl J to duplicate the selected clove. This was then moved to a different position to improve the composition in terms of achieving greater depth to the photo.
The black was quite uniform so I made a new layer and used a reflected gradient going from a shadow colour on the garlic to black. I then darkened the edges to make the gradient look like a pool of light. To allow the garlic and reflections to show through, I used a mask and paint brush. A small dose of sharpening was applied to crisp up the detail.
Alan.
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