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I’m in the middle of doing an alphabet challenge at the moment. The plan is (yes ‘plan’, I’ve missed some days!) to take a photo ‘everyday’ of something starting with the letter of the alphabet that I’m up to. Today I was up to letter ‘G’ and my family had the idea to photograph ginger and garlic. I’m not a food photographer and never really tried it. But, I thought it’d be fun for a change. I was interested in hearing some critique of the pictures! I put everything on a chopping board and then I put it on the floor in front of one of our glass sliding doors to try and get as much natural light in as possible. In the post processing, I struggled with getting a realistic looking white balance. Do you guys recon they feel to warm, to cool, just right? What could I do better next time – layout, compostition, post processing. Fire away! 🙂
Specs –
Canon 60D
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Shutter Speed 1/50 sec
Aperture f/4.0
ISO First 2 pictures at 250 and second 2 at 320
Processed in LightroomAttachments:
I guess I’ll take a shot, @creative-click-photography, since I do a lot of photos like this for Online Farm Markets. 😀
Really good job!! Especially since it sounds like you don’t do a lot of this kind of stuff, I’m impressed! 😀 It’s kind of a whole new field, isn’t it? 😀
If I was the farmer selling this garlic + ginger, I would have a couple things to say. (Except that in my experience I’ve found that farmers are NOT photographers, and are, in fact, probably the worst photographers I’ve ever come across, LOL, with exceptions of course, but they’re easy to impress and out-do. 😀 ) Maybe I should re-word that. If I was a farmer that was really into photography, and wanted a perfect, amazing, product photo for my garlic and ginger and really really cared about it, and was being really nitty-gritty picky, this is what I would say: (though, before I go any farther, I must say that if you submitted these photos to an OFM market owner as a garlic + ginger product photo, they would probably be impressed and put it up on their site right away because overall, they’re really good!)
Also, before I begin, is the bowl of ginger powder part of the product you were photographing? Or is it just an extra to enhance the photo?
I’m assuming that it’s an extra, and will critique that way. 😀 I’ll also critique them like a product photo of ginger and a product photo of garlic. If I’m wrong in my assumptions, please let me know. 😀Photo #1: It looks like the subject of the photo is the cut ginger in the center, because everything is surrounding it. The quantity there is small, so it makes the picture kind of limp. Also, you wouldn’t be selling the mint with your garlic + ginger, right? I know that that’s one thing that food/product photographers like to add to a lot of their photos to add a little extra niceity to the photo, but since it’s a photo of a raw product, not a cooked dish w/ a bunch of ingredients, and especially since it’s garlic + ginger (that we don’t usually associate with mint 😀 ) I would probably leave it out, though I’m sure it could be done tactfully. I’m also not a big fan of knives in product photos, since they’re not being sold. It’s neat and creative, but a little over the top I think. Others may disagree. As for the bowl of powder, I would assume it would be a separate product from the ginger – you wouldn’t sell fresh + powdered ginger together I don’t think – so I would probably photograph them separately. Basically, if you took all my suggestions, that would leave you with a piece of ginger… 😀 I like how you cut part of it up! That’s really cool! 😀 Okay, here’s what I’m imagining: a cutting board with a piece of ginger kind of in the center but a little crooked and off to the side – slightly, with about 5 -7 pieces of cut ginger lying in a curved line in front of it. Perhaps you could stick a small (small) sprig of mint in the spot where the cut pieces of ginger and the big piece of ginger meet at the end. All of this is just for how you could do it next time (and they may not be the best suggestions anyway 😀 ) but if you really liked this photo and you wanted to take it again with a couple little changes, here’s what I’d suggest – I’d take some of that powder, and sprinkle it all over the board before I lay the ginger and all that on top. I’d especially highlight some areas and put more powder in some areas than other to give it some variety. Then I’d lay all the extras on top. 😀 It looks like you did some of that, but I can see a finger trail or two. (Those are hard to avoid. *wink* 😀 ) As for the photography lighting and settings aspect of it, the bowl of powder looks a little blurry-ish. If you raised the aperture to 5 or 6 (I think – I may be shooting in the dark a bit here 😀 ) you could probably avoid that. 😀 The lighting is pretty good, but maybe a bit harsh? If there was some way you could filter/dampen it a bit, I think it would really really enhance the photo a lot. Maybe if you moved the cutting board to the right or left of the sliding doors so it wasn’t in direct sight of the light?
Photo #2: The powder is more in focus here! I like that! But the way that the ginger is at the top of the picture and not on the right or left kind of makes the picture a bit stressing/confusing in a way I can’t explain! Maybe because the ginger, bowl of powder, and cut ginger are all kind of in a line, and there’s nothing on the left or right, and only half of the cut ginger and big piece of ginger are visible? A neat idea for this photo might be to get a spoon (a wooden spoon would be perfect if you had one!) and either stick it in the bowl or get a scoop of the powder and plop the spoon next to it so that it kind of spills out and is overflowing! 😀Photo #3: You really have something here. The bowl is centered well and the pieces of garlic and spilled powder frame it well and add interest! The only thing I can think of is that the powder in the bowl is kind of flattish, although you do have some finger lines to make it interesting. 😀 If the bowl was REALLY HEAPING with powder, so that there was a little hill on top, it might add more interest and you would have a better point to focus on. Then it could spill over a little bit too, to create a neat full – and – overflowing feel! 😀 Oh, and I just looked at the picture again, and I have to say thumbs up on the lighting. I love the feel of it!
Photo #4: This one is kind of neat, though like I said before, I’m not much of a fan of knives in product photos. It also kind of takes away from the theme/natural feel of the photo. An idea might be just to have 1 bulb of garlic and have 1-3 cloves (just like in flower arranging, odd numbers please the eye) around the bulb. If you had a similar cutting board, you could stand it upright behind so that you could get down and shoot across for a different angle.Also, if you have a wood patio, or a nice counter top, those also make nice backgrounds. 😀 I usually shoot our product photos on our wood deck. I’m including an example photo 😀
To wrap up, I’ll say good job again! As you probably know, when you look at a photo, you usually think it’s a really good photo until you’re asked to critique it. It was the same with these ones. When I first saw them I was like, “Aww, those are really good!! Now let’s see here… what can be critiqued?” Oh and, *cracks up* if you were to tell a farmer that these were the product photos you took of his garlic + ginger, he’d probably drop his jaw and say “WOWWW!! Those look AMAZING!!” 😀 LOL
If you ever want any inspiration for good product photos (especially of this nature!) I’d highly recommend you take a look at the Bulk Herb Store’s blog. They have an amazing photographer and their photos amaze me!!
https://www.bulkherbstore.com/blog
~Kina
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Very nice pictures, but I don’t know: do garlic and ginger even go together? I’m not really into either garlic OR ginger, but somehow I don’t think they relate to each other than the fact that they both start with “G” and I now know that they look really nice together in a picture. 🙂 Let me know if I’m wrong about that!
Okay, that being said,
#1 – It feels weighted to the left – the bowl going off the left side of the photo and there being extra space on the right side
#2 – It’s very …brown. Not necessarily a bad thing, especially for stock photography, but the lack of color makes the picture less intriguing for me. That may just be me, though.
#3 – Nicely balanced. I do wish all the garlic was in focus, but I know adjusting the aperture would mess with exposing the scene.
#4 – Looks crooked; the grain of the wood isn’t straight.Also in general, there are a lot of shadows. I am not at all a lighting expert and struggle with difficult lighting situations myself, so I almost didn’t mention it. But if you could figure out a way to fix that, it would definitely give the photos a more airy look, which is what it seems like they should be.
Again, great pictures and I do have to say your alphabet challenge is a good idea. Makes me think I should do some sort of challenge like that myself! 😀
Wow! Thanks @kina and @bennett-family for all your critique. Super helpful! 🙂 Gotta pull out the garlic and ginger and take some more pictures with your suggestions, now. 🙂
It’s kind of a whole new field, isn’t it? 😀
Totally! I’ve like never done food photography before. Now I have a new appreciation for them. 😉
Also, before I begin, is the bowl of ginger powder part of the product you were photographing? Or is it just an extra to enhance the photo?
I’m assuming that it’s an extra, and will critique that way. 😀 I’ll also critique them like a product photo of ginger and a product photo of garlic. If I’m wrong in my assumptions, please let me know. 😀Ha! Well, yes the ginger and garlic started off as the subject, but when I got the idea of using the powder in little bowls, that then became the subject instead! Sort of a ‘move out, cooler bowl coming in’ moment. 🙂 I guess the thing too is that I wasn’t taking these as a product picture as such, more as a random culinary stock image. But I totally get what your saying with all that. You’re right! I sort of have too many things going on – maybe I need to pick one subject. 😊
@kina, Photo #1The quantity there is small, so it makes the picture kind of limp.
True! I was trying not waste to much by slicing up a heap, but it does look a bit lame. Next time I’ll use more.
Photo #2
Maybe because the ginger, bowl of powder, and cut ginger are all kind of in a line, and there’s nothing on the left or right, and only half of the cut ginger and big piece of ginger are visible?
Neat observation! I’ll arrange that differently next time.
Photo #3
If the bowl was REALLY HEAPING with powder, so that there was a little hill on top, it might add more interest and you would have a better point to focus on. Then it could spill over a little bit too, to create a neat full – and – overflowing feel! 😀
I had this idea after too! Definitely implementing this next time. 👍🏻
Photo #4
If you had a similar cutting board, you could stand it upright behind so that you could get down and shoot across for a different angle.
Hadn’t thought of that! Not a bad idea. 🙂
I’d highly recommend you take a look at the Bulk Herb Store’s blog.
Oh yes! I’ve heard of that place. I love looking at other people’s photos for inspiration. Thanks!
@bennett-family, Thanks for your comments.I don’t know: do garlic and ginger even go together?
Well, in each picture I’ve only included either ginger or garlic. So they aren’t actually in the same photos together. I believe you do use them both in the same dishes. 🙂
I’m not really into either garlic OR ginger,
Oh, seriously?! 😮 Not even garlic bread? 😆 I mean, I LOVE garlic. I admit ginger isn’t really my thing most of the time. Though it’s good sometimes depending what it’s in. 😉
– It feels weighted to the left
True, true!
the lack of color makes the picture less intriguing for me.
Good to consider. Don’t want a boring image, now. 🙂
I do wish all the garlic was in focus, but I know adjusting the aperture would mess with exposing the scene.
Yeah, hard to balance everything, for sure. But I would’ve preferred to have it all in focus. Much nicer that way.
Looks crooked; the grain of the wood isn’t straight.
Huh! Hadn’t noticed.
Again, great pictures and I do have to say your alphabet challenge is a good idea. Makes me think I should do some sort of challenge like that myself! 😀
You should! It’s fun!
Thanks again! It’s so helpful to have a fresh pair of eyes checking out your work!
Well, in each picture I’ve only included either ginger or garlic. So they aren’t actually in the same photos together.
Ah ok I can see that now. I was initially looking at the garlic powder like it was the ginger, but I see the difference now that you say that.
Oh, seriously?! Not even garlic bread? I mean, I LOVE garlic. I admit ginger isn’t really my thing most of the time. Though it’s good sometimes depending what it’s in.
Garlic is nice in moderation 🙂 Ginger… once in a while. Well, I do love gingerbread though.
It’s so helpful to have a fresh pair of eyes checking out your work!
Yes! Totally!
Wow! You guys saw so much more than I did! If there’s time, @creative-click-photography, I’ll give my comments on the webinar on the 13th: https://www.lenspiration.com/photo-critique-with-lenspiration-nov-13/
Looking forward to it if you have time, @jamesstaddon! 🙂
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