[JMitchell]

This was a shot that I really wanted to get right, and I think I have more or less achieved my aim. There are a few things to note:
- If your monitor isn't very good or not calibrated, you will immediately say this is way too dark. It isn't.
- You have to let your eyes adjust to the dark tones for a second

A shame the pepper wasn't a bit more interesting, but I had no other choices, and not much time (it was gonna be cooked!)
So, thoughts appreciated

[Charlotte]

Looks ok to me Jack, allowing for my monitor not being calibrated

I can see texture in the pepper + a reasonable variation of tones, although I'm guessing that most of the tones are on the LHS of the histogram. (I guess I'm saying that it looks dark to me but, per your instructions, I'm not supposed to say so )

Compo looks good, except a bit tightly cropped at the sides - top + bottom are fine - and the cross-section of the stalk adds some interest to your image.

I can see just enough of the BG to wonder what it is, which is maybe a bit distracting.

Overall it's a bit gloomy, with so many dark tones. I'd like to see this in colour, as I think colour would add a lot of interest which, as you say, is a bit lacking here. It's a pepper Wish I knew what colour it was, and that's not a question

As an image, it's neither awful nor outstanding, i.e. it's not particularly appealling to me, but I don't hate it either.

Suggested variation on composition :
Just a picture of a pepper out of context doesn't really grab me TBH. A compo with the main focus on, say, a yellow pepper (yes, I vote colour for this subject, not mono) AND with OOF peppers in the BG or even other culinary objects would make this an interesting subject I think. Just my two-pennyworth

[JMitchell]

OK, as per requested, here's the colour version. Perhaps I prefer it, not sure

[Charlotte]

Much better!

[liljj323]

i like the color one MUCH better, the red and green is a beautiful contrast

[Adee]

Hi, I tried the peper thing and it did not work for me, I got one of each colour and tried to see what i could get from them. Using natural light as well as studio lights... i think the subject is a dead one as their was nothing within the photo except the peper ie: like atmosphere or feeling of any kind. Your colour one is better and some details are better than i got, may be the angle is a bit low down. If you have not eaten it yet.... try a different angel as you can see within my poor attempt.. i gave up about 2 shots later and give it up as a bad job.. maybe you can succeed where i failed..

[Rob Barron]

The colour one is definitely better than the mono version which is way too dark (and yes, my monitor is fully calibrated and I even turned the light off and looked at it in the dark to get as much detail as possible!).

Jack, you said you 'more or less achieved your aim' but you never said what your aim was. So, what was it? I am sure it wasn't just to take a picture of a capsicum and then convert to mono so presumably you had something specific in mind. When I look at it I see an elephant's trunk pearing up over the backside of a very smooth-skinned elephant.... but I am pretty sure that wasn't what you thought of before you took it..... Was it? <g>

The colour one has more of a feel to it, it's not powerful and it isn't supposed to be but it has a certain Victorian feel to it which I find quite appealling.

Adee, you've gne for something entirely different. I don't think you failed in producing a strong picture but it is a totally different shot achieving something that I am certain Jack was not looking for. The colour in yours is unnaturally bright BUT it is strong as an image and will appeal to some in a very different way.

Great to see two very different sides of the same coin.... or capsicum

Cheers,
Rob

[JMitchell]

actually rob I probably would say my aim was to just capture the pepper as nicely as I could. It was as another nod to one of my favourite modernist togs Edward Weston, but I fell very short with this one.

[Summerleft]

I like the colour one too

[fionaB]

colour is definately better, and as my monitor shows more or less what the printer prints i would say its more or less calibrated and it looks way too dark , in saying that the colour one redeems the image somewhat as its a far better image.......
cant say i "saw" what Rob saw ( bit worried about him with that imagination TBH) i saw a pepper

Fi

[AQ]

Originally Posted by fionaB

cant say i "saw" what Rob saw

Fi

I agree in a way - I did not see the "elephant" when I first looked but since reading Robs post I cannot now see anything else.