I am trying to improve my skills with regard to a posed still life image.
HERE is one I did, but it seems to me to be boring. What does one do to make a collection of pottery like this tell a story, or reach off the page and grab you?
Is it too dark? what about my lighting and composition, etc......

Be brutal! LOL

Loris - I hope you understand my bluntness, as asked for critique and not rudeness. The brutality starts here. . .If a picture seems boring to you after all your talent and effort went into it, I suggest you not post it, because it will seem boring to others as well. It says, "I used my talents to produce something boring". In this boring photo the lighting is fine, and the composition is fine, there is no pazass, because I dont think this particular subject excited you. If it did you would have done whatever it took to make it look great. I dont get to excited over dishes, but chocolate cake . . .WOW! Improve your skills on a subject that you enjoy, when you become comfortable with your new skills, they can be repeated, even on . . .ugh!. . . boring dishes. How do you make dishes look exciting? . . I would put food on them, even chocolate cake! Was I brutal enough? Good Luck OKSYL

I actually believe you can make a good photograph out of anything...including dog droppings (which gives me an idea)...

Maybe if you filled the more of the screen. We/I would also like to see the details on the subject, also beneficial of closeups. I'm not sure, just throwing out ideas since you asked for some.

The lighting I think needs a little work. It's a tad dark IMHO something about the shadows and what not seem wierd. But that's my opinion, I'm not very educated in lighting and what not...but I think something is off. Perhaps multiple lighting sources would work (flash, overhead-backlight, and a sidelamp?)

Again, I could be wrong, just throwing out ideas...trying to help. Oh btw, the chocolate cake is a good idea, if you wanted to do a totally different approach. >_> Well, it's a start.

To be honest it almost looks like a for sale ad photo (the poor lighting suggests this too me). You can tell that the lighting is from behind the camera, and possibly at quite some distance or is not a very bright light. Multiple lighting fixtures would help with that as Noah mentioned.

As far as giving the dishes some pizzaz, I'd start with some more creative angles than just straight on and experiment until you found an angle that invokes some interest. Also, rather than having the whole set of dishes set out properly I'd try and set them out in unique ways and get tight up close shots. Something that comes to mind would be tipping the the jug on it's side and getting a tight up close detail with a deep DOF of the spout and handle.

Great first try at a studio type setting, although, with improved lighting and a bit of a different camera angle this would look fantastic.

Thanks to all who commented. You all have good points that I will try to remember and put into practice.

Are you the artist of this pottery? It's lovely. My idea is that it needs a different background. For something so earthy, black is too harsh a color for a backdrop. Put it near a wood table or a brick wall or even in a wood pile. Try to incorporate some warmer tones and a natural environment. They are such natural looking pieces, and I don't think they need to look showcased, more like complimented!! Hope this helps............Amaris

No .. my sister in law has a small pottery studio and throwss everything on a wheel.
Thanks for your comments too .... I know I should have made this much more interesting, and have gotten many tips on how to do that.

I ran out and left a little something for you.