Strawberry from above.

For something a little different, and from the garden, here are some photos of a strawberry, which, apart from being delicious, is a very interesting visual subject. I particularly like the top down views which made the leafy top more prominent.

Strawberry crown.

I created some black and white versions for all these images, but I decided they weren’t up to par. The tonal contrast just didn’t seem to be there; or I couldn’t find it. Another challenge was regulating (for lack of a better word) the “white” background. I use quotes because, while the actual background photographed was indeed white, the shadows and casts were something else. On some I left it mostly as is, while others I masked out and tried to achieve a blanket white; some of the edges of the mask proved difficult to work with, but that’s often where I find the immovable object colliding with the irresistible force in my post-processing. (More shots below of the seeds at increasingly higher magnifications, plus a full fruit view with and without the all-white background.)

Strawberry seeds (i)

Strawberry seeds (ii)

Strawberry seeds (iii)

Strawberry seeds (iv)

Strawberry seeds (v)

Having lined these up, I’m noticing some unwelcome inconsistencies in these images besides the funny edges from masks. The color casts/distortions, variable “whites”, and lack of contrast, are probably not fatal but definitely correctable — though some of it is due to the glare coming off the fruit’s skin which I had some trouble controlling while shooting. In any event, it’s still a good reminder to be consistent and aware of each step taken when working on a large series of images like these. It did occur to me that I should save certain settings of the various tools used in my software program (unfortunately not until after I was almost halfway through them). Actually writing down a log of steps taken might have been useful. Oh, well. Live and learn. (Or in my case, live to learn again, and again, and…. No, just kidding. But not as much as I’d like.)

Final shot is the whole berry red enchilada with both the white background and the relatively unaltered background.

Strawberry on white.

Strawberry on a gray gradient.