Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Mixed onions

Mixed onions
Voting period ends on 14 Jul 2013 at 12:19:35 (UTC)
 * Reason:This quality image is bursting with EV. We have red and brown onions, with and without skins, sliced horizontally and vertically and in rings. The lighting and black background highlights the rich colours and the glossy surfaces. All key elements are in focus.
 * Articles in which this image appears:Onion
 * FP category for this image:Featured pictures/Food and drink
 * Creator:Colin


 * Support as nominator --Colin°Talk 12:19, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Comment - This is brilliant, but for a food I'd expect to see a more appealing background than just black. I rather like File:Various grains edit2.jpg, although that's not quite the same background you'd be going for. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 12:29, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 * There's more than one way to do this for sure. A more rustic-kitchen still-life is one way though a fair bit of effort to set up with photogenic and pristine props. Most of the single-food photos we have are isolated on white, which is fine and useful, but also not "appealing". I wanted to try something different and the white onion flesh isn't so visible on white and the colours less contrasted. For the lead image, I wanted the focus just on the onions alone. -- Colin°Talk 14:34, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I can agree with that (and note that yes, our food pictures are mostly on plain backgrounds). Weak support as the EV is fairly high, but it's not quite appetizing as a food picture. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:43, 5 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Comment - While I don't feel qualified to comment for the most part, I'll just say that I personally think that the black background creates an appetizing food picture in this case, but I find the bright reflection in the bottom left corner slightly distracting to the eye when viewing the image at smaller sizes (where the transitional dimmer reflection becomes less visible). -- Junkyardsparkle (talk) 20:56, 5 July 2013 (UTC)


 * Support Great quality and EV. I'm not concerned about the background, FPs don't have to be aesthetically pleasing... -- WingtipvorteX  PTT   ∅  23:44, 5 July 2013 (UTC)
 * WP:FP? #3: "It illustrates the subject in a compelling way, making the viewer want to know more. A photograph has appropriate lighting to maximize visible detail; diagrams and other illustrations are clear and informative." — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:23, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I'm not quite sure your point in quoting this, Crisco? I hope the arrangement of colours, shapes, slices and skins are compelling. Wrt lighting (and the comment below) I'm puzzled that a bit of shadow affects "EV". The brown onions (with skin and without) show the full shape of the onions. Remember that if this was lit evenly on all sides, the onions would look flat -- one needs tonal variation in a 2D picture to determine shape. The difference with the red onions is the colour of the skin (rear onion) and the rings in the slices (foreground cuts). I don't see how any "EV" is lacking because the outer surfaces are in shade -- which is a standard technique to focus the viewer's attention and to emphasise a curved surface. Colin°Talk 07:20, 7 July 2013 (UTC) BTW, it is interesting to drag this image into Google Images and use "still life" as a search term. A "still life on black" is a common theme for food. Colin°Talk 07:49, 7 July 2013 (UTC)
 * My problem isn't with the shadows themselves. What I meant was that the shadows blend into the black background, making it difficult to see the outer contours of the red onions. --Paul_012 (talk) 00:29, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I never brought up EV/shadows. I was just pointing that aesthetic considerations / interest factor are part of the criteria, even if they don't have to be all gumdrops and roses and whiskers on kittens. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:01, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 * WP:FP? #3 also states: "A featured picture is not always required to be aesthetically pleasing." If you look back at my comments, I did not mention it was not compelling or that it did not make the viewer want to know more; simply that it did not have to be aesthetically pleasing. I, in fact, do think it is compelling. -- WingtipvorteX  PTT   ∅  17:31, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose I find the dark background makes it too difficult to discern the shadowed sides of the onions, thus reducing EV. --Paul_012 (talk) 05:34, 6 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Oppose For the purpose of illustrating an encyclopedia a well lit subject on a white background would be much preferable. This photo of carrots Carrots_of_many_colors.jpg is a great example. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cacophony (talk • contribs) 08:50, 7 July 2013

--Armbrust The Homunculus 12:25, 14 July 2013 (UTC)