A friend of mine from the artist colony in Costa Rica (I sure miss the place) asked me for an artsy fig photo - not my strong suit. I would certainly appreciate any and all opinions about which one you like better - provided you like any of them and don't consider them phony staged out of focus with bad depth of field. I can fix some of the issues before I send. I take nature photos of birds and insects mainly - this is not a area I claim any knowledge, skill, or talent in. Just trying to do a friend a favor because she'd do it for me if I asked.
Thank you very much for your time and opinions.

I like the second one and the third one.  There's too much weedy stuff in the first and last.  You did a really good job!  I really like the still life set up amongst the living fig trees!

Thanks for sharing!
Suzi

If you're not satisfied, you can job it out. I have seen some wonderful photography on this forum.

What kind of picture was she looking for?
was she hoping to use it as basis for painting or some such?
fig on branch?
still life with figs?
think of repeating patterns,
having lines of flow that mover your eye to the important subject.
often a good idea to have the bottom left hand corner 'full' of something. this helps create depth.
just as example
In second pic, bring the table and its contents closer so that it takes up more space in the pic.
move the potted plants slightly away from table, so the roundness of each pot is seen,as well as the semi circle of the grouping of pots,
have a fig tree in bottom left,maybe one with a fig on its branch, so you see the leaves and branches and figs, maybe not its pot, and the leaves and branches of that tree lead you into the table arrangement.

with 3rd pic it might be fun to change the angle form with you take the pic so that it looks like  the gargoyle is looking at the figs.

art critic,  lol.

here are some other  ideas, https://www.google.ca/search?q=still+life+with+figs&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=FNI&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=KpBCUMCvFcLCyQHCsYDIAQ&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=1465&bih=910

Eons ago, I was a published artist, and taught private lessons.  You have established a center of interest, and your choices of color and texture also make the photos interesting.  The different heights and sizes add interest too.  Your figs, the can, the jar, and the table are all in warm tones, and the cool toned greenery defines them as the center of interest!

I never did too many still life paintings.  Almost everything I painted had either a person or an animal in it.  Think Rockwell.  Your photo tells a story, and this makes it interesting to the viewer!
Suzi

Dale,
Never said I'm not satisfied. Just not sure I know what I'm looking at. If someone else did it I can't say I'd be a good judge either. But more importantly If I jobbed it out I would not be doing the favor my friend requested. But thanks for stopping by.

MG...

Nice pics.

What will these "still-life" photos be used for?  Oil paintings, posters, greeting cards?  Most artists will set up there own compositions, or, at the very least, "edit" out all unimportant details that will detract from the subject matter.  All good compositions have a "focal point".  Most photos are much too busy, and loaded down with extraneous details that are confusing to the eye. That's why fine-art photos "look" so different compared to regular, everyday photographs.  Is all editing, but on film....or canvas.

If your artist friend asked you to set up some still life groupings with figs as the subject, chances are very good that your friend will "see" your photos, but filtered through the eye of an artist, and will delete most of what you photographed, and will concentrate on, and just stick to the main subject....the figs.

If I were painting from your photos, almost all the hard lines, and harsh contrasts would go...as well as most of the detailed foliage. The detailed brick wall might be suggested.  I'd crop away until the fig/table combo would be the focal point of the composition, and I'd suggest everything else around this main grouping.  The figs and the objects on the table are what you should see, and everything else around this grouping is unimportant.  Look at photo #4....concentrate on the dish with the cut figs, the dish holding the figs, the knife, and the table surface.  Everything else around this grouping is not important.  That's how an artist will crop a photo for a painting.

I used to paint, in oils, a long time ago...but have no time to do this anymore.  I'm far from an expert, but that's where I'd start.  Your photos are fine, but chances are your artist friend will change and move things around.

Thanks for the eye-candy.

Frank

Grant,
She's a painter and I imagine she just wanted to see some figs and some ideas of what I thought might be interesting to paint. She just asked me to throw something together that I thought looked interesting and this stuff looks interesting to me - otherwise I wouldn't have it around. I'm not an art critic. That's why I stuck it up here.
Thanks for your time - it's appreciated.
Usually she just asks me if I have any decent humming bird pictures or a group of bee hives, etc. stuff I do know how to shoot.
Suzi,
Thanks again.

I vote No. 4, best composition, and better orientation than No. 1

I already forgot who posted it, but someone here posted a photo of a fig with a bee on it.  The old masters often painted still lifes with insects or monkeys in them.  That's the way things were before RAID!
Suzi

Frank,
Thanks. I think you're probably 100% on this. I think she's just bored of the local flora and fauna and wanted something to play with. When I was down there she painted in oils but was also doing some kind of chalky stuff on black paper - looked better then it sounds. 
I take a lot of photos - but they are never artsy like these. I take the kind of stuff you'd see in a text book on birds or whatever. I produce calendars occasionally for friends of high end more realistic pics of - well last 3 - 2 were birds and 1 was frogs. Working on insects currently.
thx 

Of the 4, I prefer the last one on the right. It seems less cluttered. In the others, I also find the table legs distracting. It is not situated straight, and in the last one, you only see the top.

In the last photo, on the left side, I would crop just to the right of the bamboo stake, so it can't be seen and carry the eye where you dont want it to go. If the visual line of the bamboo is gone, your table top is framed only by fig leaves.

Less is more.

Aren't you glad you asked? ;)

How about this?  Dark Velvet background.   A simple martini glass of vodka, garnished with a few cut figs on a rosemary branch skewer!  Plate of cut figs and cheeses on the side...  I'm getting hungry...thirsty...hungry.......hmmmmmmmmmmmm
Suzi

Gina,
Like so?

And our moderator votes for #4 - thank you.

This is one of the funnest threads in a long time!

Suzi

Suzi,
Here's a meal for you. Cicadas cooked chinese style.

Never said you were not satisfied. Just offered another route. I have no eye for art myself and would rely on the opinions of others, and even their submissions. Having said that, #2 has less clutter and placement of the table gives the composition movement and I like the landscape orientation. But that's just me . . . .

Wow!  Did I just get bleeped for saying I'd rather eat a monkey head?  And then, OMG... Not going there.

From an artistic point of view, I am not happy with the composition of the cicada photo. 

Suzi

Dale, 
Thank you. In art, so I've been told, everyone's opinion counts. In the visual arts I think they count twice. But these photos are like screen plays (more my field) in that they represent a jumping off point. I don't expect her to want to paint as I have composed as she'll paint what she sees. Just trying to send something that isn't boring or too amateurish. 

I like them all. Well except for the bugs for dinner. Now do you remove the wings before eating. Whats the celery for? Do you use to beat them if they decide to fly away.

luke

Luke,
As cicadas emerge from the ground with no digestive tract - just wanna have sex and die - they are very clean. Yes the wings are wonderful. Celery was just part of the recipe (authentic chinese they say). They were fried and weren't moving. Actually everyone had seconds and there were none left uneaten. thx for vote.

MG...

Post #21....You are exactly right.  She will paint what she "sees".  These photos are just a quick outline for the composition of a painting.  A photographic "sketch", and nothing more.

Still like the photos.  Bet the figs were delicious.  I would have photographed a plate of just some of the remaining, leftover fig stems.  : )))

Frank

Here's a start