Maybe six months ago, my wife picked up some apples she was sure I'd like, so it was my job to eat them. I didn't do a very good job (largely because I didn't actually like them that much) and now there are a bunch of them all dried out in the fridge, with a few of her lemons as well. (Old people - what're ya gonna do?)

Somebody I follow on flickr posted a very nice classic still life so, instead of just dumping them in the compost, it occurred to me to attempt what must be my first still life. (It is certainly the first one I can recall.) So I got the stick table out of the basement, a carpet from the closet, and, as things evolved, some ancient flowers and nuts from the stinkio. As the title says, not too much life here.

There is some digital manipulation here, but not much: the table proved too short, so I stretched the left end out of the frame with copy-and-paste layers, which I think are visible in this post, and I used some generative fill where the two curtains came together behind the table, hopefully making it look sort of seamless.

I can't say I'm immune to compliments, but that's not my reason for posting here. Rather, I'm seeking some help, some feedback regarding what I'm doing wrong, how I might correct it, and maybe even what I might be doing right.

Excellent picture of items left forgotten on the shelf and for a goodly amount of time. I love the classic, old masters feel to this image. It would be great if you could describe your lighting set up to obtain that low key look. It’s perfect for these kinds of still lifes and would be very useful for portraiture as well. I struggle with getting good indoor lighting.

A visit to your Flickr pages indicates you have an affinity for plants that are, shall we say, past their prime as subjects. Good work there.

Stan

Thanks for your interest, Stan. My main light is a Raya Octabox (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1078572-REG/raya_octa_fluorescent_7_socket.html), set up on the left, just a little in front of the table, and a secondary light on the right, again just a little in front of the table, aimed at the bottom of the paper bag, but also illuminating the right side of the flowers in the vase. However, I suspect that a good bit of what you like in the image may be due to what was done in post. To illustrate, I opened the raw file in ACR, made no adjustments, brought it into Photoshop and again made no adjustments, and exported it, to show you what it looked like before it was processed. I hope nobody prefers this version

Coming late to this post, but I really like the textures and lighting. I agree with Linda about not needing so much on the left side, but I probably wouldn't have noticed if she didn't point it out.
I'm also drawn to dead and dying and the darker, moody lighting. When I saw the 2nd picture you posted I thought, I don't like that one so I'll probably keep my mouth shut. Then I read what you said about that being the before processing.

Very nicely done in my opinion. I may have to start hanging out in this section.