Greetings Readers! I need your help.
I’m adding two recipes to the back of Marley’s Curse as a bonus for my readers: Charlotte Flower’s Lemon Ginger Cakes and Dianna Mattson’s White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Pecan Cookies.
Pictures in the novel will be printed in black and white. The Lemon Ginger Cakes photo looks good. However, I am still deciding whether I like the B&W photo of the cookies. So, I need your opinion. The graphic above depicts the best photos I have of the cookies in both color and B&W. What say ye?
1. The B&W photo looks great. Use it.
2. The recipe deserves a photo, just not this one. Make another batch of cookies (twist my arm) and take more pictures.
3. No picture necessary. A recipe in a novel doesn’t need a photo.
4. Here’s how to fix this photo or what to do when you take more (for the photography buffs among you).
Please share your answer in the comments below. Thanks in advance for your participation and suggestions.
I will say no photo, or if you have an artistic friend have them make a stylized sketch of the cookies. Either on a plate or cookie sheet, with heat lines/squiggles rising up.
Thanks, Karl. This is a really interesting idea.
Don’t use the photo.
Thanks, Jan. Really good to hear from you. I hope all is well with you and your family.
New pic with a less busy background. You want the cookies to stand out, not sink into the camouflage of a similarly-featured surface. In the color photo, of course the surface is blue, so the cookie stand out nicely — although I would prefer a less-patterned background, even if it’s blue. But when everything is grayscale, the cookies really become non-remarkable. I would use something less-featured: a cloth with fine pinstripes, a linen tablecloth (with a course enough weave that it will be discernible in the background and not look like a “green screen”), or a grass/wicker placement. Alternatively, and perhaps better, put the cookies on a plate — an opaque one that won’t disappear into the background. It will provide separation from a patterned background like the blue one you used. Because the clear glass plate is almost indiscernible. I thought at first you had just laid the cookies on the cloth. In the monochrome version, it becomes almost even more of a non-feature.
The other thing I would consider doing is putting a glass of milk or a cup of tea next to it. Whatever the book says the characters serve/consume them with. Because you’re not illustrating the recipe. The recipe itself is an illustration of the novel, so this is also an illustration of the novel (technically & IMO).
That’s my 2¢ worth.
Thanks, Ben. Extremely valuable as always.
4. Think contrasting colors. Try using a plain white background with a black or dark colored plate. If it’s too dark with the cookies blending into the plate try with a white colored plate! Remaking the cookies with a little more cranberries/fruit showing I believe would be more appealing! Using contrasting colors with different textures makes Black & White photos look great! Maybe zoom in on the texture of the cookie with a non-textured plate!? I hope this helps & you discover a great photo of your cookies! I think having one is awesome when Authors include them in novels! Please show us through Ben W your finished photograph! 🙂
Thank you, Cheryl, for coming over to the blog and leaving these very helpful comments. I sincerely appreciate it. I’ll make sure Ben knows the final decision and sees the final picture.
You’re welcome! Looking forward to seeing the final photo! I’m sure it will be great!
White background?
That’s a good idea. Thanks.
I’m leaning toward 3 – no picture necessary. But if you do include a picture, try a plain white plate to set off the cookies. The way it is, the cookies fade into the background.
It’s like you are reading my mind. Thanks.
I like the idea of pictures but don’t think this b/w of the cookies works. Maybe, as someone suggested, a different background could help.
Thanks, Mary, for the suggestion and for leaving a comment on the blog.