Still Life With Peruvian Lily and Figs

My task this time around was to create a still life with elements that are autumn related but are usually not used for conventional autumn images. I happened to have some lovely supermarket bought red alstroemerias in my vase. I googled them and found out they are commonly called "Peruvian lily" and  that they flower till November, which makes them very much an autumn flower. This is one of the things I like the most about blogging - learning through research. I learn something with every single post and that fills me with a great sense of purpose.
Figs I was reminded about over on the Little Birdie blog. Jen, who is one of my favourite bloggers, was making a cake with figs that were in season. I love the colour of this sort of figs - beautiful deep purple on the outside and lovely coral red inside. I thought they went really well with the red Peruvian lily both in shape and colour.
Since my last still life was quite a complex one I decided to keep this one simple and concentrate on the light. I decided to try something different, so instead of the usual set up against the wall with the light streaming in from the window to the side I placed the tabletop at an angle in front of the window so my subject is partially back lit.

The curtains I have in the room are patterned which I did not want in my photo so I covered the one behind the vase with a white sheet. I am fairly pleased with how the lighting came out. I like the contrast between the light and shadow and the overall softness of the light.

I have now Lightroom 5 installed on my computer. I had wanted to use Lightroom for a long time and am so happy the time has finally arrived. This is the first image I processed in it. I just gave it a basic edit and then applied a couple of presets in ipiccy.com.

I still need to learn how to install presets in Lightroom and which ones would be best for my work. It is so exciting learning something new, especially when it comes to photography.