Scotch Bonnet: the world's hottest pepper.by
Elvis_LComment by LalliSig: Since you specifically asked why it did so poorly I´ll adress that specifically.
1. The lighting is not so good, very harsh and I guess taken with the onboard flash. If you don´t have fancy studio equipment available or even an external flash there are ways around this. Use a big window during day, preferrably facing south. Use different settings on your camera too to minimise the power needed from the flash. Try a higher iso, don´t be afraid to go up to 400 or even 800 when there is little light available, the more natural look is better than little noise, trust me, your camera can handle it. Also use a bigger aperture, I would have used 2.8 or 4 in your shoes, both to put the "steam" more out of focus and also since you had so little light available. You still probably need your flash but much less power from it, leading to a more aesthetically pleasing lighting.
2. I would have taken this in landscape mode, the black above your head doesn´t really do anything for me and instead I would have included more "steam" and your elbows.
3. The black backround is not really flattering, I would have liked this shot heaps better with an out of focus kitchen or something like that but it´s not bad either, just a suggestion over a black backround for this shot. Would make it more natural and believable.
Hope this helps :) I like the idea and with better lighting this could have hit it off so definately keep at it.
Photographer found comment helpful.
