Peppers

A friend gave me several of these peppers (I think they are called Chapeu de Frade peppers. ID'ed on the internet...) which struck me for their wonderful shapes. I shot these three peppers three times on different days on a white marble table.

I had trouble maintaining the separation in the shadows that I wanted and I hoped to get some suggestions here. I had a 5 EV range and the contrast in the shadows on the neg seems low but good overall. One idea I had (for next year since they have whithered) was to shoot them with a red filter to bring the high values of the table down. Any suggestions? Thanks for looking. James