The Calm Before the Storm

Once again I hoped to get outside after work to take some landscape shots before the rain rolled in but my timing was off. I did however make it home as the sun was setting and captured some great pictures right outside our house. The sky was a gorgeous shade of pinkish-orange and the trees were silhouetted perfectly. On top of that there was a rainbow! A full rainbow stretching across the sky. I ran inside to get my camera and had about 5 minutes to snap away before, once again, the showers started. If I had more time I would have used my tripod- the pictures aren't entirely crisp given the low light.

Photos on a Rainy Day

I was hoping to get outside to take some landscape shots this evening but the rain came sooner than expected. The sky was a dingy grey and the trees were dull. Nevertheless, I tried to make the most of the shoot and drove around the country roads near my house looking for interesting trees and perspectives. Unfortunately the rain won out and I had to head home. I got a few interesting shots and used the contrast filters in Photoshop to make the photos more dramatic and play up the dreariness.

Food Photography Part 2

I created some nice shots during my first still life project using fruit and decided to attempt a few more similar shots for this project. Using Sandy Skoglund's work as inspiration I began thinking of ways I could use food to create an interesting still life. Sandy is known for her fantasy installations like "Radioactive Cats"

but she also staged interesting still life images using food as in, " Thirty Burgers with Mustard," "Cookies on a Plate," and "Luncheon Meat on a Counter."

Skoglund's work focused on reality vs. fantasy and she allowed the viewer to interpret the work and derive meaning himself. In addition she played with pattern and texture. With this in mind I took the following shots. Settings switched between Aperture priority and Manual, natural and artificial lighting.

 While the lighting was still good I setup a few more food shots using store-bought items with interesting textures. With the jelly donut I tried to setup a shot that looked soft but slightly dramatic to illustrate the anticipation of eating something we know isn't good for us.

Next, I peeled the outer layers of an onion to create contrast between a crinkled peel and soft glow of the overall image. I also desaturated the colors to soften the image and draw more attention to the texture.