photo post by Donna
I had fun shooting these olives—maybe because I love to eat them. They are my second favorite food after mushrooms. I got this photo first and liked it but also wanted to try and capture the feeling of eating one. A fork—of course! A toothpick would have worked—but it's not as pretty. I like how the the straight lines intersect with the circle. The orange zest was for color, but also glowed when back lit. It's good to have something transparent in a photo that has a dense subject matter for balance. Shot with 3 strobes—1 soft box in front on left, one spot in back for orange zest and one fill light on right side. Same lighting for the fork shot, but I used a much shorter depth of field so that the eye goes straight to the olive, not the fork—and the background goes completely out of focus.
Amanda
wow...
such a simple photo, but SO beautiful. I can't get over how shiny and delicious the olives look!
Becky
That is such a beautiful picture of the olive on the fork. I love how shiny and oily and delicious it looks! It makes me want to eat some olives.
Amy (Minimally Invasive)
Love both shots, but especially the second; the tines of the fork really make the olive look like it's jumping off the screen.
Rose
BEAUTIFUL Donna! I love the focus. That last shot is incredible. I want to go home and try!
Natalie Sztern
how do u get the olive to shine?
Donna
I had the brine in a bowl next to where I was working to keep things hydrated. I dipped the olive on the folk and held it in front of the camera, on a tripod, and placed the orange zest (by myself) right before I shot.
On Oct 20, 2009, at 5:50 PM, typepad@sixapart.com wrote:
minnie
great. now i'm craving olives, and the only good ones are 1) more than 5 miles away across t he city, and 2) in a store that's not open. i'll just have to assuage my hunger tomorrow when i go for my knit night (we meet at whole foods,lol)
Dean
Ok, it's 9:00 am and these pictures make me want to sit down with a good baguette, a bowl of olives, and a glass of red wine.
Wonderful pictures!
Mark MacLeod
Dang it, you're going to make me go out and buy some strobes to use with my DSLR.
Michael Franco
These big green babies are beautiful. Great shot!
Garbanzo
For these photo posts, could you mention someo of the technical details of the shot (type of equipment, lens settings, etc.)?