Another Palete

Food is for me is like paint for a painter. At the farmers market, all I see are endless possibilities for color combinations, textures, and patterns. The food is so close, so vulnerable, I love being able to reach out to touch and hold it in my hands. Somewhere between looking, feeling, smelling, and even tasting, my mind is formulating an image. My sensory exploration of the scene helps me capture the essence, the feeling, of what I’m immersed in that very moment.

Every time I make a picture that conveys a feeling, I well up with gratitude and joy for having been at the right place and the right time. I have nothing to do with creating those moments, because they are already happening all around me. I love the challenge of communicating life’s fleeting ephemeral and sensual moments via a picture. 

Pictures of food speak volumes. There are endless metaphors about life and food that have been ingrained in so many of our minds via society and culture. There are also endless hang-ups and road blocks folks have when it comes to the kitchen, many of which I’ve experienced myself at one time or another. But what if we were to shift our outlook just a little, and approach the kitchen like we do a photo: with curiosity and eyes wide open. Next time you open the fridge, take a good look at the color of your fruit, feel the texture of your mustard, feel the weight of your carton of milk. Try looking at the items in your fridge not just as necessary edibles, but fresh paint for your palate of ideas. Then let us know if something in there surprised you, or maybe even became a muse.  

Images and words courtesey of the lovely and talented Tricia Martin of Eating is Art.

center stage

  

There's a small corner of my house that acts as studio and stage for many of my photographic vingnettes. Sliding glass doors to the right give me my main light source. A smaller window on the left offers a burst of fill light, or rim light (pun intended for my mug collection). Dark brown dining room table anchors my frame. A lovely pale blue wall, a china cabinet and cream colored drapes all vie for the backdrop (which I use is dictated by the subject at hand). I use this little area at home almost every day, for morning coffee, as a desk, for family dinner and of course, my photography.

My most recent muse is a loaner-mug. I actually borrowed this sweet tea mug (a la Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf) from a friend so I could capture it in "the studio". It deserved a moment in the limelight. 

After capturing it in a number of different ways, it was this shot that felt just right. It's not often that I would choose a perfect centering of my subject. Centered is usually the last compositional technique I resort too. But, in this case, the light that illuminated the mug, the dark, dramatic background, the soft lines accentuated by a shallow depth of field all work together to bring the magic right to center stage.

Sometimes the only way to be is front and center.

Have you framed a shot lately that communicated the same thing? Something that left you no better choice than to reveal it as is, no apologies, smack dab in the middle of your shot? We'd love to see your center stage shots.