Week 8 ~ A Bad Habit

Spot the Bad Habit...clue: there are two.

I pondered this topic for hours and in the end I concluded, as any reasonable person would, that I have no bad habits at all. Then I spoke to my family, who were more than happy to point out that I actually had quite a few. Not wanting to bore you with what they may be, I chose the very first offending habit they claim I have. Now, I want you to look at the picture I've attached. What do you see? Do you see a bad habit there? No, I didn't think so. I can't see it either. However, my family would like you to know, there are actually two bad habits contained in that diptych.

And just what are these heinous habits of mine? Well...I apparently leave the little tins of salmon (or tuna) and beans (or corn or chickpeas) on the bench while I eat my lunch and I don't rinse and recycle them immediately. Sometimes I wash them up an hour or so later. Really. How. Bad. Is. That.

And the other bad habit? I photograph my food*. Which, according to them is a bad habit. A very bad habit. Let me just be clear on this, I don't photograph all my food, as that really would be silly. But if you love food as much as I do and also happen to love photography, then when you prepare a dish or are served a dish that is a riot of colour, I get this strong compulsion to photograph it and I simply can't enjoy the dish until I've photographed it. Photographing food, for me, serves another purpose - it reminds me of the event and the people where that food was enjoyed. When you view this set, while it may appear to be just a collection of food and drinks, to me they are memories of great times spent with friends and family in places both near and far. Some people collect teaspoons to remind them of places and events, some have the t-shirt. I photograph the food.  Horrid habit? Maybe. Only maybe.

* Ok, ok, so sometimes I also photograph other people's food before they get a chance to dig in and enjoy it. So what.

Strobist Information:

The blue lines represent the semi-opaque storage box I used as a "lightbox" t diffuse the light.

Canon 50D
50mm f1.8 @f7
ISO 200
1/50 sec
430ex to left of camera shot at 1/2 power and Nissin to right of camera shot at auto.

Week 3 ~ RED

 

As I mentioned in my post last week, I usually start thinking about the following week's theme while I'm still working on the current theme. The recurring thought I had with the theme of "red" was a still life. While it's possibly been done to death, I also wanted to include a pomegranate. I'm sure I would use more of that fruit in cooking if I could buy it already seeded. I know that it is available as I've seen Nigella use the pre-packaged seeds, but I've not been able to find it, so maybe it's a UK thing and not an Australian thing. So, back to the still life, I've also included a lighting diagram to show you the set up. I used a black background, not white as per the diagram and at one stage I toyed with a red gel, but that didn't look effective so i removed it.  I absolutely resisted the urge to use any textured layers to give it an aged or painterly feel - I wanted a straight-up image for this week's theme.  Short and sweet this week, I hope you like it. Bring on week 4!