This morning for breakfast I had oatmeal with peaches. Not just any peaches. Matt and I had a great time this summer picking them at them at their peak when they were so ripe and juicy Matt and I had to step in as quality control at the orchard and make sure we disposed of the “too-ripe” peaches properly by eating them. What we brought home was around a bushel, and canned about 10 jars of deliciousness. Canning can be a lot of work, but I think for peaches it is absolutely worth it. In the middle of winter they taste like heaven.
So, like I was saying this morning I had some of those same peaches for breakfast. Now, on a side note Matt and I been talking about a food blog for a while – although it’s mostly his thing. Something that’s personal and we can share with family and friends (if they’re interested), but most of all we want to chronicle all of the recipes we try and successes and failures so that we can look back on them. I don’t know how many times we’ve wanted to make something again only to spend 20 minutes unsuccessfully looking through food and wine magazines to find what issue the recipe was from. Sure, a blog might not be the easiest way to keep track of all of those recipes, but it will probably be the most fun.
Back to the peaches. They are delicious – if I haven’t said so already – and this morning was no exception. Because of the food blogging I have obviously stepped in as food photographer – although I don’t want to get your hopes up, cause I really haven’t been taking any groundbreaking pictures yet. Especially with cooking, since it can take some time to set things up and document the process while making sure you keep the camera clean. I have yet to figure out a good method for food photography, but I’ll be working on it.
Anyways, I took the peaches out this morning and thinking about how good they are, and I placed them on the counter where some light was streaming in. It made them glow. I grabbed my camera to snap a few shots from the front… and then I went to the side. (this is where I tie the post into photography) While the peaches looked good with the light streaming on them, I couldn’t resist them from the side with the light streaming through them. The back lighting was perfect and a completely different picture from the one I took at the front (as I’m sure you can tell).
Light can transform a photograph. You can use it in so many ways and get different results. I’m not a studio photographer, so in most situations I’m not in control of all of the light. Most of the time (because I work on location in faster paced settings) I work with the light that is given to me and add to it when necessary. It can be more of a challenge to shoot in so many different environments, but I like it because it’s always something new. Just to look back, here are a few different examples I found from my work when I used light in specific ways…
long exposures with different light sources
shooting for some flare
natural light – controlled through windows + doors
silhouettes
by Mary Dougherty
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