Chilling

[Daisy Mae]

Not as happy with this as with my Kiwi shots but I did like the translucence.

[MiniChris]

Great idea and always a fun image to play with, but unlike the Kiwi shots, this one doesn't give me much of a bump. Any particular reason you chose to go this soft in the focus? It really just doesn't seem to lend itself there as much as a good, sharp focus would.

[CougarFool]

It is soft but I like it: not so in-your-face and more of a mellow picture.

[Daisy Mae]

Haa..I didn't 'choose' to go soft in the focus Chris..it is in the nature of the milky density at the centre of a cucumber. It has the quality of an opaque glass window. Give it a shot. ( unlike the kiwi you have to shoot 'through' the flesh)

It is not the worlds most interesting veg but allows you to play a bit with light.

Glad to hear you liked my kiwi fruit pics..because you didn't comment..is positive C&C something you don't give?

Thank you Nigel..I think you got what I was trying to achieve.

[MiniChris]

I try to give an equal dose of both. I didn't see the Kiwi thread until just last night and was trying to find some images from Edward Weston that I could use to make a qualified comparison. Seems to me, I just gave a positive response to the Desolation thread...but, given the number of responses on here, I've given over the last year, I probably tend more toward trying to assist someone struggling rather than praise those who are more in control...that's probably the teacher in me and the Quaker upbringing of my stepfather working on me.

Got to thinking about the soft focus issue and would suggest perhaps cutting the slice significantly thinner or using a stronger backlight or a combination of the two. I have seen this shot doen before and while it was not Weston as i first suspected, I will find it later today in my archives.

[Daisy Mae]

Then we shouldn't fall out...especially as I am Hunter. S. Thompson fan too.

Am trying to work out the best ways to photograph different densitities...that's all.

[MiniChris]

Look into either a ring light, or an LED setup. The light is more focused and easier to control. I am currently playing with some setups a local dentist donated to me last week. (He went totally digital with digital xrays..go figure technology, eh.)

[Daisy Mae]

Haa..Chris, am using an LED Ring..see my last handful of threads on the subject.

[MiniChris]

Haa..Chris, am using an LED Ring..see my last handful of threads on the subject.

What's the power of that LED setup? Mind you, the Ring Light I have is a flash unit, but it will right near burn a hole through an object lit by it...just wonder at $33.00 US, how powerful the light is.

[Rob Douglas]

I am wondering what this shot would look like as an infrared conversion. The milky soft center already has a bit of that feel.

[Bobobird]

I like it a lot. Wonder what it will feel like without the black and outer rim of the veggie.

[FrankMi]

Hi Daisy Mae. I was thinking about a thinner slice when I saw Chris's suggestion. It got me to thinking that getting a really thin slice of a cucumber, or any other vegatable, might be difficult at home. You may be able to get it sliced paper thin at the meat counter of the local grocery store when you buy the veggies?

[Daisy Mae]

Thanks everybody, some good ideas inthere.

Frank....I would just love to see the butcher's face if I rocked up and asked him to cut my cucumber into slivers!! Now that would be a picture,

[MiniChris]

They cut stuff for me all the time...each time they cut a slice of meat, they are required to clean the slicer...no big deal as far as they are concerned....and they can cut a cuke really thin. I am setting up a studio for after Christmas to do a lot of tabletop photography over the winter months...so be prepared for an innundation of stuff from me...I do so love fruit and veggies.

[Daisy Mae]

Yes Chris...but you and Frank are in The USA...I am in Scotland, trust me things are very different here and if the butcher laughed at me that would be the luckiest result. More likely I would leave with a thinly sliced jaw.
However I am sure I have a mandolin cutter somewhere in the kitchen.

What I wouldn't give for a proper studio though........ I Look forward to seeing your results!

[MiniChris]

Mandolin cutters work.

I am fortunate to have a lovely late afternoon north light from a large window. I also have a great light setup I've built from donated flash guns and slave units, as well as the ring light. I plan to build a series of diffusion scrims using PVC frames with some Jerry built hold downs so I can lock them at various angles. That, a few lightboxes, soft boxes and a reflector umbrella or two and I should be able to rule the world (of course, not including Scotland).

[Daisy Mae]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa...no us Scots are very pragmatic Chris!

Sounds like some set up you have planned there...am well jealous.

[FrankMi]

Mandolin cutters work.

I am fortunate to have a lovely late afternoon north light from a large window. I also have a great light setup I've built from donated flash guns and slave units, as well as the ring light. I plan to build a series of diffusion scrims using PVC frames with some Jerry built hold downs so I can lock them at various angles. That, a few lightboxes, soft boxes and a reflector umbrella or two and I should be able to rule the world (of course, not including Scotland).

Super, Chris! It would be great if you could find the time to do some images of your setup and some suggestions on how to create that type of lighting and shooting environment! For starters, I'm not sure I could picture in my mind what a 'series of diffusion scrims using PVC frames with some Jerry built hold downs' would look like? I even had to go on-line to find out what a 'mandoline cutter' was! Guess I've led a more sheltered life than I thought! LOL!

[Daisy Mae]

I agree Frank..would love to see it even if it left me drooling with jealousy.( which it would)

Me with my 2 square foot of kitchen space with 2 good windows at 45 degree angles...

......and that's if no one else wants to use it.

Thank god for macro.

[MiniChris]

You will hate to hear that I have 26 sq ft of counter space in a 12' x 12' kitchen...Bourgeois Americans, eh!