Chilling

[rob marshall]

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

Are you sure about that? Mine has 40 sq ft in a 13x13 kitchen. Although I have a small studio upstairs, I find the kitchen is good for natural light.

[MiniChris]

So, I was guess-timating without benefit of a clean measurement, but now you've gone and tossed down the gauntlet and I had to measure: I would tell you, but you would get counterspace envy and then the head gardener would have to purchase you a new kitchen...I am doing you a favor by holding back this information.

The area I really want for my studio is the dining room which sits at a 45 degree angle to the north afternoon sun and has two very large window areas on two sides. It measures out at 12 x 14. But alas, there are others who see to want to eat there on a regular basis,,,sighhhhhh.

[Dave Humphries]

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

Hi Daisy Mae,

I like the idea and composition, but I thought it lacked contrast.



I did an Output Levels adjustment first (5 and 235) so that the Local Contrast Enhancement didn't lose detail, then applied USM of 25% and 100px.

Compare in Lytebox - any better?

[Bear]

Some years ago for an ad project, after not getting the result I wanted photographically, I laid a transparent plastic sheet on a scanner bed, sliced fruit and vegetables, placed them on the sheet, pressing a bit on each to eliminate bubbles, and scanned them. The scans were fabulous and I used them for the project. If I could find the images would post them for you.

[Daisy Mae]

Thanks for that Dave I appreciate your efforts , it looks good....and Bear I hope you find these shots for us.

[rob marshall]

Sharon

May I ask how you set this up and shot it. I can't work it out from looking at the shot.

[Daisy Mae]

Hi Rob, of course you can!

I was using my trusty 2 sq feet of kitchen space... windows at 12 oclock and 8 oclock to the subject. Black fabric background. macro flash ring and a small lamp. I stuck the bottom of slice in the narrow neck of a whisky tasting glass to hold it upright and shot the upper part cropped out the glass in PP and then rotated the image so it appeared suspended which I found looked better.

I ran an ice cube over the surface of the cucumber evry couple of shots to keep it fresh looking. Works a lot better than water.

[rob marshall]

Hi Rob, of course you can!

I was using my trusty 2 sq feet of kitchen space... windows at 12 oclock and 8 oclock to the subject. Black fabric background. macro flash ring and a small lamp. I stuck the bottom of slice in the narrow neck of a whisky tasting glass to hold it upright and shot the upper part cropped out the glass in PP and then rotated the image so it appeared suspended which I found looked better.

I ran an ice cube over the surface of the cucumber evry couple of shots to keep it fresh looking. Works a lot better than water.

Thanks, Sharon. So, you had the black fabric hung up behind the cucumber, but the light was coming over the top? I just couldn't work out how that rim lighting was appearing on the left - but it was really the top before you rotated it?

I'll have a go at this later.

Would you like to borrow my vegetable peeler?

[Daisy Mae]

Would you like to borrow my vegetable peeler?

I am not worthy!

[MiniChris]

This is a possibility to get the lighting I think you are after that could help you get the proper backlighting. I've used something similar to this (albeit in a bit larger area and with proper lightboxes, but this should still work quite well) for product shots many many many years ago. Instead of windows, I used scrimmed lights or soft-boxes but even with your window setup, you should be able to use some simple plastic sheeting to block any direct light.

Recently, I've discovered how far you can take a piece of plastic and some 1" diameter PVC with a few right angle connectors.

[rob marshall]

I am not worthy!

Oh, you are, my dear, you definitely are...

[Daisy Mae]

lol

[Daisy Mae]

Chris,that set up is very interesting ...thanks for putting so much work into it.

[MiniChris]

The fun thing about this setup is that you can put colored gels inside the glass on one side and get some interesting color effects. As a high school teacher with a limited budget, one must get very inventive. I use clear glass graduates that I generally use to mix chemicals in. They are 4-6 inches in diameter and upward to 18 inches in height, though for this shot, I would use something in the 12 inch range, I think.

[FrankMi]

I've used something similar to this

Neat! Thanks for sharing, Chris!