Gifts that keep on giving

[Mike Buckley]

My mother-in-law (now deceased) and wife teamed up to give me the wok and cookbook, respectively, at Christmas 1983. This was only our second Christmas together and it was the first one as a family. More than 30 years later, I still use the wok and cookbook typically once or twice each month. The cooking methods are so precisely explained in the book, which is no longer in print, that I learned a lot about preparing even non-Chinese food. It's easy to understand why all of that made photographing the two subjects such an enjoyable project.

Please click to display the image at a larger size so the texture in the wok and book can be more easily appreciated.

Setup
The tabletop is a piece of granite countertop and the background is textured art paper. A small continuous-light lamp fitted with a diffusion sock placed in front of the scene primarily brightens the book's gold letters, lights the front of the wok's handle and the background. A medium continuous-light lamp fitted with a diffusion sock placed on the far right lights that side of the wok's handle, rakes light across the book's spine to display its texture, lights the bottom of the wok to help define its shape and defines the bottom of the wok's rim with a direct reflection. An overhead reflector adds a reflection that defines the shape of the top of the wok's rim.

[selig1656]

Well composed and nicely captured , better seen when enlarged

[NorthernFocus]

I think you produced a nice visual memory to go along with the emotional one. Not sure how you could have done it without altering the perspective on the book, but being able to see the wok from slightly above would make it more recognizable. Without the back story it would have taken me a bit to catch on.

Our spousal relationships are on about the same timeline. I met my bride in spring of '81 and we were married in August of '82. We were both students at the time working our own way through school in minimum wage jobs(maybe $2.35/hr back then?). I landed part time work tutoring athletes for $6/hr and felt like I'd hit the lottery. That was in the days before student loans became common place. A wok wouldn't have been much use to us as we would have had nothing to put in it

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[bnnrcn]

A nice image with a nice story Mike I think Dan is right that it is difficult to know that it is a wok. But people who like cooking Chinese food might immediately know that it is a wok as woks are the traditional cooking pans for Chinese people.

[Manfred M]

A great story Mike and the wok and cookbook look like they have their fair share of battle scars. That wok looks like you need to do some weight training to lift it and I wouldn't be too surprised if your cookbook's binding isn't holding on for dear life.

I agree with the others, the story is needed to explain the picture as while the wok is clearly some kind of cooking vessel, I would not have guessed that it was a wok. I thing the red art paper carries of the Chinese theme quite nicely. I'm not to sure about the edge of the granite, though. I find it somehow disrupts the image a bit. Moving it around in Lightbox, I think cropping the surface facing the camera and leaving the horizontal surface and the reflection might work a bit better for me.

[Sergio M.]

Mike, for me it effectively communicates the idea of Chinese cuisine, it's method and implementation. I know that the utensil is something used to prepare Chinese food by it's association with the book, and that it's a wok because of my familiarity with Chinese cooking and your introduction. Others may not get the association that it's a wok, but I still think it imparts the idea of preparing Chinese food very well. The soft warm tones make for a very cozy atmosphere.

Sergio

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

It was a surprise to learn that some people don't immediately recognize the wok for being what it is, but that's only because I've used it for over 30 years and of course know what it is. Most woks are apparently made of relatively bright and smooth steel or aluminum, so perhaps the dark color and rough texture of this cast iron wok also make it less recognizable. I have also noticed that relatively few woks have wooden handles, so that characteristic might have also contributed to the confusion.

It was great to see the comments about that, as they motivated me to come up with another way to present the cookbook and wok. I got an idea that I hope to try out today and will keep the thread posted.

A rather unique characteristic of this particular wok is that it has a flat bottom, which is not visible or at least not apparent in the photo. The flat bottom makes it ideal for use on a stove top without having to purchase a special burner base designed to cradle a wok that has only a curved surface. I have already made a photo that displays that characteristic a little bit and have plans to make other photos that make that detail more apparent.