Blood on a sharp, worn knife

[Mike Buckley]

It's not really blood, but it is juice from a blood orange. That's close enough, right?

A lot of people would prefer that tools and other objects used in a scene such as this one should be in pristine condition. I prefer displaying the reality of everyday life by intentionally using whatever I've been able to find around the house, whether the item is brand new and unused as in the case of my pasta ladle or is a well-worn knife such as in this scene. I was fortunate to be able to light the knife so all of the manufacturing lines and scratches going in other directions stand out so nicely.

EDIT: I added a second photo to the thread.

Setup
The tabletop is bare wood. The background is the unlit area of the room. (I think this is the first time my lighting setup didn't light the nearby wall in my tiny makeshift studio.) Two medium continuous-light lamps light the scene from the left and right sides at a 45-degree angle. A small continuous-light lamp laying on the tabletop lights the scene from the left rear to brighten the tabletop. Ironically, it's reflector also casts a nice shadow on the middle area of the tabletop.

The largest purple area on the evenly grooved part of the knife is a reflection of the foreground slice; it is not juice. The juice on the other parts of the knife is mixed with glycerine to make it thicker. The simulated droplet of juice is Aqua Gel, which holds its shape long enough to capture the image before the droplet falls off the knife. I wish I could tell you that I planned for that droplet to include the nice reflection of the orange's skin, but I'm most definitely not that good.

[Shadowman]

Nice graphic device.

[Wavelength]

Very nice; how about less proportion of knife and more of cross section of orange?

[Manfred M]

Aha! You've murdered a blood orange and we have the evidence!

Another interesting shot Mike, but I tend to agree with Nandakumar, the size of the knife blade is overpowering the orange a bit too much. I suspect a thinner blade might look better.

I also wonder what it would look if you back lit the orange slice to have the texture of the fruit stand out more like you did with your previous posting of the slice of orange.

[GBO25]

Very well done Mike. The lighting really does enhance it.

[mugge]

Mike, I agree with Nandakumar and Manfred that the knife is too overpowering. On a more serious note: you did murder a blood orange, didn't you!!
Cheers Ole

[madcrow]

Mike, awesome image. I think you are being framed, It's a setup.

[James G]

Mike, I love this. I can see what Manfred and Nandakumar are suggesting regarding the impact of the knife on the other elements of the image, but my initial take was rather that it might have been angled up or down a bit more, though the 'Blood' would probably not have formed such a nice droplet.

My 'second' take on the image is somewhat more bizarre!, and I have this image of 'Jaws' the great white shark of kitchen knives ripping through the fruit bowl !.... told you it was bizarre, but it's just the form of the pattern of the juice on the blade and my weird imagination....

I also note you use 'proper' knives.... (cannot abide serrated blades.... give me clean sharp steel every time, much easier to work with!)

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, everyone!

A few thoughts about the knife: For me, the knife is the subject, not the fruit. That explains its presence. Notice also the size of the knife relative to the fruit, which is the smallest orange I've ever seen. It is the size of a tangerine or a clementine and the entire bag of fruit is that size. The knife is the size and type that I would use to cut the fruit. I have two smaller knives but one is a boning knife (I wouldn't use that) and the other is a pairing knife (I also wouldn't use that).

Last, as Manfred pointed out, the fruit is not nearly as interesting as in the other photo because it's not back lit. So, I was quite happy that the knife covered up so much of the fruit. It's not helpful to back light the partial orange positioned behind the knife because that part of the fruit is opaque. I might have been able to successfully back light the foreground slice but so little of its translucent fruit is displayed that I doubt that the small amount of added interest would have been noticeably helpful. Using back lighting on it could also have caused all sorts of flare issues to contend with that doing so probably would not have been worth using it, especially in the context of my previous thought. Indeed, the easiest way to light the translucent characteristic of the foreground slice would have been to light it from underneath, which would have required cutting a hole in the wooden tabletop or using a completely different tabletop that itself is either translucent or transparent.

James: I tried different angles of the knife without consideration of their potential impact on the droplet and preferred the angle displayed in the photo.

My 'second' take on the image is somewhat more bizarre!, and I have this image of 'Jaws' the great white shark of kitchen knives ripping through the fruit bowl !.... told you it was bizarre, but it's just the form of the pattern of the juice on the blade and my weird imagination....

That's actually similar to my response to the image, so it's especially pleasing to learn of your reaction. To my way of thinking, we would not have that response were it not for the strong presence of the knife. Similarly, notice that the foreground slice is not evenly cut. That's by design. The slice is positioned to display that careless, unrefined approach that would perhaps be expected in a scene that depicts the macabre element.

I find it especially interesting that Manfred and Ole mentioned that the knife has too much presence even though the image invoked the concept of murder for them, which is exactly what I had hoped would happen largely thanks to the in-your-face appearance of the knife.

Just my way of looking at this stuff, or rather envisioning the scene before creating and photographing it.

[Mike Buckley]

I think you are being framed, It's a setup.

Actually, I'm framing someone else. I've got the photo to prove their guilt.

[Mike Buckley]

I just now got the idea of using a square format to tell essentially the same story but with different nuance. For me, the primary subject in the photo below is the droplet, not the knife.

[Manfred M]

I just now got the idea of using a square format to tell essentially the same story but with different nuance. For me, the primary subject in the photo below is the droplet, not the knife.

All you need now is to add a bit of "police tape" and it will start looking like one of WeeGee's classic crime scene images.

[Mike Buckley]

If I remember correctly, Wee Gee used a bare bulb flash. Unfortunately, I don't have one of them lying around my makeshift studio.

[Manfred M]

If I remember correctly, Wee Gee used a bare bulb flash. Unfortunately, I don't have one of them lying around my makeshift studio.

Nor a SpeedGraphic camera.

A couple of my photography profs brought theirs to class for the students to look at and handle.

Given the rather primitive technology (the camera shot sheet film) and large size / weight I'm really am impressed with some of the images that the photographers managed to take with them the one-shot flash bulbs that went with the lights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weegee


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Graphic

[bnnrcn]

Really bloody images Mike The square crop appeals to me more , may be it is because it looks more bloody than the first image.

[John 2]

Square crop for me Mike. Makes my imagination run wild in that I can see a sharks head drooling from the mouth. Perhaps it's time for my medication.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Binnur and John. I agree with both of you that the square version works better.

[madcrow]

The square for me. I am glad you got alibi, it's always a good idea to blame someone else.

[Mike Buckley]

it's always a good idea to blame someone else.

Except that it's never worked out when I blamed my wife. You would think I would know better.

[mugge]

Mike, much better. You did put your name to the deed (the murder), hence you did do it.
Cheers Ole