Colorful Carrots

[Mike Buckley]

Once again displaying food in a context we don't normally experience or at least don't notice.

Grocery stores in my neighborhood have only recently been selling these highly colorful carrots available only in this small size. Though the purple carrots display only that one color on the outside, cutting them down their length reveals an entirely different appearance on the inside.

Photo 1 Setup
The subject is suspended from above. The background is fabric in a color that complements the darker tones of the subject. A small continuous-light lamp is on the right side of the subject. A white reflector on the left side brightens that side of the subject. A medium continuous-light lamp on the left side lights everything in the background. A polarizer controls glare.

Photo 2 Setup
The background is the same fabric used in Photo 1. A small continuous-light lamp is on the right side very close to the subjects to create very soft shadows. A medium continuous-light lamp also close is on the left side that brightens that side of the subjects and the background. A polarizer controls glare.

[NorthernFocus]

The lighting, BG, and technical aspects are excellent, Mike. The carrot being suspended as it is provides an unusual context that I'm having trouble wrapping my caffeine deprived brain around

[Wavelength]

May be personal, I feel the image is incomplete. I feel something terribly missing...

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Dan and Nandakumar! Your reactions are not surprising considering that the food is presented in a context we're not used to experiencing or noticing. I have now used a bold font in the first post of the thread to emphasize that intended aspect of the image.

[madcrow]

Never seen a purple carrot until now. The highest of standards as usual, but then again, we come to expect nothing less. That macro lens is being put to good use.

[Kaye Leggett]

I'm a bit with Nandakumar, and whilst appreciating this image is out of normal context, I don't recognise it as a carrot - also it looks frozen ? So I feel it is all a bit odd really which is probably not a reaction you want ?

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks for the comments, Kaye.

It doesn't matter to me that you or anyone doesn't recognize it as a carrot. Just the opposite, I felt it needed to be identified, as is the case of a lot of my food photography. If I made a photo of the same carrot using a microscope, I'm sure nobody would recognize it. My guess is that the reason you think it looks frozen (it's not) is because you, like I, might never have examined a carrot so closely; it certainly looked different to me while I was photographing it than I had ever noticed.

As for whether I want a particular reaction, I never want any particular reaction. However, I am pleased when I see that a photo, whether it's mine or anybody's, invokes response of some sort. That's because it's hard for me to imagine a good photo that doesn't invoke reaction.

[Mike Buckley]

I added a second photo to the first post in the thread. I have plans for a third photo but haven't decided whether I will post it in this thread or in its own thread.

[Wavelength]

Colorful, balanced and pleasing image

[bnnrcn]

I love everything in the second image Mike

[madcrow]

+1 for Binnur's comments.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Binnur and Maurice!

[Rita]

Mike, I really like the second image. The placement of the vegis make it appear that you are about to start cooking. The first image is good too but I find myself wanting to look around the hanging carrot to see the carrots in the background.

[Mike Buckley]

The placement of the vegis make it appear that you are about to start cooking.

You would never say that if you had ever seen me cook; I'm much more messy than the photo indicates.

The first image is good too but I find myself wanting to look around the hanging carrot to see the carrots in the background.

Thanks for sharing your reaction, as it pleases me to no end.