tasty still life

Thanks largely to some rather annoying "computer issues" I haven't had the privilege of posting for quite a while (phew! finally it's not my laziness for once!).

I decided to kick off this new post-computer-trouble era with some still life. I guess this is actually the first time I have ever photographed something that was dead too! I've taken any number of pictures of flowers, trees and other plants and animals, but unlike this delicious Bosc pear, they were all alive and kicking.

It's not that I decided to all of a sudden photograph a pear; I was sitting in my apartment one evening after work and the winter-rare golden light of dusk began to bathe the living room. Like my favorite Australian wedding photographer and podcaster Shelton Muller often says, "Find the light and put them in it". So that was exactly what I did--not with a bride and groom, but rather, a brown Bosc pear that was sitting in a fruit bowl on our table and bordering on over-ripe. To spare you the gruesome details, my subject became part of my dinner as soon as the light faded.

Such is the fickle nature of that period of golden light. I was in fact, quite lucky to even harness some of that light given I had not really planned on it. Usually, if you are not prepared the light dissipates too much before you get your gear ready to shoot. This is particularly true of landscape photography.

Fortunately for me, the landscape in this photo was a couch in my living room (conveniently close to my camera) and my subject was ready and willing...and juicy...oh so juicy.