Onion Trees

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Kate and Dan.

[chauncey]

A cup holder...a cup holder...I'm trying to visualize that. Is it akin to a 'silk purse from a sow's ear" analogy?

[Mike Buckley]

I somehow accidentally overlooked Andrew's and Christina's posts. Thanks, guys! (I was probably overly excited about the incredible news that my cup holder had arrived and is now installed on my stand. Eat your heart out, Chauncey. )

Christina: Considering that the knife blade is especially appealing to you, it might interest you to know that adding the knife added a major layer of complexity. It was not possible with my limited lighting setup to simultaneously light the blade and the handle so each would look ideal. My solution was to capture one image with everything but the handle looking as is and to capture a second image with the handle looking as is. I then merged the two images.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the reason the chef walked away from the knife is that he went to get a glass of wine.

[Brownbear]

Actually images of knives have never held any appeal until this one came along, because of the silvery, shimmery detailed part and the story. (the story I had in mind was far more imaginative )

Thank you for sharing. Truly appreciated. That is helpful for me to know.

I somehow accidentally overlooked Andrew's and Christina's posts. Thanks, guys! (I was probably overly excited about the incredible news that my cup holder had arrived and is now installed on my stand. Eat your heart out, Chauncey. )

Christina: Considering that the knife blade is especially appealing to you, it might interest you to know that adding the knife added a major layer of complexity. It was not possible with my limited lighting setup to simultaneously light the blade and the handle so each would look ideal. My solution was to capture one image with everything but the handle looking as is and to capture a second image with the handle looking as is. I then merged the two images.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the reason the chef walked away from the knife is that he went to get a glass of wine.

[FootLoose]

I like the 3rd shot, Mike, but I find the reflection of the rivets in the knife handle distracting. I would try cropping the reflection to take the knife out of it completely. That then puts more attention on the reflection in the real blade and, for that reason, I would want to try the shot again with a shinier blade.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you so much, Greg! I have added a fourth photo to the first post in the thread using your suggested crop. That revision is my favorite of the bunch. Your suggestion is an example of what I absolutely love about CiC.

About your request for a shinier blade: This blade is at least 15 years old. It has been cleaned thousands of times using steel wool that has scratched the metal horizontally (along the length of the blade). I lit the blade to minimize the effect of those scratches. I could have lit the blade to reflect only the direct light, which would have been the same brightness as the light itself. I considered that lighting but didn't like it because there was no reflection of the onion.

In the end, I like the soft reflection of the onion because I like making photos of scenes as they appear normally, as opposed to a scene that might display, in this case, a knife that has never been used. Another way of putting it is that I tend not to go for the drama and pop that comes only with so-called perfect subjects that a lot of people understandably prefer.