P52 - Week 8 - Veggie (and Fruit) Tales

This week I decided to give myself an assignment. Had no ideas off the top of my head, so I had an open canvas if you will.
Last weekend Jordan and I stopped at Subway to pick up some BMT's (on Parmesan oregano bread. mmm-mmm-mmm!) on the way to the Moultonboro Ice Races. While we were there, I noticed some wall art up in the store. And they were still life pictures of vegetables. Simple vegetables with white borders in black frames. They were really gorgeous! I can't explain it, but my eyes opened up a few years ago, and I started having the time to really "See" things. So I can really appreciate something as simple as a picture of a tomato. Anyway, I hadn't really tried "Food" photography yet, and I figured I now had my subject for this week's post.

So, let me tell you about vegetables..(Or VENCHTABLES) as my kids used to call them. I've never been a big fan. I mean I like potatoes, and corn. But anything else goes into the categories of "I don't get the big deal" to just plain "Yuck".
For example, Sue Loooovvvess PEAS. Me? I don't get the big deal. To me, all I can taste, is the butter you put on them. I don't taste anything else at all. So what is there to love? May as well just have a spoonful of melted butter.
And on the other spectrum, "Yuck", are brussel sprouts. YUCK YUCK YUCK. Stinky and gross. They were created just to torture kids.
And beets...Many people love them...But Me? They taste like dirt.
I don't know why I have this aversion to vegetables. My grandfather used to have a beautiful garden. Grew every kind imaginable. And I only liked potatoes and corn. My mom would always say, "Try it 3 times. If you don't like it, you never have to have it again". However, I think she'd say that 100 times for the same plate of beets. Yuck I really didn't want beets....My grandfather would say, "Mer fe vie. Which in Swedish means "More for Me!" I liked his thinking. He was a great man.
(Bloggers note: I cannot verify this translation...Can't find it online. But that's what it sounded like papa said. Maybe he was telling me I was a stupid kid for not eating my veggies)

So, now you have an understanding of where I stand on the subject of vegetables.
Anyway, my dearest pulled her back this week, :-( and asked me to accompany her to the grocery store. Me, being the chivalrous guy I am, accepted the painful assignment. As I've mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of grocery stores either. People are rude and they block the aisles while they sit and gab, and just ruin my day. I'm more of a Home Depot guy (or Lowes), where the aisles are wide, and everyone is happy, and the birds are singing, and everything smells like fresh cut wood. MMMMMM. Heaven!
But I digress. So when Sue asked me to go grocery shopping, and I said "sure", and "I want to buy lots of vegetables", she thought I'd fallen and banged my head! "Yeah, I want tomatoes, and Kiwi's and mangos, and..." - "First of all", Sue said, You hate tomatoes, and secondly, Kiwi's and Mangos are fruit".

(bloggers note: let's not get into the "Is a tomato a fruit or vegetable" discussion. Please try and stay on topic)...

So after I let her wonder what had gotten into me for a minute, I admitted, "It's for a photo shoot"...
"A-HA! I should have known!", she exclaimed.
I thought I would expand into fruits also, and I'll explain why later. At Hannaford's, I went bustling about, having fun, grabbing this and that, not knowing what some of the things were. But I knew what tomatoes were! I grabbed this bunch of beautiful tomatoes on a vine. Bright red and green! Thought they'd make an excellent subject. I got back to the cart and Sue said, "do you know what you have and how much it costs?" "Yeah, 1.99!", I proudly answered. "That's per pound", she said. So I went and found a scale, weighed it...discretely put back my $6 dollar bunch of tomatoes on the vine, and grabbed a 69 cent single tomato. Hey! Gotta keep the business expenses low! Smart wife I have there!

While I'm talking about my wife, let me get into that Kiwi and Mango story I mentioned earlier. Many years back, Sue was sick and asked me to go to the grocery store (See how she tortures me!), and pick her up some Kiwi's and other things. "Anything for you my love", I answered. (pouring it on a little thick probably). She gave me a neat list with items in order by aisle. I got home and proudly exclaimed that I got everything on the list! "Where are the Kiwi's?, she asked. "Right there!" I pointed... "Those are Mangoes", she replied. I said "No, they are Kiwi's and they cost 30 cents a piece and I got 3 of them". Sue looked at my receipt and pointed out that they were Mangoes. And I bought 3 at 90 cents a piece. "Oh...But they were in a basket that said kiwis, 30 cents each.." What do I know? Obviously, not much more than the grocery person who misrepresented his wares. So there is the Kiwi - Mango story that continues to haunt me to this day. :-)
And for future Reference:

Kiwi

Mango

So there is my tale....

How, did I take these? For still life such as this, I use a light box which I built. But you can buy them also. It is basically a cube with cloth on the sides and top. The cloth diffuses lights that are positioned on the sides and top. Inside, I use poster board or black felt as a background (which I used in these shots).

Lightbox

My favorite Vegetable.. Mer fe Vie!

And here are some shots for extra credit:

Have a great week peeps, and eat healthy!
Em