Advertising Shoot #4: Fruit is murder II

[wattj]

The assignment was "Food".

Comments

great shot joseph

[anonymous]

While the colors are definitely more saturated in Fruit is murder II, I think you've lost some of that, oh so precious raw emotion. (yes, I know they are both still life) I believe what Cartier-Bresson referred to as the "decisive moment". Just out of curiosity, did you have to slit your wrists to get that blood-like effect? I also feel like in Fruit is murder II; you could have stopped down a bit more. I see a blurred face in one of the empty pomegranate pods, but can't quite make out whom it is. Is this a self-portrait?

Re: great shot joseph

[wattj]

Hi, whoever you are...

Uhm, there's a face in it? I can't find it. The shallow depth of field is entirely intentional, and I had the lights near to the lowest power settings to acheive it.

No, I did not have to slit my wrists. I /did/ however, replenish the pomegranate juice with cranberry juice cocktail, as the original juice dried out despite having most of the lights off at any given time... For future reference, cranberry juice cocktail is generally thinner and less saturated than pomegranate juice... Next time I do a shoot like this, I'll bring a spare pomegranate, and perhaps a bottle of that 'POM' stuff, if it matches the color.

Most of the blood effect comes from A> implication, by the presence and position of the knife, B> saturation, which I pushed a bit, C> shape, being somewhat careful about the distribution of the juice and seeds to create a 'splatter pattern', and D> natural similarity.

Thanks for the comment.

Re: great shot joseph

[mc17]

the first completely lacked the "raw emotion" you claim this one lost. Pomegranates have dark red juices. stopping down would make the depth of field too large, and your loose the intimacy. ...and there's no face in the fruit, you kook.

I know this was an anonymous poster, and you'll probably never hear this response, but it needed to be replied to anyway.

[wattj]

Yeah... I found out it was a friend of mine from school. He's just teasing. Sarcasm dies a horrible, horrible death on the internet.

photography

[etrinao]

i went to commonealth too, was into photography...i was just looking through poeple who had commonwealth down as a school and found your livejournal....

just saying, i really love this photograph. lots of your photos are pretty good, but don't really do that much for me, but this one stopped me in my tracks as it were...i think it is really superb. that's all.

Re: photography

[wattj]

Thanks! Yeah, a lot of what I do really only appeals to myself, people who feel obliged to appreciate whatever I do, and a few relatively artsy photographers. In my Advertising assignments, the major ongoing goal is to make images that grab the attention of a wider audience.

When were you at Commonwealth?

Re: photography

[etrinao]

graduated 2004...and i do not feel obliged to appreciate whatever you do. and i'm no longer an artsy photographer. although i think that is still in me a little...

[wattj]

Cool. What's the school like, these days? I only just started dropping in once a year for the Alumni dinners... Doesn't give a full view of the current state of affairs.

[mc17]

I think your title lacks subtlety, and is redundant and pointless. ....but really, that's my only complaint. (gasp!)

this is nicely (albeit lowly) lit, well exposed (good contrast and saturation) and well composed. other than "deeply meaningful content" there's no much else one can ask for... and this doesn't require "deep meaning"
:)

nice image.

[wattj]

Thanks for your comments.