Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Wrong season, right mood

It is absolutely the wrong season for this. This is a picture of one of the pumpkins we had in front of our house around Halloween this past year. Somewhere, my parents fret about their Good Jewish Boy participating in a self-centred pagan ritual. But I only took pictures of the thing. I didn't bow in front of it and offer my beret as a sacrifice. (End Guilt Phase of this evening's writings.)

To further reduce our ritualistic investment in the whole holiday thing, we didn't even bother to carve it. I'm soooo lazy when it comes to these things.

That said, I wasn't originally planning to take a picture of it. It didn't strike me as particularly interesting, unique or memorable. It was a vegetable, and a common one at that.

But one day as I came home with the kids, I noticed that the yellowish, low-angled late-afternoon sun seemed to intensify the orange. The shading seemed to jump out at me, and I thought a color-based picture might be fun. Our daughter happily chatted with me as I snapped off a few pictures.

"Why are you taking pictures of the pumpkin?"
"Can we keep our pumpkin all winter?"
"I think Mommy will say you're being silly."

(She's so perceptive!)

In the end, this over-the-top view won me over. The stem sort of balances the picture, while the fading orange adds to the direction. I don't think it says anything in the process, but it's a nice combination of angle and color that isn't like the typical pumpkin pic. And it reminds me of a simple few minutes I spent in front of our house with my little girl.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

LazyVedaSays:
(http,vaza,blogspot,com)

Carmi, this is awesome! I think I say that a lot, but you really do great work with that gadget you call "camera!" The contrasts are incredible, love the reds in the background... just amazing that a pumpkin can be so vibrant!

Unknown said...

I'm all about color-based photos. In fact, they are my specialty. (You can tell from my photoblog.) Great job on this one. I love it!

Jef said...

I don't think you have to be a pagan to be fond of the color and shape of pumpkins in autumn. There is something about the lazy, fading afternoon light that is magical. I especially love the off-center angle of the photo. We know immediately what it is and it allows us to see the pumpkin in a new way that we may have never experienced before.

Once the next week is behind me and I'm caught up again, I plan to get my own camera out again and have some fun.

Kate said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Kate said...

Sorry, had a glitch.

Great composition, Carmi. I love the way the stem leads the eye into the rest of the photo.

As for what you said on Diva's blog about the food, if you e-mail your address to me I'd be happy to spread some cheer across the border for you.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not a Nigerian scammer, so no need to worry there.

carmilevy said...

Thanks, y'all. I always thought photography should be simple: get a vision, then use all your knowledge to capture it in as straightforward a manner as possible. It's another form of storytelling, and I relish it, especially when I can combine it with words.

Rich color is incredibly elusive. Late afternoon and early morning light often adds a certain dimension to an otherwise-basically-colored surface. I wish there were some way to predict it. But there isn't. Maybe that's the point: just let your artistic whims go, then hope for the best. Ah, such fun.