Really red radishes
London, Ontario, January 2007
As I stare at this image, a surprising thought occurs to me: I don't even like radishes. They're such subversive little root-things that, on their own, don't taste all that great (I know, this'll get me some hate mail. Bring it on, Mom.) Still, you've got to admire the texture when they lay out a particularly fresh pile underneath the fluorescent light.
Some history: If you're new to the blog, you may want to click the following links for past grocery store adventures: apples, peppers, yellow peppers, still more peppers, fish, and leaves. As you can tell, I'm somewhat obsessively drawn to fresh produce at the grocery store.
A technical note: Ideally, I'd be able to bring in my tripod and take some longer-exposure images of these things. Then I'd have as much time and depth of field as I'd need, and life would be photographically good. But I never know when a grocery store cop (GSC, because I'm a geek and I'm addicted to short-forms) will show up from nowhere and bust me. Really, it's happened: click this entry, Busted by the grocery police, for the ugly details of my grand adventure at the not-Wal-Mart.
In the wake of that experience, I worry constantly about getting caught. Thus I'm forced to shoot fast. I preset the camera as best I can before going into the store. When I approach my fruity target of opportunity, I compose the shot in my head, then yank the camera from its bag and trip the shutter as quickly as I can before stuffing my optical weapon back into its bag and assuming the usual glassy-eyed stare of the brain-dead grocery shopper.
Zero to sixty, and back to zero again. No one ever said the life of the surreptitious grocery store shooter would be an easy one.
One last thought: "Fruity target of opportunity," "Brain-dead grocery shopper," and "Grocery store shooter." I suspect these will get the search engines wagging.
Oops, one more: Long ago, I posted this image of radishes as well. I apparently have no qualms about returning to the vegetables that have been good to me in the past.
Your turn: What's my next vegetable of opportunity? What do you want to see?
There is another blogger who does produce photos, and he is really good at mushrooms and red cabbage. Let's see what you can do? LOL
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me. I like radiches. My mom use to make radish roses and soak them in cold, salted water. They were good!
Anything really, but take it right after those little showers go off, you know the misters that are announced to the shoppers by little peals of thunder! Better yet, get a picture of the misters doing their thing.
ReplyDeleteYou had me giggling through most of the post!! What veggie do I want to see? Well I suppose that depends on if you're shopping at Safeway or if you do the organic thing
ReplyDeleteCreative Wishes!
i would love to see some stealthy shots of eggplants or red onions. i can just picture you with the camera ready to go like the vegetable paparazzi.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am afraid of grocery store cops! So many opportunities and so much fear...(I like radishes, by the way.)
ReplyDeleteInteresting shot.I like the composition and textures.Good light and colors.Well done!
ReplyDeleteI read your Busted article. Wow! Who would have thought you couldn't take pictures? Very weird.
ReplyDeleteP.S. My son is at school in London, Ontario
Love the colour and composition in this shot! Your posts are a joy to read Carmi!
ReplyDeleteNow, for your next vegetable...I'd like to see something that is used widely in your local area but not necessarily all over the world!
Have a great day :o)
Thanks for dropping by my blog. I suggest a furtive shot of blood oranges in their natural habitat.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to be watching The Black Donnellys, Carmi? I was writing up something about the show and noticed that it's based on a family from London Ontario and that the creator of the show grew up in your town.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty picture, Carmi. I love red veggies--at least to look at.
thanks for the kind words on my site, carmi. you always leave such encouraging comments. i like the radish shot....maybe bananas next time? they have nice curves! :) i've been wanting to take some pictures in our little mennonite-run grocery that sells bulk foods...i love the shelves lined with the big bags of spices, grains, and homemade jams and jellies. but i haven't been brave enough yet, it's really small so i know they'll see me doing it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder why I am a vegetarian, but then I saw this picture and I was reminded.
ReplyDeleteYou make vegtables look good, haha.
Thanks for stopping by my site, and I hope to hear form you again.
As for the next produce candid, how about something exotic like a starfruit or a pomegranite.
I really like this picture. WHo knew radishes could be lovely. How about some brussel sprouts?
ReplyDeletelol, those veg will be talking about who gets famous next :)
ReplyDeletewhat about the humble potato, not glamorous and shiny and colourful, but reliable and versatile....?
radishes never did anything for me either, but they do look good :)
Eggplants, please.
ReplyDeleteLovely to look at
Icky to eat.
Well, raw. Breaded, fried, and part of a mozzarella and tomato panini. . . that's another story entirely.
Any picture of a bunch of vegetables, like your radish picture, I think, portrays the word "abundance" better than any spirtual guru could. All from one tiny seed!
ReplyDeleteYour next vegetable - maybe find out the first one you ever tried as a toddler.
I am certainly not a fan of the radish. In terms of taste, in fares only slightly better than the dreaded brussel sprout! Yet, there is something really intriguing about this photo. I am laughing thinking of you stalking about the grocery store with your hidden camera. Some people flash......you snap produce! Everyone needs a vice!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog! I enjoyed reading yours, as well!
I am sure I will be back!
Now here's a coincidence- I posted my very own picture of radishes today as well!
ReplyDeleteWhat do they say about "great minds"? Or something about, "seldom differ"?
;-)
Great post Carmi! And these radishes look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI am trying to think of an interesting veggie...
how about an artichoke...I like all the layers and the green color. That has definite possibilities. Maybe we could do a series on both our blogs.....hhhhmmmm.
After all these comments, you better get to the grocery and get your produce! :)
There's really such a thing? As GSC? and there is such a rule as no cameras in the grocery stores? For real?
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see some lettuce.
I ate radishes fresh from my dad's garden when I was a kid...nice memories. See if you can find some artichoke stalks..they look like big celery stalks with stickers. My mom would go to the Italian deli and buy them...clean them which left her hands black and then bread them and fry them. They taste just like the heart. She called them cardonies (Phonetically spelled!)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, a fruit and vegetable fettish and a compulsive one at that!!!
ReplyDeleteI also hate radishes, my husband likes to eat them and turnips with stacks of salt raw, YUK. I like turnips cooked with butter and salt and sometimes mixed in with potato but not raw.
Hey that's one you could shoot next, a bunch of Turnips, they have nice purple and white colors.
Lori
How about eggplants? I love purple.
ReplyDeleteby the way: which SLR do you use?? I'm saving for a new camera....leaning towards Canon Rebel Xti...thoughts?
Poor radishes. Always getting a bad wrap.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm at Seattle's Pike Place Market, or at a farmers' stand in the Hamptons, I understand how one would be compelled to photograph produce.
Since I know a lot of vegetables is grown in the area you live I think you just might be able to get some great pictures---maybe Artichoke, Asparagus, Beets, Carrots or Cauliflower...heck just do what you find that is fresh straight for a farmers garden.
ReplyDeleteIt matters not you just have "the eye"
If you are interested in working with a variety of color, you could try Bell Peppers...red, yellow, green and orange...and even throw in a few banana peppers, for a variation in shape...they aren't necessarily my favorite food (for eating), but they certainly are beautiful to look at. :)
ReplyDeleteArtichokes!! All those layers...
ReplyDeleteI would very much love to see a photo of some ripened stenchfruit.
ReplyDeleteI hear they're quite pungent.
This photo is beautiful. I'm sure it won't mean much coming from someone who knows nothing about the skill of photography, but I wouldn't have known you hadn't captured the image just the way you intended.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question (sort of), one of my favorite things about your photography is what you choose to admire. It wouldn't feel right to suggest something particular to photograph. I love looking at a photo and imagining what inspired its photographer - or caught his or her eye. Then again, I suppose suggesting a vegetable might lead you to a certain light or color or softness-or some other thought-that you might otherwise have missed. Still though, I leave this one up to you.