A gathering of red things

After using the rustic white studio table as the backdrop for so many photos lately, I decided to try something different—a chalkboard that is usually completely obscured by pictures, paper & bits of inspiration. I was thrilled when I saw the contrast that it lent to these wintery staples that ended up becoming my contribution to this month's ROY G BIV challenge. As you may already know, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen & Julie Booth organized this photo challenge (which cycles through the seven colors of the rainbow one month at a time) last year; this time around they are also proposing the inclusion of tints & shades. For February's color—'RED'—this means pink, burgundy, etc. It's definitely a good choice to brighten up this month of grey skies/drizzle/snow we have in the northern part of the world during this period. Originally my 'color of the month' was going to be gray, like this view of the Arno:

But when the ROY G BIV challenge started up again with red, I thought, 'Why not infuse the month with a nice jolt of color'?

*

 

First up are red onions. We eat a lot of red onions, and I have the pleasure of slicing several a week. One thing I had never really appreciated until photographing them is the way the skins twist at the top—like the finishing touch to a sweet little package. And the layers tinged with gentle curves of red are also very appealing as they're diced, sliced or cut into wedges.

 

*

 

Next are these pale pink, paper-thin garlic skins—their delicate color made me start saving them in a ramekin a few weeks ago. Little did I know they would also find a place in this month's ROY G BIV. (At least, now that they have been photographed, they won't be sitting around on a kitchen shelf for the next few months!)

 

*

 

And here are some peperoncini...along with a little garlic & olive oil, are a classic way to dress up an otherwise plain bowl of pasta. After eating in bianco (literally 'in white', meaning bread, rice) for several days as I recovered from the flu, this was the first 'adventurous' thing I craved. The peperoncini shown below are not the usual ones we get, with the familiar long shape, but I love how these look like miniature fluted pumpkins. They are extra spicy—and just about numbed our taste buds, as I didn't know how to gauge the amount—but I seem to be getting the hang of them after adding them to several dishes over the last week. Like red onions and garlic, they can take a meal from okay to memorable. I especially liked the little blossom shape of the slices...

 

*

 

This cyclamen already showed up in my Twelve days of Christmas post, but I snipped the last little buds and did a little deadheading to extend its life a little longer. As beautifully velvety as the vibrant red petals are, I quite liked the darker red of the shriveling blooms that I removed too...

 

*

 

Instead of the usual primroses we buy at this time of year, for this month's flower, I chose a species of primula that is new to me—perhaps the 'primula prolifera', but I'm not sure if I've identified it correctly. The leaves are smaller than primroses and several tiers of blossom clusters quiver at the top of tall skinny stems. I found them very difficult to photograph; for one, the golden sunlight we had earlier in the week has given way to gray skies & drizzle, which casts harshly on the blooms and makes their color appear almost florescent. Plus I found that the inherent structure of the flower stems made it hard to compose pleasing shots while they were on the plant—they appeared to all be huddled together in kind of a clump. (I like to think I would have found some way of capturing them if the sun had shown up though!) I ended up plucking off a few stems—which in turn caused some of the sweet little flowers, with their heart-shaped petals, to drop off—and I found their 'parts' more appealing as photography subjects.

Once again, I used the chalkboard as a background (since it often appears gray against the light, I suppose I did work some gray into the month after all). My favorite photos were controluce, which I often favor in the absence of sunshine—and, more and more, with sunshine as well. The more photos I take, the more I'm recognizing just how fickle the light can be as it plays on a subject, whether onions & garlic, flower petals or paper. And it's amazing how quickly the light can change, even in a discreet period of time. I suppose this is why the same background/subject can appear slightly different from one photo session to the next. It's also fascinating to see how different things appear depending on their position in relationship to the sun. Through trial and error, I am learning a lot about photo-taking, and I must say it's a lot of fun. It feels like Christmas each time I upload a series of photos; it's so exciting to see what the camera finds. Sometimes they aren't as wonderful as I expect, but there are almost always some nice surprises. The hardest part is sifting through the photos afterwards, trying to choose favorites!

 

*