Fruit Photography and Eating Clean

Food is on my mind today. I'm still in the process of ordering my summer seeds. I've got the bio-dome picked out for my vegetables and have vowed to order it today! As I was footnoting my book this morning, I realized that I had referenced produce related topics a number of times. I am also back on the Zone Diet, which helps regulate my hormone levels and really make me a much happier person. So food seems like a good subject for the days writing...(My friend Regina is also taking me out to lunch today and I am getting very hungry!)

But what does food have to do with garden portraits? Well, beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables can be just as photogenic as colorful vibrant flowers. Strawberries are my own personal favorites for photographing. You can't beat the bright red color, the way the light plays off their sensual form and the bright green tops to cap (no pun intended) the whole thing off. When I plop down a strawberry in the middle of some flowers that really gets my creativity flowing. Slice open the fruit for another view of your fabulous subject. Apples, corn, raspberries, and kiwi are some more favored materials for my artistic endeavors. Pile them high in a bowl or let them stand on their own. Play with lighting - natural or artificial. Make pleasant shadows mimicing nature's enticing forms.

And after you photograph it you can eat it! Check out the work of my friend, fellow gardener, and photographer Lisa Allen. She is the author of Eating Clean (which is available on her web site.) She offers lots of tasty ideas for what to do with fresh from the garden produce. Thanks Lisa! (Lisa is also one of the gardeners who posed for my upcoming book The Gardener's Soul. She is a lovely and fascinating individual.)

Have a great day everyone! I'm off for some Thai food!