12:37PM, 3/10/2010 - Apricot Blossoms for Sale in Union Square Market
Nothing says “Spring” like twigs with blossoms. So, I’m going to assume winter is officially over, even if we still have 10 days to go.
Somehow, mushrooms don’t say “Spring” at all.
11:43AM, 2/3/2010 - Late Season Winesap Apple with Dead Leaf
The leaf is dead, but the apple lives on.
I find it amazing that apples keep for so many months after harvest. According to AskMen.com (a web site for kitchen challenged men, among other things), “if stored in a cool, dry area (the basement and the fridge drawer are always good picks), apples can last anywhere between 3 to 6 months.”
Honey has an indefinite shelf life. Supposedly in Egypt in 1800, some archeologists found a pot of honey and, when opened, found it tasted just fine. (Both died later from the curse of Tutankhamen. >I’m making that part up<).
Sliced turkey, on the other hand, gets slimy in a few days.
Go Figure.
12/14/09, 10:14AM Union Square Market - Where's the Purple Broccoli?
Where’s the purple broccoli?
I make my marketing message as clear as possible because I want the attention of the smart, little shops with brilliant creatives who fly under the radar, as well as the equally brilliant big boys. I’d certainly lose the interest of those I wish to work for if I sent out a constant stream of mixed messages. Not an easy task in a competitive industry as this, but probably one of the most important lessons we can learn and a word we know all to well. Focus.
If you want to find your audience, keep your message consistent, your work focused and your vision clear.
10:12AM, 12/14/2009 Rows of Romanesco Broccoli
Swaying like the tops of pine trees blowing in the wind, these end of season romanesco broccoli are actually an edible flower in the Brassica oleracea family (cauliflower, not broccoli!).
Now that the clocks have been set back, I don’t have to get up quite as early to capture the more dramatic early morning light (It’s not like I’ve ever actually gotten up early to shoot these). People keep asking me if I light or arrange the Union Square, Shooting from the Hip photos. The answer is always no. The light and styling of the subject just happen to be that way when I capture the image.
P.S. All my friends have commented that, “Hey, they look like Xmas trees.” Silly me.
2:15PM, 11/23/2009 - Watermelon Radish at Union Square Market
Watermelon radish is a beautiful root vegetable with a magenta to white center that looks like it was made on a spin art machine. Although its nickname is the bleeding heart radish there’s no heartburn here. This radish is sweet, not spicy or bitter, which is a really good reason to try it if you don’t normally like radishes in salads. The watermelon radish is different and worth a try.
Here’s a link to New York Magazine for a Mâche-and-Watermelon-Radish Salad recipe by Akhtar Nawab, formerly of Tom Colicchio’s Craftbar and his own restaurant, Eletteria.
Simply wonderful.
10:28AM, 11/4/2009 Rose Hips Heart
Occasionally, I’ll mosey over to Wikipedia to gather a little information about something I’ve recently shot and then grab a couple of key words and search for more reliable information. Today’s results were more amusing than usual.
Hmmmm. Fact or Wikipedia fiction? “Rose hips have recently become popular as a healthy treat for pet chinchillas. Chinchillas are unable to manufacture their own Vitamin C, but lack the proper internal organs to process many vitamin-C rich foods. Rose hips provide a sugarless, safe way to increase the Vitamin C intake of chinchillas and guinea pigs.” Now, is that so the chinchillas will make nice shiny fur coats?
Continuing on, “Rose hips are also fed to horses. The dried and powdered form can be fed at a maximum of 1 tablespoon per day to improve coat condition and new hoof growth.” Okay, maybe that’s plausible, but why the dosage? So we do it right?
And then it goes on, “The fine hairs found inside rose hips are used as itching powder” Itching powder? What? No reference to whoopee cushions? And finally, this: “Rose hips can be used to make Palinka, a traditional Hungarian alcoholic beverage.” That’s a traditional fruit brandy produced in Transylvania (no references or links to either, True Blood, The Vampire Dairies or Twilight). Nice, but I looked that up in Wikipedia and there’s no mention of rose hips.
I didn’t search elsewhere today, this was too much fun. Gotta love Wikipedia.
Anyway, we’re deep into fall and this capture was a pleasant surprise. There’s something about that long, bare green stem in the foreground that makes this work. Maybe because it looks like that big vein that real hearts have.
8:43AM, 10/28/2009 Radishes and Carrots
Another shot from last week’s rainy Wednesday.
8:46AM, 10/28/2009 - Accidental Tableaux #2
Last Wednesday it drizzled pretty much all day. A little rain isn’t going to keep me from pulling out my trusty G10 and shooting. Rain brings out deeper tones and saturated colors while giving a specularity to things we normally associate as being visually flat, especially root vegetables which are covered with a dusting of earth. I tried Googling it but I can’t find a scientific explanation for why this is. I know it has something to do with the optical nature of H2O. It must be when light passes through or is reflected off a thin film of water. Let me know if you have the answer.
And, that carrot on the ground? It was out of frame until a group of people passed by and someone kicked it into my field of view. Without that carrot, it’s a different shot.
Inside spread of D.A.Wagner's work from Freelance Portfolio Magazine
Yesterday afternoon, Greg Welch called me regarding a submission I made to his, about-to-be-launched, Freelance Portfolio Magazine, scheduled for December. He’d taken a look at the blog and felt there was something compelling about my comparisons of Mandelbrot’s fractals, NASA satellite imagery and my photographs of food. It struck a chord and we chatted a while about my past history with computers and special effects and, instead of my original submission, he asked to publish the images from the post. He mentioned that the launch was pushed up and he expected to put it up by today.
And he did. With my images included. I love the way it looks and Greg got me to thinking again about those visual relationships that somehow connect the very small to the very large. I spent most of my morning cruising through CERN, Fermilab and NASA, looking for more ways that that happens. Look for them in upcoming posts.
Thanks, Greg.
9:08AM, 10/14/2009 End of Season Corn
There have been too many attempts shooting corn with nothing to show. Husks are just not an easy subject. But someone pulled the husk back on this one, revealing the corn and leaving it on top of the heap in the early morning light, which moved across the kernels in a hurry. It took less than 60 seconds before the light moved off that perfect spot. Three shots. That’s all I had time for.
Then, the light was gone.
There’s a secret life hidden in every object; it just takes an insightful approach to coax it out. Deliberation and spontaneity, technology and elbow grease, exploration and happenstance are all elements in this process. Whether it’s water, wine, coffeemakers or cosmetics, D.A.Wagner uses all these elements, combining them with elegant lighting, playful color and a touch of humor to create iconic images.
A seasoned professional with too many photography awards to list (oh, okay, just this – 16 Rx Club Awards including a silver) and experience that includes shooting and directing documentaries in China, pioneering work in digital photography and raising a teenager, D.A. even has photographs in MoMA’s permanent collection.
It may have been Bauhaus architect Mies van der Rohe who said, “Less is more.” But it took D.A.Wagner to do more with even less.
