Still Life with Fruit (and Cat)
My sudden burst of still-life activity is in response to a challenge that John and I set at Oldham photographic Society some weeks ago. My research turned up lots of “Dutch master style” pictures of flowers and fruit and so I though I would have a go myself…a style I have not tried before. My local supermarket provided some not-too-expensive fruit (some at half price) and some chilli peppers reduced to pennies. They all fitted in with a red and gold theme.
I had started to throw some items together on a studio background on the kitchen worktop – creating a bit of height at the back and a natural tumble of fruits with the chillis at the front. I left the kitchen for a couple of minutes and when I came back, one of my cats, Toby, had settled himself down.
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Everyone knows that cats have a mind of their own, so no way could I have persuaded him to sit there if I had wanted to! Obviously I took a few shots, during which time he became bored and went to sleep. The lighting was simply an on-camera flash beam, bounced off the wall to the side and balanced with the ambient light (mixture of daylight and tungsten).
![](http://christinewiddall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/MG_1506-Edit-3.jpg)
Fortunately, Toby soon became bored with his restricted position and went off to sleep elsewhere. Afterwards I added a few cherries, rearranged a few bits and took some shots “sans cat”, to some of which I added a soft focus effect.
![](https://christinewiddall.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/MG_1488-Edit-Edit.jpg)
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