Popcorn

This is the last kernel (popped of course) from a group of a dozen or more that was given to me by a student in my DigPhoto class the other day. One of the points I was trying to make with the handful of popcorn was that to truly enjoy something one should take some time with it, no matter what it is. Perhaps you might be able to think of a few things to which this philosophy might apply, but in this case it was the art of making a photograph that I was attempting to make an analogy towards.

This is, I think appropriately, a "macro" shot, where the idea of photographing small things requires the photographer to "get in close". In this case close was a matter of less than an inch, and the only thing I really felt I wanted to do to the image in "post" was to crop it to a more square format than the original. The color has not been altered, or have any of the levels of light or contrast. The extremely narrow depth of field is apparent, and certainly a typical characteristic of a shot with a magnifying lens. I really like the way that depth of field draws the eye toward the middle of the kernel where the color seems to be brightest and where the surface textures are most apparent. Rule of thirds (balance), shape, form and texture all play a role in this image.