I went shopping at Whole Foods this afternoon. I turned around after selecting my shopping cart and saw this display of winter squash reflecting the red from the window above; I knew that had to be my photo of the day. I even went to Whole Foods to buy an acorn squash!
18-200 mm lens at 36mm
ISO 200
f/4.2
1/640
Aperture Tweak: exposure: + 0.47
I took several photos of just the acorn squash swathed in red but when I looked in the monitor, the colors looked faded and orangey, not the brilliant red I was seeing from the window. I kept adjusting my aperture and shutter speed, not knowing how to photograph the reflection accurately. I was disappointed in the results. I went into the store and shopped for about 30 minutes. When I came out, the sun had shifted slightly and this beautiful reflection of the red-glassed window was on the floor so I took a couple more shots, with better success. In Aperture, I increased the exposure by + 0.47 to highlight the squash slightly but still keep the dramatic dark area surrounding the window and its reflection. This is a fairly accurate depiction of the colors without my having to adjust the color.
I also discovered after I downloaded the photos to my computer, that the red in many of the photos I took of the squash, that appeared orangey when I viewed the monitor in the reflected red light, were very close to the actual red. I guess the reflected red light made the photos viewed on the monitor appear orangey. When I changed my settings to compensate for what I thought was incorrect exposure, I lost the red completely. This is obviously something I need to learn more about.
I LOVE this! You do such a great job finding the unusual shots! Love the drama you were able to find at Whole Foods- can’t wait to see what you can find at Costco!
Thanks, Melinda. I have never noticed the colored windows there before. There are four different windows, one green, the red one, an orange one and a yellow one, I think; I’m always in a rush to get my cart and enter the store and I’ve never paid much attention to the displays outside the main doors. Of course, the sun streaming through the window was what caught my eye and I think only at this time of year would the sun be at that angle at that time of day and such a sunny day in January is rare. What good luck for me! I’m finding that this project has me looking for photo opportunities at every turn. I will make sure I have my camera with me whenever possible.
One more thing. I had to get down on one knee to take this photo from the angle I wanted; I took four shots of the reflection alone and four of the window with the reflection. It took me about five minutes, but concrete is hard. I think having a kneeling pillow is something I should to add to my camera bag!
You just have a great eye! Now the knee thing- I feel your pain! Who knew photography could be so painful?