I had several initial ideas pop up but nothing solid came about. Then a friend told me about this idea of having an apple and a worm and it might be pretty cool. Plus it was somewhat universal and everyone could relate to it. So I got jazzed and started planning the shoot. At first I was planning of using a plain white background but realized using a complimentary background made the apple pop right out of the photo. So a green chalkboard it was - at least from my monitor as I am no where around or have access to a school.
The chalkboard was created from scratch using chalkdust text and green layer with dust and scratches and using dodge and burn. I hope it looks like the real thing.
This by far is the most digusting and most intensive shot I've ever set-up. I bought a box of rainbow worms from the pet store. I didn't realize that there were lots of different ones people use to feed their pets.
"Give me something that I would most likely find in an apple", I said to the guy working at the store. "Wow! Is this going to be an April Fool's gag? If it is, that's pretty sweet!".
Got home and unwrapped the items I bought (apple, PAM, worms, etc). I did a few test shots and after 30 minutes decided to do the actual shot.
I used a screwdriver to bore a hole and I had to shove the plump little worm into it (butt first). Yuck! Nasty! He wiggled and squirmed and it was just plain disgusting :) Anyway, he finally cooperated and I took my shots. Every now and then he would just coil up so I had to "tickle" him to make him "rise" so he didn't touch the edge of the apple. The books underneath are an architectural history book and a tour guide that I used for Japan. I decided to crop it out for anonymity purposes. You might ask why the heck did he buy PAM? I sprayed the apple with PAM to make it glisten. That's an Iron Chef trick for you ladies and gents ;)
Not much post processing. Pretty much straight out of the camera. Just adjusted levels and curves and cropped. Border width at 10 pixels. Saved for web.
Don't know why but I ended up shooting this in automatic modes. The last time I did, it bombed so let's hope this doesn't ;)
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Uh oh! It's 8:44PM PST and I just ended up reshooting my entry. I sure hope I didn't make a mistake here. I added glasses the last minute and changed the book. It's still an architecture book though. I think the glasses add another dimension of texture to the image itself. Crossing my fingers here for a 6+ again ;)
IMG_2319.jpg
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Post Challenge Comment Woohoo! Thanks everyone for another Yellow! Willy The Worm thanks you as well. Just in case you were wondering, Willy wasn't harmed in the making of this shoot. After a solid dose of buttery taste from using PAM on the apple, he lies in rest inside his container amongst his brothers inside my fridge until the next time he is called for another act.
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Views since voting: 7058 Views during voting: 721 Comments: 73 Favorites: 6 (view)
This is a great photo, nice and crisp focus, the lighting is good and good use of both horizontal and vertical thirds!
For those who do not know, the worm actually never goes inside the apple, only comes out of it!!!. So If you have an appletree and don't want any worms, take care of it before the flowers turn into apples because at that time the insect lays its eggs.
Also if you see a hole in an apple it is probably ok to eat it because then you know the worm has already left.
I've got to hand it to you, Rikki - that's one creative brain you have in your head. The buildings you design must be awesome. ;-) Congratulations, again.
Woohoo! Thanks everyone for the yellow! Willy The Worm thanks you as well. Just in case you were wondering, Willy wasn't harmed in the making of this shoot. After a solid dose of buttery taste from using PAM on the apple, he lies in rest inside his container amongst his brothers inside my fridge until the next time he is called for another act.
I love this idea. The reflection in the glasses is very cool. The worm is also a nice touch. There is something off with the colors to my eye. A little too saturated. Nice job though.
I like the bug coming out of the apple and the title but overall the image strikes me as too busy with distracting background. I think in this case simpler would have worked better.
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