The Inspiration:

The side light coming from the window on the right played was the key inspiration for creating this shot. It was a soft winter light that touched the fruits in such a way that it enhanced the colors of the fruits in a subtle yet bold manner.

The first raw image was kind of a rough sketch of how I wanted the final photo to look. The result was a colorful, bold image of the winter fruits.

The Location:

It was one of the cold winter's late mornings in my home studio. I have a bright window on the right side of the room which acts as a natural light source. Most of the images shot in natural light are from this window.

The setup was not too fancy. It was a black cotton cloth used as a backdrop and a wooden vinyl backdrop as a base. I used a wood block chopping board as a prop to give height to the subject.

The golden basket was one of the finds from an antique store on Etsy.

Before And After:

Fruit Basket is a tribute to a dear friend of mine. I got the news about his passing that morning, and it was such a shock. All that grief had to go somewhere, so I decided to work in the studio shooting something random.

With a simple set-up, I started gathering whatever fruits were available at that time in the fridge.

As I arranged the fruits and props for the shot, the light from the window caught my eye. The effect of the light on the fruits and how it enhanced the colors of the fruits made me capture the shot.

Post Processing:

For me, the raw file from the camera is like a rough sketch of the image a photographer has envisioned.

My process of working on an image is highly intuitive. For this image, I decided to turn it into a Photo painting.

I am inspired by the Dutch Paintings and how the artists used light and paint strokes during that time.

Each stroke of the paintbrush in this image is filled with memories of a beautiful friendship.

End Note:

Fruit Basket is a tribute and my testament to true friendship. The painting strokes add a surreal element to the image. It reminds us to stop for a while and glimpse into the image a little more to enjoy the colors and beauty of the usual things around us.

I hope you enjoyed the little back story of the image Titled Fruit Basket.