Still Life with Cloves and Star Anise | Close-up cell phone photography session.

joslud (74)modCCS Quality Hunterin CCS • 18 hours ago (edited)

Greetings, CCS friends. Today I'm sharing a more artistic piece. I present several compositions and shots of aromatic spices used in savory dishes and in desserts and sweets (especially in Venezuela).

Photo N° 1:


Spices have been used by humanity since almost the beginning of recorded history. They've been used in many ways and for many purposes. From air fresheners to combat unpleasant odors, to insect repellents, to good luck charms, to funeral rites, to food preservation, back when refrigeration didn't exist, and so on.

Photo N° 2:


These two spices I'm featuring today share a woody structure, even though both are the flowers of their respective plants. Cloves owe their name to their resemblance to a metal tool, with their sharp head and point. Anise owes its name to its star-shaped arrangement.

Photo N° 3:


I took the spices out of the kitchen and out to the patio, where the sunlight was shining brightly. This can perhaps be seen in the high exposure levels of the shots, which give them a blurred, almost painting-like tone.

Photo N° 4:


But, in the same way, thanks to the light, I was able to get shots with details of its texture and conformation, almost visually touchable.

Info:

For editing, I used Lightroom, working by lowering the light levels, sharpening the highlights, and working on the saturation, as well as cropping to achieve the frames I wanted.