As with the Washing Line Series, some of the Kitchen Scales images work better than others. Raw Sausages might be great as an advertisement in a butchers but not so desirable on a kitchen calendar perhaps. One comment I have received is that, while technically good, the Scales series does not demonstrate the same level of quirkiness as seen in my other still life work.
As with all sets of photographs they develop and mature with each addition and adapt to criticism and feedback. Some work, others don’t. I’m hoping this ice-cream image brings back a little of the quirkiness; it’s the latest addition to the series.
It took a few attempts to get it right. Initially, I was after an ice-cream cone that you get from the vans at the seaside. A highly whipped soft ice cream which, obviously, has to have a flake in it. I don’t live near the sea and I haven’t seen a van in town like, ever. So an attempt was made using whipped double cream piped into place as an attempt to replicate the soft waves seen in the originals.
I wasn’t sure it worked. A talented photography friend agreed and put their finger right on it; the cream doesn’t look wet enough. Looking at it today it just resembles shaving foam rather than ice cream! I resorted to ‘normal’ ice cream, the actual stuff, a soft scoop from the local supermarket. ‘Wetness’ was there, important as it needed to look slightly melted, for drips.
The next issue my friend pointed out in the second image was the size/scale of the flake. It’s huge and looks like it is just there propping up the cone. In a real ‘99’ the flake is half-sized. At this point, the cone and its contents had been consumed and the set-up cleaned. Really liked the arrangement of the ice cream and its drip though and lacking time to restyle the whole still life I resorted to a little play in photoshop.
Another flake was chopped in half and photographed on the scales at pretty much the same angle as the original. Photoshop was then used to mask out the old one. I don’t think you can tell.
Some good comments received over this image. It is available as a print on Etsy.
Now I just have to ensure the level of ‘quirkiness’ is maintained.