Southern Dogwood Seedpod - Neighborhood

Was walking in the neighborhood and captured the left image close up of the Southern Dogwood.  Not all the fruit has this arrangement of berries.  This tree blooms with the white blossoms and is in another neighbor's yard.  The birds love this fruit. Camera+ HDR  Slight editing in PSE 11 which included some cloning of disfigured leaves. Did not use rule of 3rds or center because I was trying to get this particular seed pod and avoid others in the same area.

The image on the right is for reference.  It was taken with my Verizon cell phone before I had the iPhone in another neighbor's yard in spring 2013.  

Paw Paw - Forsythe Ag Center, W-S, NC

Saturday I went to the Forsythe Ag. Center to a Paw Paw Festival.         I learned a lot about them but I did not buy a plant. They had samples of ice cream, salsa, and a bread for tasting ...handouts. The taste is between a mango & a peach. Will not  keep long-- not in groc. stores.. Camera+ app. Edit: PSE 11 & Touch Retouch.  

Osage Orange Fruit - Green Monochrome

This should have been posted Wed. 8/19/2015.   I was walking in the neighborhood last week and saw that the Osage orange (Machura pomifera) tree fruit was starting to appear.  Because it is not ripe yet this made a monochrome image.  I was trying to do a close up in Camera+ but it almost looks like this fruit is floating if it were not attached with a stem.  When it is ripe it will be yellow and can have more texture.  Some people make bows with the trunks which can be very time consuming.  he neighbor said the first year it bloomed it was orange.  This tree has very sharp thorns.  In the spring it has pretty white flowers.  Post processing in PSE 11:  cropped, increased highlights, sharpened to show more texture.
For more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera

Raspberry Fruit CU - in Weed Area Downtown GSO

Forgot to complete draft and post this image for 8/7/2015
It is raspberry season in NC.  I found this black raspberry shrub in a weed patch near a park in downtown GSO NC.  Only one berry is starting to ripen.  Not sure why the leaves have tints of blue as it was mid-day and sun was shining brightly.  Camera +.   Minimal post editing with PSE 11

Fresh from Rudd Farm NC Strawberries 05-04-2015

Practicing food photography again.  Have a long way to go with lighting etc. I bought strawberries at Rudd Farm this a.m.   Made a strawberry glaze sauce which is an adaptation of the Frish's Strawberry Pie recipe with more liquid to make thinner sauce.  I used overhead lighting from the Halogen lights on my stove and used a beige drop cloth for the background.  With the overhead lighting there was glare on the plate with the waffles and I tried to clone to reduce this effect.  I also, used the healing brush to get rid of a wrinkle in the upper left corner of the fabric for the carton of strawberries.  The waffee plate has like a vignette due to the overhead lighting.amd more dense on the R side.  The strawberries in the quart container have some glare from the glaze as well as lighting highlights.  I may try to take the strawberies in the carton another time with natural outdoor lighting. Did not have a plain neutral color plate for the strawberries.  May have to go shopping at garage sales or thrift stores for some cheap plates and bowls if I am going to do food images.

Pavolova - New Zealand Dessert H.S.A. Culinary

Pavolova is a famous dessert in New Zealand. Our H.S.A. member, Caryl Talcott, made this for our culinary group 2 weeks ago. She was originally from New Zealand. Had to use overhead ceiling lighting and used HDR mode. Minimal editing, i.e. cropping, sharpening. It was delicious. It is difficult to see the meringue crust. I have made a fruit pizza which can be a cookie crust or thin cake crust. I like to decorate with edible flowers --violas are great this time of year. Kiwi is a major fruit in NZ as are bananas. Bon Appe'tit!!