Organic

Kim Klassen asked us in one of her Be still 52 lessons what we think of when we hear the word “organic” and I thought of opening an English dictionary to find out the exact interpretation as the Czech and English meaning might not have been the same…

When I read the following definition…

organic – (of food, farming methods, etc.) produced or practised without using artificial chemicals
organic cheese/vegetables/wine, etc.
an organic farmer/gardener
organic farming/horticulture

…I knew right away I’d love to shoot cheese. I’ve chosen Gouda with herbs which we buy in a specialised shop from time to time. It’s a bit more expensive but truly delicious. You can eat just a little piece of it and the taste lingers in your mouth for a long time.

Delicious.

The first photo comes from its raw file which I balanced and adjusted in Lightroom. I especially played with light to get the feel I wanted.

I wondered how deep changes the photo would bear for the cheese not to look weird or rotten but I’d say there is enough room for experimenting. It may not be your cup of tea but I find interesting the following two versions:

Kim’s kk_darkmood preset applied and tweaked on the left, kk_still preset applied and tweaked on the right:

Kim also provided a Lightroom print template enabling to combine photos as diptych and I used it for combining those two versions rather than two different photos. I like the contrast between them.

Another great experience and I feel like I should write down everything this lesson has taught me. Reading a list of “warnings” before the shooting itself might be really helpful until that becomes mental routine. It always seems so clear but a month later I make the same mistakes…