National Avocado Day Through the Camera Lens
Today is National Avocado Day, and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to revisit one of my favorite food photographs. I photographed these three avocados last year, and I still like the way they came together.
It’s easy to take avocados for granted because they seem to be everywhere. They appear on restaurant menus, in grocery stores year-round, and in countless recipes. Yet the Hass avocado, which dominates today’s market, traces its origins to a single tree planted by California mail carrier Rudolph Hass in the 1920s. Nearly every Hass avocado grown today is descended from that one remarkable tree.
For this photograph, I used three avocados to show the progression from whole fruit to the rich green interior and the familiar pit. Against my very black black background, the color, texture, and shape become the entire subject. Sometimes the simplest foods are the most rewarding to photograph because there is nothing to hide behind. Everything depends on the light, the composition, and the details.
That’s one reason I still enjoy looking at this photograph a year later.
You can see more of my photography, projects, motion, and my Blog on my website at https://www.secondfocus.com
Thank You!
Vodka, Fries, and Famine: Thank the Potato
It doesn’t look like much — just a lump pulled from the dirt. Yet this humble potato has fueled empires, filled plates, and even caused catastrophe.
Today is National Potato Day, a nod to one of the world’s most enduring and versatile foods. First cultivated in the Andes thousands of years ago, the potato spread across the globe to become a kitchen staple. From French fries to vodka, it’s fed armies, inspired cuisines, and left its mark on history — the Irish potato famine of the 19th century reshaped migration and culture in ways still felt today.
My photograph marks the day with a simple pile of red and yellow potatoes, unstyled, against a black background. Before they’re mashed, fried, roasted, or turned into chips, they remain what they’ve always been: humble roots pulled from the earth.
More on my Commercial Food Gallery at https://www.secondfocus.com/index/G0000WFAqDJQOgKU Take a look it might make you hungry!
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