Happy New Year from the piñon and juniper mesa! 2017 may well be a seminal year in the United States and the world, so hold on to your hats.  It will definitely be interesting.

Thanks to "Big Al" in the Palm Desert area of southern California and his daughter, Cristina, we were the recipients of a major crop of citrus fruit.  You don't get much fresher than the grapefruit and lemons grown right in the backyard under the baking sun of the Mojave Desert.  With six inches of snow still clinging to the earth in our neck of the woods, the treat of receiving newly picked fresh fruit cannot be overstated.  I am always astounded that nature produces edibles of this size, and naturally, before eating them, I have to photograph the beauties for posterity.

Botanical drawings, sketches, etchings, and paintings have always fascinated me.  The use by artists of either black or light colored backgrounds accentuates the subject.  I used black for the grapefruit to emphasize both the inside juice and exterior flesh. 

Variations on a theme of grapefruit

grapefruit cross-section 3

grapefruit cross-section 1  

grapefruit cross-section 2

While looking at the lemons, I felt that a light background, or a combination of light and black would make them pop.

Lemonade 

lemon slices

May 2017 be full of juice, and fresh creativity for you!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@