Apples

Apples

by Garik

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I basically want to recreate this stock photo (might be a 3D rendering).

My current plan of action is to create fake acrylic ice cubes as found in this tutorial and put a piece of lemon in the molten beads right after I take it out of the oven. Would that work?

Any tips on lightning setup are also welcome.

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2  
What's wrong with freezing a lemon into a icecube and then taking a picture of it? – Olin Lathrop May 11 '12 at 23:20
I'm with Olin here...I'd follow the first part of that tutorial, and at the end, just fill it with water and a slice of lemon and drop it in the freezer. – jrista♦ May 12 '12 at 0:22
4  
@OlinLathrop - it is extremely hard to get a nice, clear crystalline ice. Usually, the ice cubes come out turbid (cloudy). – ysap May 12 '12 at 0:25
I'd also think about the colour of the lemon after 190 °C. The lemon would certainly preserve it's colour if frozen. I was also going to suggest filtered and boiled water, looks like it was already suggested so I'm commenting rather than answering. – BBking Nov 23 '12 at 0:39

2 Answers

up vote 11 down vote

For clear ice cubes:

Use filtered water, not straight from the tap. Boil it and let it cool down. Boil it a second time and let it cool down. (this double boil gets rid of dissolved air in the water, which is a big source of haze) You may need to slow down the freezing by putting your ice mold inside a bigger tray filled with water - fast freezing from the outside in also contributes to haze. Now finish with your ice cube mold and drop the lemon in as planned.

Lighting you're on your own =) But I think a back light to shine through the lemon would make it pop even better than the stock photo you linked, and maybe a side light to catch the peel and give it texture.

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Looks to me like it's lit, fairly brightly, from above at the back left. You don't need the light to be super bright if you have a tripod, because you can of course use a longer exposure.

Of course, use a light tent.

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