Editor’s Key Takeaways: Capturing the Vibrance: Creative Fruit Photography Ideas
In this blog post, Paul discusses the possibilities offered by fruit as a photography subject and provides 10 ideas for such photos. With hundreds of varieties of fruits, each with its own unique shape, color, texture, and size, artists can practice creative photography in new ways.
- Single-Color Fruit: Instead of mixing contrasting colors, the writer suggests using a single color for a bold look. This can be accomplished by choosing a single fruit with a powerful main color and arranging them tightly or overlapping for the shoot. The saturation or hue can be boosted during post-processing for an intensified color effect.
- Fruit In Its Natural State: Another suggested idea is to photograph fruit in its natural, unpicked state. This includes orchards full of fruit trees or local fruit plants. This provides views into the natural environment of the fruit, offering a unique perspective.
By considering different orientations, themes, and settings, fruit can become an interesting and variable subject for creative photography.
Introduction
Fruit is one of the most versatile photography subjects available. It is also highly accessible, as most of us have a fruit bowl or a few fruit items in our fridge.
There are hundreds of varieties of fruit, all of which have different shapes, colors, textures, and sizes, from small red cherries to large, spiky pineapples. If you want to try some creative photography and learn new techniques, read on for 10 fun fruit photography ideas to try!
1. Single-Color Fruit
While photography often encourages contrast and different colors, it can also be fun to use a single color to create a bold statement. Fruit is perfect for this type of photo.
The photo below uses slices of oranges in an overlapping arrangement. This is a bold photo that really emphasizes the different shades of orange and yellow, and it’s complemented by the texture of the segments plus the repeating pattern of the overlapping circles.
To create a photo like this, simply choose a single fruit that has a strong main color. Examples include green apples, oranges, cherries, strawberries, and blueberries. Arrange them in a tight or overlapping formation, then shoot using a small aperture so that all of the fruit is in focus. To intensify the color, consider boosting the saturation or hue during post-processing.
2. Fruit in Its Natural State
When taking fruit photos, we often set the fruit on a plate or on a counter, removed from the natural environment. This creates some beautiful, unusual, and fun photos – but what about fruit still hanging from the tree? What about a beautiful orchard bursting with apple and orange trees? One of the best fruit photography ideas is to take photos of fruit in its natural, un-picked state.
If possible, consider taking a trip to a local orchard. Alternatively, if you’re lucky enough to have fruit trees or bushes in your garden, photograph them! While walking outdoors, you can often find berry bushes, too. The natural setting will allow you to take a completely different range of fruit photos – photos that show where the fruit comes from before being picked and processed!
3. Single Fruit Portraits
While many fruit photos require a complex setup, you can also take simple fruit portraits. There is something satisfying about photographing a single piece of fruit in different surroundings.
For example, in the below photo, we see an apple on a table. It’s nothing too complicated – just a simple portrait of an apple! However, the simplicity and surroundings make for a great photo.
This type of photo also allows you to explore some basic photography techniques. For example, you can experiment with different aperture settings so that only the fruit subject is in focus. If you took the above photo with an aperture of f/11, for example, both the apple and the background would be relatively sharp. However, a wider aperture, such as f/4.5 or so, ensured that only the apple is in focus.
4. Fruit Splash!
If you want to have a few hours of fun and chaos with fruit, why not try fruit splash photography? This is one of the most exciting fruit photography ideas (but be prepared to get wet!).
The concept is simple: you drop pieces of fruit into a container of water and try to capture the resulting splash. If you can pull this shot off, the results are amazing:
In the photo above, the strawberry has been captured perfectly as it touches the water, and you can even see the droplets of water cascading from the impact area.
This is a more advanced photography technique, and it does require some equipment and setup. You’ll need a large container of water, as well as some type of dark backdrop to place behind the container.
A tripod and remote shutter are also vital. A tripod is needed to hold your camera, as you will be dropping the fruit from beside the container. And a remote shutter is required so you don’t have to physically press the camera’s shutter release button.
Note that you’ll need to use a fast shutter speed and your camera’s burst mode to capture the splash in perfect focus.
5. Cooking/Baking Shots
Putting abstract fruit photos aside for one moment, why not photograph fruit that you are using for cooking or baking? After all, fruit is often the main component of meals and desserts. The below photo shows the beginnings of a potential salad or fruit salad, and we like how the different fruits are arranged in pots around the central salad bowl:
You can be highly creative with this type of photo. For example, you could take action photos of the chopping, baking, and cooking process. Alternatively, you could create set-piece photos like the one above.
The possibilities are endless, and you can also experiment with different angles – lower angles, closer to your kitchen counter, for example. This type of cooking photo is made more interesting by adding a variety of different fruits for more colors and patterns.
6. Fruit Collages
Fruit is wonderfully versatile because it can be chopped and cut. Also, different fruits have many components. For example, an apple has skin, flesh, the core, and the seeds. You can use all this variety to create interesting collages.
We can see this in the below photo. Notice the neat arrangement of whole fruits, slices, leaves, and seeds. The effect is fantastic and visually appealing. There is also a great contrast of color between the different types of fruit.
Creating a fruit collage is simple, and you can get incredibly creative. First, find a relatively neutral color backdrop. In the above photo, a simple gray work surface is used, so as to avoid drawing attention away from the fruit. Next, grab a variety of fruits, chop some of them up, and start making a colorful arrangement!
Try to mix the fruits and place contrasting colors next to one other. There really is no set of rules, here; just use your imagination and see what you can make.
7. Fruit Arrangement/Basket Photos
Fruit arrangements and fruit baskets look great when photographed, thanks to the incredible variety of fruit and its intense colors. They’re accessible, too; if you have fruit in your home, you can easily make a fruit arrangement or fruit basket to shoot!
Simply find a container: a fruit bowl or a wicker basket, for example. Next, load it with a different variety of fruits. The key is to make the arrangement random and spread the colors evenly.
As you can see in the below photo, a fruit basket shot can be highly effective. This photo has grapes, oranges, strawberries, pears, and apples. The colors are fantastic, but there is also the contrasting pattern and colors of the basket in the foreground.
When creating this type of photo, you can also experiment with different apertures. For example, you can use a larger aperture to focus on a section of the arrangement. Alternatively, you can use a small aperture so that the entire arrangement is in focus.
8. Fruit Macro
One of the best fruit photography ideas has to be fruit macro photography! Macro photography in general is awesome, but you can create some weird and wonderful macro shots using fruit. Because fruit has so many different components, you can easily create varied macro shots using one item.
For example, consider a kiwi. On the outside, there is a strange brown furry skin, and this could be your first macro shot. Kiwis also have the strange stem section that connects them to the tree, and this could be a second macro shot. Chop the kiwi in half, and you have an amazing green-and-white patterned interior that makes for a third interesting image.
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The photo below shows the inside of a fruit and a close-up of the seeds. The effect is fantastic and offers a completely new perspective.
For indoor macro photography using fruit, a tripod will help with stability, and a specialist macro lens could be a great idea. You should use a large aperture such as f/2.8 if you want to highlight a specific part of the fruit.
9. Fruit Stalls
What could be more interesting than a vibrant fruit stall at a local market? If you are traveling or exploring a local town, marketplaces are a great place to go; they’re packed full of interesting stalls and the hustle and bustle of human activity.
Fruit stalls in particular are exciting, bursting with color, and often have some excellent subjects to photograph. The photo below shows a fruit stall in a local market. The photo is visually appealing and the viewer’s eye is drawn to many different items. The different colors of the bananas, apples, melons, and grapes add contrast, while the bunches of fruit make for interesting patterns.
If you find a fruit stall, it is important to always ask the owner’s permission before shooting, however. Not everyone is comfortable with their business being photographed! By talking to the owner, the entire experience is also generally more enjoyable and you can relax more. They may even join in and allow you to take some cool portrait shots!
10. Fruit and Wildlife
Fruit plays a vital role in nature. It is a plentiful food source for various wildlife, including birds. Why not capture these interactions and practice two types of photography at once? Perhaps you have a bird feeder in your garden. Consider placing some fruit on it in small segments for the birds to enjoy.
A simple subject like this can provide some stunning photos. For example, in the above shot, we can see a bird near some small orange segments. The orange fruit provides excellent contrast to the beautiful greens of the bird.
For this type of photography, a telephoto lens is a great addition to your kit. Ideally, you want a lens with super-telephoto capabilities – i.e., a focal length of 300mm or greater. This will allow you to focus on the wildlife and fruit from a safe distance without causing any disturbances.
10 Fruit Photography Ideas: Conclusion
The colors, shapes, textures, and variety of fruit offer endless photographic opportunities, as you can see from these fruit photography ideas! You can capture all sorts of shots, from simple fruit portraits to elaborate water splash images.
We hope this article has given you inspiration and some fun ideas to try. If you’re eager to get started, why not raid your refrigerator today and see if you can recreate some of these images?