To Market, To Market

Markets hold the foods we love. We love to shop in food markets. We love to look at the amazing way the workers stack broccoli, lettuce and bag the beans. It's true, you know you love it. I did knock down an apple display once and I felt like I had destroyed one man's castle. It was like kicking down one of those amazing pieces at a sand-castle building contest. I just cannot go to the open market without my camera. I shoot more pictures than I buy food. I get the 'odd looks';

"why is that man zooming in on an eggplant? Why is he shifting the greens away from the red peppers? Why is he hiding the labels on the watermelons?"

You don't want labels showing up on your veggies/fruits...it's like an endorsement. And who knew carrots could be purple, garlic could look so beautiful like a wreath, and some watermelons are the size of grapefruits. Like all outings , photo outings, you learn a lot. With dogs, I'm welcomed and people love to see your finished photo product. With fruits and vegetables, you are getting something for free and the owners are not impressed. So, you have to be fast, smile a lot and say things like, "Nice Melons!" Well, maybe , "Nice Papayas!" or whatever works...hmmm. After taking a picture I get a bit disturbed when an old European woman gropes through a tightly packed, Gold Medal display of zucchinis. She unscrambles the work of one in 2 minutes. Women know what they want. If that ONE ZUCCHINI is at the bottom, the Polish woman with tight lips will get to it and other zucchinis will suffer along the way. And, there are the 'thieves'...yes, the passer-bys who pick up a Gala apple, toss it in the air, take a bite and move on. If I was not a photographer, I'd be on the greens and grits squad. Food presentation is EVERYTHING at a market. You want to lure in the customers, the tourists, the regulars to YOUR artistic display. One cucumber out of place can shoot a show down. A tomato lying on the ground with seeds oozing out the side could be the loss of 5 customers to the tomatoes across the walk. Selling fruits and vegetables is hard work but taking pictures of them is just as hard. I have my props. I have the recycled bag and always buy a bit of this and that but my camera is snuggled behind the bag and ready to click at any time. I used to walk quickly through the market, load up and leave but now... I wander in food wonderland and savour the presentations. Decorated with crushed ice, colourful signage and only 'the best' of each food is displayed. Dare there be one bruise on an apple...if so, it is crushed, bagged from the public and tossed into the food smithrite. It's the wealthy shopper's paradise. It's the Disneyland of foods. It's the photographer's dream and it was always there!