Sweet corn in the studio, St. Louis, Missouri. Photo by Erik Lunsford, copyright St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Does this studio photographic illustration of sweet corn conjure up images of summer barbeques and fresh veggies from the farmer’s market? That’s my intent in a recent studio shoot featuring fresh ears from local vendors for a story of all-things-corn. Using a Canon 1D Mark III — which I may add has beautiful image quality and tonality despite constant arguments against the autofocus system — I lit the corn using a variety of studio configurations with softbox-mounted Photogenics and a variety of gold and silver reflectors. In my opinion, the drops of water give it just the right accent. Had I done things differently, I would have used more lighting modifiers that accentuated the look and feel of late evening (or morning) light. As is, it’s tough enough to get a nice glow without going overboard. I opted to leave strands of silk in the shot, but others disagree.  What would you have done different with the setup?

While you’re at it, here’s a great grill recipe for sweet corn from my dear friend Robert Cohen.

>Grilled corn with lime juice and white pepper.

Purchase sweet corn in the husk. When preparing the corn, pull back the husk but do not separate it from the ear. Rub softened butter around the corn and squeeze lime juice on it (you can also brush lime juice from the bottle). Add a few dashes of white pepper to the corn and close the husk around the ear. Keep the ear closed using string or silicone ties and place it on a medium grill for 10-15 minutes. Cook other meats and treats on the grill at the same time to share the flavor (okay, I added that step). Take the corn off, remove the husk, skewer with corn stickers, and enjoy. Tastes great with a side of sweet potato and fresh porkchops from a local meat market (not that processed junk from the superstores).

Mmm, delicious. I’m hungry now.