Photo of the Week: Oct. 5, 2011

HOW I GOT THE SHOT: I stepped out of my local mini-market last week and stood under Efrat's big sky gazing momentarily at the sunset. A friend spotted me and asked, "Don't you wish you had your camera?" In truth, I didn't. Though it has taken some hard work on my part, I'd rather enjoy the moment in real time than delay gratification for the virtual pleasure delivered by a photograph. That is in no way to diminish the value of photography, but it is also important to have that choice.

This week's photo was taken in a roadside orchard not far from the town of Kiryat Malachi. Anyone can stop and hop the guardrail into the field, yet few people make that effort, preferring instead to whiz by unaware at 100 km per hour. In our urban-centered lives, nature rarely comes to us. Walking through this pomegranate grove, I marveled at the trees' ability to hold the heavy fruit without the branches breaking. I wanted a shot that showed the abundance of fruit just before the harvest and found this angle, with a bountiful tree framed nicely by the mature fruits suspended in the foreground.

Technical Data: Nikon D700, 28-105 zoom at 32mm, f5.6 @ 1/1000th sec., ISO 200.