Photo by Brittany Peterson
Pierced
A vendor left the knife standing in the squash so they wouldn’t have to hunt for it between slices. The cheap orange handle echoes the flesh it had just opened. The cut face looks almost violent, all exposed seed and pulp, though it’s only a pumpkin waiting to be portioned. I studied abroad in Naples twenty years ago, and my host mother’s pumpkin pasta was my favorite thing she made. She’d have bought hers exactly like this.
Shot April 30, 2026
Canon EOS R7, RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM at 39mm, f/2.8, 1/200s, ISO 250
Photographer: Brittany Peterson
www.sodabreadstudio.com
Post processing notes:
Edited in ON1 Photo RAW MAX 2026. I pulled the highlights and whites down hard to hold detail in the pumpkin flesh and keep the light soft, then lifted the blacks for a matte, faded feel and cooled and desaturated the overall palette, leaving the orange knife handle as the one saturated note so the eye lands there first.Exif information:
| Copyright: | Brittany Peterson |
| Camera: | Canon EOS R7 |
| Aperture: | f/2.8 |
| Focal Length: | 39mm |
| ISO: | 250 |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/200 sec. |
| Created: | April 29, 2026 06:49:55 |