Beans in Water

(See also below the first two photos for an update to the original post.)

We eat dry beans that we soak and cook ourselves; they're not from cans. So it is not an uncommon occurrence for beans to be soaking overnight in a pot on the stove. The other day I looked in the pot and decided the water was particularly still and that, despite theoretically being distorted in appearance by being below the surface, the beans were still fairly clear to the eye. Naturally, I had to take a photo or two.

We cook various white beans, black beans, and pinto beans. These first two photos below are of organic pinto beans purchased at the local farmers market.

 

These were taken hand-held with my macro lens using natural light at 1/20 sec. at f2.8.

The photos got me wondering if, like snowflakes, no two beans are exactly alike, certainly not ones with patterns and wrinkles on them like these.

Good thing I didn't accidentally drop the camera into the pot!

Beans in Water #1

Beans in Water #2

The very next day, we were soaking black beans. They were too dark to photograph while in the water. Sitting just out of the water, after soaking, they looked like the two photos below. Note that black beans turn purple after soaking!

Black Beans #1

Black Beans #2

All photos © 2022, all rights reserved.  Contact phil@philslens.com for licensing or to order prints.

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