Nut Crackers

Nut Crackers first came from the Erzgebirge region of Germany. Their popularity surged in the United States when soldiers brought them home at the end of WWII. There is a legend in Germany how the nut cracker came to be. A wealthy farmer offered a reward to anyone that could crack the walnuts on his tree. A carpenter told him cut the nuts in half with a saw. A soldier told him to shoot the nut open. It was a local puppet maker who came up with a beautiful solution. A puppet made of wood and painted in bright colors. It had strong jaws that could be used to crack the walnuts. The farmer rewarded the puppeteer for his ingenuity by giving him his own workshop. In Germany, the nut crackers are said to bring good luck and protect the house. Supposedly they keep evil at bay and protect the people of the home. Merry Christmas, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 85mm F1.8 lens. Camera settings used Manual Mode,ISO 100,F 2.8 at 1/160th of a second. Two Alien Bees studio lights with soft boxes were used to light the nutcracker. A black background with red Christmas lights.