Breaking an egg

[Mike Buckley]

I don't think anyone has any doubt about what I ate for lunch after making this photo. I actually surprised myself, as I didn't think I am coordinated enough to be able to open an egg using one hand while pressing the camera's shutter button with the other hand.

I would like to point out that the color of a surface is completely dependent on how it is lit. Notice that though the background is white foam core, its tones in the image range from light grey to charcoal. I could have achieved a very similar look by lighting black foam core essentially the same way.

Setup
The tabletop is granite kitchen counter top. The background is white foam core lit from below by a small continuous-light lamp. A medium continuous-light lamp shining on a white reflector on the front left casts a reflection on the front left and rear right of the bowl. A medium continuous-light lamp fitted with a diffusion sock and a white plastic trash bag to reduce the brightness is on the right. It lights the hand and egg and adds a reflection to the right front and left rear of the bowl.

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[IzzieK]

Nice....Good exposure...

[Sergio M.]

Meticulous attention to detail makes for a wonderfully lit photo and also a delicious lunch I would imagine.
I'm always amazed by your exactness in setting up your shots and their explanation.

Sergio

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

[bnnrcn]

Don't do this to me Mike !It is 08.25 am here in Turkey , I have just got up and haven't had breakfast yet It looks so nice and appetizing that I will log off and cook one for myself before I die of hunger

[george013]

A wonderful image. Your coordination is wonderful to take this at 1/30s.
I usually use this bowl for boiled eggs.
How many eggs did you eat?

George

[Donald]

Wonderful.

Why?

It's a good image, but maybe not the best that's ever been made in the history of photography. No, it's wonderful because it's about experimentation: It's pushing at the edges: It's about trying things out: It's about being imaginative.

Like I say - wonderful!

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, everyone!

I usually use this bowl for boiled eggs. How many eggs did you eat?

It's a mixing bowl, one of several sizes I regularly drop eggs into depending on the quantity of ingredients I'm mixing with the eggs.

I think I used five eggs, one to practice with and about four to photograph. When I didn't break the yolk, I returned it to the shell and rephotographed it. I used about half of the eggs immediately after to make an omelet that included cheese, onions and red bell pepper. I and/or my wife will eat the other eggs in the next couple of days, but perhaps not before I add to the collection making another photo.

it's wonderful because it's about experimentation: It's pushing at the edges: It's about trying things out: It's about being imaginative.

Thank you, Donald. I'm less proud of the image itself than everything you mentioned. I'm most proud that the image is the best I can do given the limitations of my design capabilities, the small size of my makeshift studio, that I didn't want to go through 1000 eggs (because, frankly, the image could never be that important), that I had no assistant to either be the model or to release the shutter, and that I had to press the shutter release button because neither my tethering software nor my remote release hardware will release the shutter in continuous mode. That last point had profound ramifications because it meant having to design a setup that made an attractive image but also allowed me to be in the photo while pressing the shutter release button.

I made the image knowing in advance that it would be less strong on its own because of those limitations than as part of a set I'm planning. This image is part of that set, which will include other images yet to be made.

[Mutley]

Eggstremely well captured.
I'll get my coat.

[Wavelength]

A really well planned and worked out image!!!!

[Rita]

I like the idea and I am impressed that you got the timing. Awhile ago I tried some images with eggs and all I ended up with was a bunch of baking to use up the eggs

[Mike Buckley]

Continued thanks, everyone!

An embarrassing story: I learned today while making more photos that I had left my polarizer on my lens while making the photo in this thread and the 80 or so other action shots that didn't make the cut. I rarely use a polarizer for studio photography and had forgotten that I had used it a few weeks ago to make a studio shot. That means I had also left it on the camera to photograph two other studio scenes. Those didn't involve action, so the slower shutter speed didn't matter. If I had not had the polarizer on, I could have gained at least 1 1/2 stops that could have been used to achieve a faster shutter and/or lower ISO. Sheesh!

[Kaye Leggett]

Continued thanks, everyone!

An embarrassing story: I learned today while making more photos that I had left my polarizer on my lens while making the photo in this thread and the 80 or so other action shots that didn't make the cut. I rarely use a polarizer for studio photography and had forgotten that I had used it a few weeks ago to make a studio shot. That means I had also left it on the camera to photograph two other studio scenes. Those didn't involve action, so the slower shutter speed didn't matter. If I had not had the polarizer on, I could have gained at least 1 1/2 stops that could have been used to achieve a faster shutter and/or lower ISO. Sheesh!

We've all done it - and worse !!!