82. Egg - January 11-17, 2015
Kevin-
They say (or I say) that you can’t learn to take a good photograph without breaking a few eggs. And in fact I broke a number of eggs to capture this WPOTM image. I shot this the first time on Thursday, with a white background behind the sheet of glass that was my surface. It was okay in a nice white-on-white sort of way, but I ultimately decided to shoot more images today with a black seamless background. The created nice contrast and also made the reflection of the egg on the glass visible.
I was using the Triggertrap application in Sound Sensor mode, figuring the sound of the egg hitting the glass would trigger the flash. It was a nice idea, until a landscape crew began blowing leaves and debris on the street in front of the garage where I was shooting. The noise would have been constantly triggering the flash. So I switched Triggertrap to Vibration Sensor mode, simply placing my iPhone on the sheet of glass where the eggs were dropping.. After the photo last week I learned that Triggertrap isn’t really fast enough for a split second thing like this if it’s connected to the camera. So I hooked it directly to the flash instead and turned off the lights in the garage. The flash was then set to it’s minimum 1/128th power. At that lowest power setting the flash duration is just 1/38,500th of a second, which effectively becomes the shutter speed.
Nikon D3s, tripod mounted. One SB-910 flash unit hooked up to Triggertrap and bounced off the ceiling. Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens. The shutter was set to B (bulb) mode and was actually open for 1.7 seconds. The aperture was f/4. The ISO was 4000.
Not a bad mid-break capture, in my opinion.
They say (or I say) that you can’t learn to take a good photograph without breaking a few eggs. And in fact I broke a number of eggs to capture this WPOTM image. I shot this the first time on Thursday, with a white background behind the sheet of glass that was my surface. It was okay in a nice white-on-white sort of way, but I ultimately decided to shoot more images today with a black seamless background. The created nice contrast and also made the reflection of the egg on the glass visible.
I was using the Triggertrap application in Sound Sensor mode, figuring the sound of the egg hitting the glass would trigger the flash. It was a nice idea, until a landscape crew began blowing leaves and debris on the street in front of the garage where I was shooting. The noise would have been constantly triggering the flash. So I switched Triggertrap to Vibration Sensor mode, simply placing my iPhone on the sheet of glass where the eggs were dropping.. After the photo last week I learned that Triggertrap isn’t really fast enough for a split second thing like this if it’s connected to the camera. So I hooked it directly to the flash instead and turned off the lights in the garage. The flash was then set to it’s minimum 1/128th power. At that lowest power setting the flash duration is just 1/38,500th of a second, which effectively becomes the shutter speed.
Nikon D3s, tripod mounted. One SB-910 flash unit hooked up to Triggertrap and bounced off the ceiling. Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens. The shutter was set to B (bulb) mode and was actually open for 1.7 seconds. The aperture was f/4. The ISO was 4000.
Not a bad mid-break capture, in my opinion.
Byron-
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I based my submission on that ponderable. I could also view this weeks theme as- given an egg, a 5X7" piece of paper and a placemat from the Dollar Store, make a photo. I used a similar technique as when I did the colorful M&M photo. Light was coming in through the window so I laid the placemat on the floor. I rolled up the piece of paper to make a tube of about 3/4" diameter. I set the tube on the placemat and the egg on top of the tube. I reversed the center column of my tripod so I could shoot straight down. I added a second light. I used a Nikon SB-700 with the ByroSnut attached to the front. I handheld the flash and moved it to various positions around the egg until I found an acceptable position.
Note- I realize the background image is a rooster. But without a rooster struttin' his stuff in the henhouse there would be no eggs.
ISO 100, Good old Nikon 50mm lens set to f2.8, 1/15 sec, White balance on auto.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I based my submission on that ponderable. I could also view this weeks theme as- given an egg, a 5X7" piece of paper and a placemat from the Dollar Store, make a photo. I used a similar technique as when I did the colorful M&M photo. Light was coming in through the window so I laid the placemat on the floor. I rolled up the piece of paper to make a tube of about 3/4" diameter. I set the tube on the placemat and the egg on top of the tube. I reversed the center column of my tripod so I could shoot straight down. I added a second light. I used a Nikon SB-700 with the ByroSnut attached to the front. I handheld the flash and moved it to various positions around the egg until I found an acceptable position.
Note- I realize the background image is a rooster. But without a rooster struttin' his stuff in the henhouse there would be no eggs.
ISO 100, Good old Nikon 50mm lens set to f2.8, 1/15 sec, White balance on auto.
Deron-
I call this 'Ambush on the Bus'.
Here we see Chewbacca, minding his own business, sitting in the front seat of the bus to Shadow Town. Little does he know, an evil Storm Trooper has been stalking him all day, and is sitting just four rows behind our furry friend. When the moment is right for the Storm Trooper, it will be omelets for everybody!
Apparently, it was too dark again, so I've been manipulating the ISO, setting it to 1600 for this shot and using just refrigerator light... I think.
I call this 'Ambush on the Bus'.
Here we see Chewbacca, minding his own business, sitting in the front seat of the bus to Shadow Town. Little does he know, an evil Storm Trooper has been stalking him all day, and is sitting just four rows behind our furry friend. When the moment is right for the Storm Trooper, it will be omelets for everybody!
Apparently, it was too dark again, so I've been manipulating the ISO, setting it to 1600 for this shot and using just refrigerator light... I think.
Paul-
Oddly, this was a moderately difficult theme for me. I thought of a few whimsical shots but they didn’t seem very interesting. They included a broken egg shell with little nuts and screws pouring out. Also, something that was just nuts: an egg screwed into some kind of weird gauge I got out of a junk bin at an out-of-the-way bicycle shop.
In the end. I opted for something like a still life. (Can you do this with an egg?) I mean, the egg is just a testament to natural engineering, functionality, and utility. It does exactly what it is purposed for—no more, no less. We eat eggs with delight, throw eggs with derision, and for over 1,500 years have added eggs to pigment to make tempera. We’ve discovered humility with egg on our face, fought the good fight by egging each other on, sent a magical goose into extinction because of them, and (in a wonderful reversal of things) finally found it was hip to be an egghead. Finally—and I am not making this up—some alchemists used egg-shaped crucibles which they thought would impart mystical purification to the elements used in their experiments. It was called the ovum philosophicum, the philosophical egg. So here’s to our theme of the week. In place of a pedestal, I have set it atop a leaded-glass candlestick.
I thought setting this up and taking the shot would be troublesome and time consuming. But it all went…well, over easy.
Our story so far…
Which came first, he mused…man’s perspective of the world as his lens, or man’s memories as his camera? Olympus E-500 with a 14-45mm (focused at 33mm); ISO 100; 1/25 sec. at f4.8; aperture mode, and shot at -3/10 EV.
Oddly, this was a moderately difficult theme for me. I thought of a few whimsical shots but they didn’t seem very interesting. They included a broken egg shell with little nuts and screws pouring out. Also, something that was just nuts: an egg screwed into some kind of weird gauge I got out of a junk bin at an out-of-the-way bicycle shop.
In the end. I opted for something like a still life. (Can you do this with an egg?) I mean, the egg is just a testament to natural engineering, functionality, and utility. It does exactly what it is purposed for—no more, no less. We eat eggs with delight, throw eggs with derision, and for over 1,500 years have added eggs to pigment to make tempera. We’ve discovered humility with egg on our face, fought the good fight by egging each other on, sent a magical goose into extinction because of them, and (in a wonderful reversal of things) finally found it was hip to be an egghead. Finally—and I am not making this up—some alchemists used egg-shaped crucibles which they thought would impart mystical purification to the elements used in their experiments. It was called the ovum philosophicum, the philosophical egg. So here’s to our theme of the week. In place of a pedestal, I have set it atop a leaded-glass candlestick.
I thought setting this up and taking the shot would be troublesome and time consuming. But it all went…well, over easy.
Our story so far…
Which came first, he mused…man’s perspective of the world as his lens, or man’s memories as his camera? Olympus E-500 with a 14-45mm (focused at 33mm); ISO 100; 1/25 sec. at f4.8; aperture mode, and shot at -3/10 EV.
Jerry-
I probably just should have taken the wife out for breakfast and photographed our egg-centered meals but instead I came up with this. The sticker was googled and then printed on some adhesive label paper, trimmed and attached to the egg. Also attached is a collage of some of my egg ideas.
D750, 105mm, f16 @ 1/200, iso 12,800 (Yup!). Handheld with light coming in the kitchen window facing North.
I probably just should have taken the wife out for breakfast and photographed our egg-centered meals but instead I came up with this. The sticker was googled and then printed on some adhesive label paper, trimmed and attached to the egg. Also attached is a collage of some of my egg ideas.
D750, 105mm, f16 @ 1/200, iso 12,800 (Yup!). Handheld with light coming in the kitchen window facing North.