Egg on a spatula

[Mike Buckley]

This photo is really nostalgic for me because it was nearly five years ago when I began a disciplined approach to tabletop photography with a serious study of the fabulous book, Light: Science & Magic. My first photography task while going through the book was to replicate its exercise involving a shiny metal spatula as the subject. That exercise demonstrates that shiny metal can be easily lit to appear in a range from very bright to very dark tones, depending on what we want to happen. The spatula shown below is brand new and was never used as a cooking utensil, so I decided to photograph it before it becomes filled with scratches.

It would have been relatively easy to photograph almost all of the spatula in bright tones with little tonal variation. However, now that I have been doing this stuff for five years, I decided to challenge myself to make an image that accomplishes three goals: render both the top and reflected surfaces of the spatula in an interesting variety of tones, display all surfaces of the spatula no matter how small separated from their adjacent surfaces and use relatively dramatic lighting.

Notice that as if those goals weren't challenging enough, I also decided to include the curved shape of the shiny metal skillet in the scene. Fortunately and surprisingly, that decision proved not to be problematic because nothing specific to lighting the skillet was required.

Setup
The tabletop is glossy black acrylic. The background not included in the scene but being reflected in the tabletop is translucent glossy white acrylic. (It was not lit from behind as in many of my recently posted images. I could have used any relatively smooth white surface but used the acrylic because it was already in place from my previous tabletop sessions.)

A small continuous-light lamp in the front slightly to the right of center lit the overall scene. It was positioned especially to light the center of the top surface of the spatula brighter than the rest of the spatula, to brightly light the sides of the holes in the spatula and to define the shape of the egg with a soft shadow. Another small continuous-light lamp on the left side lit that end of the underside of the spatula so that area of its reflection displays a small amount of brightness for additional tonal interest. A flash light on the front left side added the bright area to part of the tip of the spatula. A polarizer eliminated a small spot of glare that was on the egg. (There was no risk of eliminating intentional glare on the spatula or skillet because a polarizer has no effect on metal surfaces.)

[ragman]

Mike. You make this shot look easy. It's obvious 5 years of study has paid off. I may have to get involved with this 'tabletop' format. The possibilities are endless. Can you estimate the set-up time for this shot? Very impressive work.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you, Ron!

I really can't estimate the tabletop time that would be useful for anyone mostly because I think I'm a lot slower than most people would be.

It might help you to know that I always build a scene one step at a time. Using this photo as an example, I first imagined the scene with the end of the spatula resting on top of the egg. (I like to photograph food in a context we don't normally experience.) That didn't work because the egg always rolled out from underneath the spatula.

Then I devised the scene as shown in the photo but not including the skillet. After I placed the main light, I tried many other additional details including setting up a continuous-light lamp behind various sections of the translucent background to no avail.

Once I decided not to light the background, I took the time to figure out the exact placement of the lamp on the far left until I got that just right. Last, I positioned the flashlight that lit the tip of the spatula.

Wait! There was more!

It was then that I realized the composition was too sterile. (This is when you get the idea that I'm better at photographing a scene than styling a scene.) So, knowing that the egg would be fried in butter, I tried adding butter to the scene using various positions, all of them again to no available.

Then I tried adding a cast iron skillet, which didn't work well with the spatula's shiny metal.

That was when I got the idea of adding a brand new stainless steel skillet that I have reserved purely for photography. Unfortunately, that was too large.

So, I got a stainless steel skillet that though well worn was the right size. That worked well except that the perspective was all wrong. I ended up propping the skillet up a little bit by placing the handle of a screwdriver underneath it. Doing so created a reflection of a hot spot on the tabletop that I didn't like. That required spending more time positioning the skillet and screwdriver to prevent the hot spot from appearing.

Hopefully you now get the idea of the myriad of details required to attend to the photo. Presumably others far more skilled than me at designing a scene can avoid having to take so much time.

Hope this helps!

You make this shot look easy.

Now you understand why that compliment is the best I could ever get.

[Digital]

Mike, I really like this photograph.


Bruce

P.S. Is there any problem going on with Tinypic?

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Bruce!

The issue with TinyPic seems to be resolved. I have used it to upload close to a dozen photos in the last two days. Hopefully it isn't broken again.

[Digital]

Thanks, Bruce!

The issue with TinyPic seems to be resolved. I have used it to upload close to a dozen photos in the last two days. Hopefully it isn't broken again.

Mike, I uploaded a pic on Tinypic this evening, and it was downsized. That is the reason I queried you.

Bruce

[Wavelength]

I really like the quality of the image; yet i feel that vessel is choking the egg a bit

[ragman]

Mike. You just made this shot 'sound' really difficult 😊 Thanks for the rundown you went through to get it. It sounds challenging. I will be exploring this style in the near future.

[Mike Buckley]

Mike, I uploaded a pic on Tinypic this evening, and it 0was downsized. That is the reason I queried you.

I just now temporarily uploaded the same photo using TinyPic. When previewing the image before posting it, I also had the impression that it had been downsized. When I posted the image I realized that it actually had not been downsized. So, my impression is that the intermediate review before completing the posting of everything was incorrect even though the final view after posting everything was correct. Who knows what's really happening?

[bnnrcn]

Great one Mike ! I love the light and the tones and of course the composition

[Rita]

Another image with excellent lighting done by a master. Your lighting of images is always inspiring.

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to Binnur and Rita!

[bje07]

Mike. You make this shot look easy. It's obvious 5 years of study has paid off. I may have to get involved with this 'tabletop' format. The possibilities are endless. Can you estimate the set-up time for this shot? Very impressive work.

+ 1
And thank you for sharing your set up

[Kaye Leggett]

Thanks for the story - very encouraging for me as I always have to work at scenes and can never see them straight off