photographing eggs

[peachick]

I have wanted to discuss this for a while.... here I go.

I raise Wheaten Ameracaunas and have a lovely blue egg that people seem to really want. The day I found my first 3 eggs in the nest last year I took this photo.

Since then a lot of people have asked me "are your eggs REALLY that blue?". Yes, they are... in that photo, on that day, indoors, infront of that glass door, from those hens, at that time of day, and with that amount of sunshine outside. There are SO MANY factors that influence colors in a photo.

This years pullets are starting to lay now and I'm just as pleased with the egg color. I tried to re-create that original photo. I don't think I succeeded.... the new photo just dosent do the eggs any justice. I did it in the exact same location, in front of the same glass door, on a very sunny day, at approximately 10am.

Here is the same photo useing a flash on the camera.... see how the flash washes out the color of the egg.

Perhaps if I re-take the photo on a cloudy day the photo will be closer to the origional... or maybe I'll wait until 3pm and take it again.

Here are a few other photos I experimented with.

same 3 eggs... same day .... outside that same glass door... in the shade ....on a sunny day... no flash

with a flash

same 3 eggs... same day.... in the living room.... 20 feet from a window... on a dark surface.. no flash

with a flash

 

[faykokoWV]

they look beautiful blue and large in every single picture!!!

 

[verlaj]

In the first photo, the paper towel looks blue. In the next 2, the paper towel still looks blue, but not as much as in the first one. (Compare the paper towel in the photo to the white field of the BYC page surrounding the post.) Since I would think the paper towels are really white, I also would wonder how blue the eggs really are. In the last 4 photos, because there is no white for reference, it is difficult to judge how much blue is contributed by the camera settings and lighting. Clearly, the eggs are blue, but I would think it would be best to photograph them with a white egg in there for comparison and with settings and lighting that reproduce the white egg as white in order to produce a photograph that shows "how blue" your eggs really are. And then there is the issue of the viewer's computer screen settings....and the angle of the screen relative to the viewer's eye.

And of course, the color of the eggs in real life will be perceived differently depending on the lighting. Try viewing in bright sunlight vs in filtered shade or on an overcast day. Or indoors, natural light vs fluorescent vs incandescent . This even without the complication of photographing.

All the more reason to have a "reference" egg in the photo.

No question, though, they are beautiful eggs!

 

[mikewins44]

The first pic of the eggs shows deep rich color, true to the actual blue. You can probably recreate this color (if the eggs are actually that color again) by matching your light source and camera light settings.

If you are using a digital camera it will probably have a light-type setting; sunlight, shade, flash, flourescent, etc.

If you select the setting that matches the primary source lighting your subjects, you will most closely replicate the actual color and tone.

also, remember that more light (more exposure) will serve to lighten the subject and less light (less exposure) will tend to darken the subject. Correct/acurate exposure and light setting will render actual/natural subject color.

Mikewins44

 

[peachick]

Well I didn't get into the technical stuff because that would take a lot to cover... I only mentioned some of the environmental factors.
And, I don't know enough about cameras to comment. I have a medium priced digital and I only use the preset settings, like action, landscape, and portrait LOL If I used my sons cheap digital or my old 35mm (that I never change the settings on) I'm sure the photos would look different as well. Not to mention viewing the photos on different computer moniters and laptops.

To recreate that first photo I think I need a cloudy day and or a late afternoon shot. Turning on or off the light above the table would effect the color as well..... so many factors influence the colors in photos.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I don't care how you do it, those are some BLUE eggs!

 

[becky3086]

I agree they are very nice. I appreciate the post though, because I tried to get pictures of my EE eggs and never could get one that even came close to the color they really are.

 

[EweSheep]

Wow those ARE blue eggs! You say they are EEs????!!!!!!!!! Dang!

 

[faykokoWV]

I do like to see a reference to size in a picture as well as color. Sometimes adding a ruler or a coin can help people judge how big the eggs are as well. They look like good size eggs in your hand!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
The OP says they have wheaton ameraucanas