Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by damelzakelly:
Just a personal note... heres what I did with a broken egg and a frying pan. //www.damelza.co.nz/Egg/index.htm

Message edited by author 2004-12-23 01:50:37.

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by damelzakelly:
*Critique Club*

This photo is quite inspiration, I feel like grabbing my camera and running for the kitchen!!

This photo at first glance is quite good, but on a closer inspection several points come to light:

Lighting: The eggshell has brilliant lighting on the lower right-hand side, yet the top of the egg has been overexposed to the point that it is just white with none of the wonderful grain in it. The egg yolk is obviously quite a marvellously "perfect" egg-yolk-yellow, yet because there is a lack of lighting on that side, the yellow fades into oblivion. The background is very flat (lighting-wise) and could have done with a little bit of emphasis to show more detail.

Composition: The cropping of this photo (whether by camera or the crop tool) is lacking. Cropping is a deliberate tool. Either deliberately crop some of the egg out, or crop all of it in. Don't just leave a little bit out as it seems to state that there is some misunderstanding between you and your tools. There is an amazing amount of black "space" that has been left in the right and top right corner. If it doesnt add to the photo, then you shouldnt include it. If the bowl was visible (other than the blackness of it), that would be a reason to leave it in.

The focus in this image is spot on.

This image is nicely put together, although could be improved upon greatly. Its a good starting point, and I would hope that you would work on it a few more times to see what else you could get from the same idea.

What may have worked better for this composition would to have turned the bowl 45 degrees clockwise, therefore bringing the yolk and the opening of the egg half into the light to illuminate the yolk, and edges of the shell, yet leaving a partial darkness inside for a little mystery.

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by Skip:
this is one of my favorite shots in the challenge. i just wish you hadn't cropped of the edge. it's almost as if you had cropped off a hand or an ear...for partial cropping to work, you have to crop enough for it not to be noticed that something is missing. unfortunately, here, it is glaring.

also, the shell is a bit over-exposed. a full stop down would have given you much more texture on the egg surface itself.

i really think this would be a good one to revisit and reshoot after the challenge; it has all the makings of a wonderful print.

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by brianlh:
interesting use of this common subject - if you want to use one light source however, i would prefer to have it illuminating the broken side of the egg, its insides, and the pan rather than the untouched/unbroken side. possibly including the entire egg would be beneficial as well.

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by Bear_Music:
handsome image, but the cropping leaves precisely 50% of the image black; this is too static.

Just Yellow
by Karalew

Comment by graphicfunk:
This is a very attractive image and 59 out of 393 is not bad. The image is very well composed and hence your talent is displayed. The lighting is on the money and to a degree you have done all you can do and while it remains a beautiful image do not feel bad with its placing. Often times artistic efforts escape many voters. My suggestion is to stick with your ideas and to look at images. Go to the sites challenge archives and browse. Look at the images and read the comments. This will simply help expand your outlook.

The image is indeed very nice and the water droplets along with placement spells a lovely to look at image.

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by graphicfunk:
returning for comments:
The concept here is good. The lighting leaves a little to be desired. First, you chose to light it from the left with a single light source. This favors the shell, yet the light is too close because note how all texture disappears from the top of the shell. Now, the variation of color is in the yoke and the transluscent white. This means you need a second light on the right to give definition. In short, if you want this light effect than a fill light is needed on the right. A fill is a weaker light.

However, if you place your strong light to the right and the fill on the left, the image picks up at once because you will defining the yellow and the white and then the light will illuminate the shell from inside. The fill light will allow some texture on the left. Also, when you shoot this close make sure that you use the smallest aperture permissable. Find if your camera can go on aperture priority. Always take several shots but focusing on different parts. Then select the one that looks the best. On general effort and good composition you get a 6.

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by megryan:
Clever title for this

Broken But Not Beaten
by Karalew

Comment by alternarule:
The yolk fully out of the shell and sliding to the right would have improved the layout

Just Yellow
by Karalew

Comment by Kylie:
Damn good job - I am so jealous!!! Congrats.