Warning: this is not supposed to be a pretty picture or an appealing egg. Just sayin’. There’s a purpose for this.
I love eggs. I’m obsessed with them. There was a time when I was eating up to 4 a day. Not good. No bueno at all. My frank and unapologetic Dr. told me to stay off them.
I cried. Literally.
Eggs for me are like espresso. Almost. I know I’ve never, ever talked about my intense love for the incredible edible egg, but it’s true. They’re magical, mysterious and sexy. And just taste good. I enjoy them best over plain white rice. Sunny side up and quite runny. And some Roma tomatoes bordering the plate. I’m telling you, it’s the best poor girl’s food.
Mami was boiling eggs this morning and asked if I wanted one. I didn’t flinch as I was deep in editing pictures for my fashion blog; so I passed. But, I thought about how long it had been since I’d enjoyed one. When the kitchen cleared, I went to make one. Just one. I then turned my egg making moment into a photography challenge.
I’ve never focused on photographing a cooked egg. And now I see why. One egg. It was uncooperative. Starting with its limpness. Everything from the lighting, its lack of fluffiness and body, the plating and doneness of the egg; it was just a sizzling catastrophe. The single egg. Of course, ones cooked preference would define how the shot would look.
I was trying to show how I like my eggs: one really crispy to pair with fluffy and light rice with the yolk seeping through the grains (kind of like the one above); the other, a fuller one, runnier yolk and pretty meaty. That’s my favorite and requires a perfect approach. The oil temperature has to be just right before adding the egg. And then, the control of the shape takes (if you’re not using a very egg specific skillet) and lastly, at least in this case, cook time and how much oil is poured on top (if not flipped over) to cook the white, but not too much so as to cook the yolk. It’s tricky, I’m telling you.
So, in my fury to eat an egg this morning, this is what I came up with. Not what I wanted completely, but good no less.
I’ve inspired myself to start a loose, uncommitted egg series. You know, how to make that perfect egg, 10 different ways. How to season one. What to garnish it with. What to pair it with. How to enjoy that lovely incredible edible egg. And how to photograph it.
After all, I use eggs galore for making all those flans. It kind of makes sense. It’s core to that dessert. I should show it some dedicated love.
For now, I was just in the mood to share a photography fail. Especially after I was cued in to this post by Ottawa photographer Justin Van Leeuwen on how to photograph the Twitter egg! Genius work. I don’t own all those fancy lights so my natural lighting will have to work for now.
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0 thoughts on “The Mighty Egg…That Wasn’t”
Now I want an egg. but it is true they are a photographic challenge, looking forward to your egg series
I can’t wait for the series. Breakfast without eggs is incomplete for me 🙂
Absolutely love eggs – have 2 over toast every morning! And agreed, its hard to make eggs pretty. Have you checked out some of the egg shots on NoRecipes for inspiration? The spaghetti carbonara is especially good: http://norecipes.com/blog/spaghetti-carbonara-recipe/
The last 2 fried eggs we photographed on the blog were for the Hawaiian dish, loco moco. They were def hard to deal with, but it’s just one of those things you have to practice until you get it right. Looking forward to the series!
I am excited about your egg series. Gosh that must have been really frustrating trying to photograph an uncooperative egg but your photo looks awesome!