Nest Egg

A year or two ago I found two bird nests after they had fallen out of the trees after a storm. I thought they would make nice props so I picked them up and put them in a place where they could dry in the sun. Once they were dry I sealed them in separate plastic bags and then sealed both inside another plastic bag. After that, into the freezer they went and stayed for quite some time. I think it was a year or more. I wanted to be sure any mites or other things that might be living there were well a truly dead. I picked up the egg at a local art supply store and the wood in the background is actually porcelain floor tile from a local building supply store I bought for a different project.

As with many of the photos I make, I had been mulling over the idea to make a photo like this for some time. The other night, I finally decided to work on it. I grabbed the floor tile and set up the background. Then the nest and the egg were place and propped us as I wanted them. I knew I wanted very directional light that spilled in a tight ring around the nest so I used a 10º grid over a single light. I chose my camera angle and tweaked everything to get it just the way I wanted it.

Technical Data: Nikon D7100, 50mm f1.4 lens at f16, 1/250 second (x250 sync), 10º grid on a Dynalite head.

I find thinking about photos I want to create, sometimes for a prolonged period, helps me get exactly the photo I imagine. This photo is the result of thinking about creating it off and on for many months or maybe more than a year. I knew the look of the lighting I wanted and the background. It took a bit of tweaking to get the circle of light just the way I wanted it with the fall off to near darkness. I’m happy with the results.