Studio Tuesday - Minerals

Ever since last week, I knew the subject for this weeks studio shoot. We've had a box of stones, rocks, and other minerals hanging around the house that I've always wanted to photograph. With this weeks blog rolling in my excitement grew to finally try my hand at photographing some of the minerals.

The set up was simple. I used a black backdrop along with a black surface on which to stage each mineral. For lighting I used a small, semi hand held light which also happens to be white balanced. I stuck with my 100mm macro lens to get in close for all the details. I was very pleased with my results.

This first shot was fairly straightforward. I really was going for a good black and white and these stones jumped out at me immediately. The smooth quality, shape, and color stood out and I knew right away that I wanted to get them stacked.

This shot was the second that I took. I wish I could remember the name of the mineral, however, its been a long time since I purchased it (long as in I purchased it in elementary school). I was really captivated by the glacier quality it had when viewed through the lens. So I opted to shoot from a lower angle to give it the affect of size. I placed the light closer to the mineral to accentuate its transparent quality.

The final rock that I photographed reminded me of the asteroids that we all remember from Star Wars. I couldn't resist leaving enough of the background in the shot to give it a feeling of being in space. I knew that this was going to be a side lit shot so as to bring out more of the textural features.

I hope you enjoyed this weeks focus. If you have any suggestions or ideas for future subject matter, please feel free to request one.