Taking Pictures of Extremely Firey Stones *Lots O pics*

[Arcadian]

This morning I decided that since we had a bit of steady natural light that I would take a few pictures of my newest sphene. This sphene is a scissorcut emerald shape and amazing to see in person. I do have 2 that are cut the same way, one larger than the other.

This is a lesson for all of us in taking pictures of highly dispersive stones.

First. take valium.. LOL ok kidding (sort of

) you really do have to be very patient when taking pics of these stones. I snapped about 200 pics. Yeah you heard me right!! It helps if you have a tripod or even a mini pod. Also, if you have a camera that has manual settings, its a good idea to make use of them.

Because my Panasonic G1 had a dead battery, I used my Sony Cybershot 8.1.

Cybershot users will love the fact that the manual settings are pretty easy to get to.

For cybershot users only: Here's what I found that works for stones that are highly dispersive: If conditions are in a bright light source, I used an F-stop of between 2.8 and 4.0. Aperture was set between 8 and 13. I left the ISO at auto. The cybershot picked ISO 64. BTW, I am using the macro setting.


I used a multitude of different backgrounds. Blue, black, yellow, green. Single colored backgrounds in primary colors work the best. White does NOT work. Black is iffy. I don't have anything gray.


So I'm going to share the good the bad and the ridiculous. Get some tea and enjoy the show!

-A

 

[Arcadian]

The first pic on yellow

I was holding the stone which appeared to be a no no.

 

[Arcadian]

A slightly better shot.

 

[Arcadian]

SO if you''re wondering, I''ve decided holding the stone was terrible, but in order for it to sit up, I had to do something right? So I did a McGyver and wrapped a rubber band around my gemtool....genius! That put just enough pressure on the stone to hold it without too much pressure to damage.

 

[Arcadian]

Taken on black... OMG!!! it was HORRIBLE!! Anyone that has taken pictues of sphene knows its near impossible to get an actual shot of the thing. the big black space midstone that you see in the pic isn''t there IRL.

That was that using the black background!

 

[Arcadian]

So I started using the green background. Now THIS is what I was wanting! Its still not exactly what I see but very very close!
Here you can really see the amount of light bouncing around on this stone.

 

[Arcadian]

I went back to the yellow background. I''m now using a tripod because trying to hold the camera by hand wasn''t working.

 

[Arcadian]

Blue background is where I got the best pics.

 

[Arcadian]

I love this shot because you can see the rainbow of colors.

 

[Rachel9]

O*m*g* the las picture is incredible

so jelly

 

[Roger Dery]

Arcadian,
What a fabulous gem! So tough to photograph, and yet they look great. Well done.

 

[LD]

Oh Arcadian

swoon

I''m in Sphene heaven! Thank you so much for sharing. Wonderful!

 

[T L]

OMG, I'm in love!! Your pictures capturing that amazing dispersion are awesome!! I wish I could do so well, my camera has such a hard time capturing dispersion.

ETA: They make those tweezers that lock in place. I'm wondering if that's best for taking photos like these, and if they're good to use with soft stones. The rubberband trick seemed to do the job though.

 

[Arcadian]

Its usually so hard to show exactly why a person truly falls in love with these little buggers. I think I''ve given it my best shot!

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks Rachel, Roger, LD and TL!

Rachel, sphenes are really addictive If you get one, you may not stop there

. I''m looking around for one more(though I said that the last time too

)

Roger, thanks so much. I had to use everything I know about photography to get these pics. Even with that, it still took a lot of shots.

TL, I think different cameras have different strengths. I don''t know if your has any type of manual settings but they may be worth exploring. Also have you tried one of those mini tripods? That can cut camera shake.


LD, me too! Once I started pulling pics off the camera I started jumping up and down! I''m always happy to share!


-A

 

[Arcadian]

Probably the cleanest capture. its GORGEOUS!!!!!

-A

 

[MonkeyPie]

Mmm, sphene, my favorite

I think the last couple shots are GREAT, it really is hard to photograph sphene.

 

[tsavvy]

WOW!! Great pictures

Your sphene appears exceptionally colorful. I did find your photos of the sphene twin and your vivid pink spinel (which turned out wonderfully in its setting!!) You have some amazing gems - thank you for sharing

 

[Indylady]

Wow! Your sphene is beautiful. The scissor cut is beautiful. Your photography, also beautiful. I love a scissor cut/emerald cut on a refractive gem. You also inspire me to work harder on my photography skills.

It reminds me of a hall of mirrors, with a spark at one end flying through the rest of the mirrors. Anyone else get a similar feeling?

 

[Hest88]

Oh, lovely pictures and gorgeous stone!

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks Monkeypie and yes it is! WHOOSH! Once I locked on to the technique I started having a lot of fun with it...and then the battery died *LOL*

Thanks tsavvy! You also have excellent taste! I thank my husband for making me see the light on that spinel ring.

Thanks szh07. The art of taking pictures is not only taking lots of pictures but learning from each picture where you may have went wrong or right. I tend to use manual settings for that very reason. When I shoot in film I hear *cha-ching* evertime I snap a picture. I''m ever grateful that in digital medium its not that way!

-A

 

[mariedtiger]

Lovely pictures Arcadian!!! Thank you for taking the time to spoil us all with pictures.

 

[FrekeChild]

WOWZA! It''s GORGEOUS Arcadian! ...must work on camera skillz....

 

[Largosmom]

Very nicely done! Loved the photos!

Laura

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks Hess, Freke, Mariedtiger, and Largosmom. Sharing makes some stones more enjoyable

-A

 

[brandy_z28]

Amazing photos Acadian!!

 

[cushioncutnut]

Date: 12/13/2009 1:30:17 PM
Author: Arcadian
Probably the cleanest capture. its GORGEOUS!!!!!

-A

It sure IS!! What a way to capture that beauty!!!! I never knew sphenes could be so beautiful...especially cut that way!!!!

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks Brandy and Cushioncutnut! This particular sphene is amazingly clean, can''t find a thing under 10x. I''ve never had one so clean before. Also too, when light hits it this gem you see those perfect rainbow ribbons.

Non-sphene owners now can see what understand why people get so gagas over them. At some point I will buy a honey colored sphene. I''m not partial to them in pictures but I got a feeling person I would be.


-A

 

[chrono]

Arcadian,
Great job with the pictures and I love how you are able to capture the dispersion so well. Thanks for the details on your trial and error too. I appreciate your taking 200 pictures just to show us your lovely sphene.

 

[oddoneout]

Beautiful stone...I love the colours.