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Every collector wants to be able to show off his collection to the widest
audience, and today with digital cameras, publishing them on the internet
is the obvious answer. Unfortunately, unlike solid objects that are relatively
easy to capture on camera, clear transparent objects are quite another
story. Add to that the shiny luster of clear quartz crystals and you have
the formula for intense disappointment the first time you start snapping
away. True, digital cameras are a breeze to use and give you immediate
results, but the quality of the pics you will get photographing crystals
will be pretty poor.
Firstly, flash photography is out. The shiny and lustrous facet surfaces
of most crystals reflect light like a mirror - it's similar to the result
you get when trying to take a flash photo through a glass window! An absolute
no-go.
Artificial light sources can be used, and are by the professionals, but
you need color corrected bulbs which emit light at the correct temperature
to avoid distorting the hues you are seeking to reproduce. But before
spending a packet on fancy equipment, try the cheapest, and in my opinion,
the most successful light source that is available. Natural daylight!
I take all of my pictures by natural daylight, directly on a convenient
window sill. However there are a few requirements you need to follow to
get this right. 1) Try and take your pics on an overcast day. Bright sunny
skies will often impart a blue tinge to the pic which is very annoying
and very difficult to filter out, especially from the background of the
image. 2) Use a tripod. Taking decent photos of mineral specimens requires
the use of the macro, or better, super-macro settings on youir camera,
and you will not get sharp focus or prevent blur without the use of a
tripod. If possible use a wireless remote to trigger the shutter and prevent
camera shake. Unfortunately very few manufacturers seem to include this
feature, and you will have to look around to find a camera that offers
this. 3) Stop your shutter down to the biggest 'f' number the lens offers
to get the best depth of field or parts of your pic will be out of focus.
The corollary of this will be that the shutter speed will be very slow,
and this is why a tripod and wireless shutter release are vital.
Once you have taken some pics, the next step is to edit them, as the
first results will be disappointing due to the dirty gray background you
will get, even when photographing against a pure white backdrop. The way
to get rid of this is to tweak the brightness and contrast settings using
photo editing software. By gradually increasing these settings you will
remove the gray. and it will render as a nice sharp white background.
A further technique that works very well is to hold the crystal in your
fingers, and tilt it to get the light reflecting off the facet edges so
as to capture the highlights of the surfaces. Experiment with a range
of angles until you get the desired effect.
Finally, crop the pics to the desired proportions and size to get the
best effect.
Good luck with your photography. Just remember experiment with different
camera angles to get the best effects. This is something I will also cover
in a later article.
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