Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Jul 10, 2012 11:24:43 GMT -5
I'm trying to learn how to take photos. These are some Oregon sunstones that I polished. Not the best polish or even the best from this batch. The first was taken without flash. Without the flash they look like what they look like in the light box. This second picture was taken with the flash. Here they look more like what they look like out of the light box. The sunstones tend to pick up surrounding colors, especially yellow.
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Minnesota Daniel
freely admits to licking rocks
A COUPLE LAKERS
Member since August 2011
Posts: 891
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Post by Minnesota Daniel on Jul 10, 2012 12:08:17 GMT -5
Very nice stuff.
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Post by Pat on Jul 10, 2012 12:24:50 GMT -5
Good to know someone else is working on improving photos of rocks!
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Post by Bikerrandy on Jul 10, 2012 14:15:48 GMT -5
Good to know someone else is working on improving photos of rocks! We all are. lol... I can't take a pic if my life depended on it. ... Those look great!! Great pic too
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Post by talkingstones on Jul 10, 2012 17:59:43 GMT -5
It's a good shot of some really cool stones! Like that stuff!
Cathy
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carloscinco
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2008
Posts: 1,639
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Post by carloscinco on Jul 10, 2012 18:57:51 GMT -5
That's a pretty cool tumble. I've only seen pix of sunstones once or twice and I like them. Good job with the finish.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 10, 2012 19:26:10 GMT -5
That is a nice tumble!Pretty stones.I've got a couple small bags I need to find,forgot I had 'em.
snuffy
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Jul 10, 2012 20:33:58 GMT -5
Snuffy, You lose a lot of volume with sunstones and they fracture easily. Treat them a bit like obsidian.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 10, 2012 20:41:04 GMT -5
The ones I have are tiny anyway,I ordered some rocks from somewhere twice and they sent I think 2 oz packages free with the orders.Wouldnt be anything left after tumbling them.
snuffy
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unclestu
Cave Dweller
WINNER OF THE FIRST RTH KILLER CAB CONTEST UNCLESTU'S AGUA NUEVA AGATE
Member since April 2011
Posts: 2,298
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Post by unclestu on Jul 10, 2012 21:17:58 GMT -5
What light source are you using with your light box (what type of bulbs)? Are you using a soft sided light tent with white translucent fabric? It is funny that you bring this up at this time as I have just finished a discussion with another member regarding the very same issue. I use a light ten/box quite often along with 5100k (kelvin) lights the 5100K lights replicate natural full sunlight. I found quite by accident that when I use the built in flash on my camera in conjunction with the external photo lights it does alter the temperature of the light to a small degree. I discovered that the light produced from the flash tends to be of a cooler light temperature and as a result can produce a cooler form of light that picks up the cooler colors of the spectrum . Here are two pictures one with flash and lights and the other with just the lights This picture is with the flash and the 5100K lights as you can see the clear stand has picked up a lot of blue from the built in flash This picture is with just the 5100K lights no flash As you can see the 2nd picture did not have the blue color on the stand and though not a drastic difference in coloration of the cab the picture with the flash did effect the color of the cab. When shooting pictures in a light box the idea is to have defused light so your light source should be on the outside shining through the translucent material so as to soften the light. This reduces harsh shadows. In addition when shooting very reflective subjects like shiny stones you really want to not have the light falling directly on the subject. You want to use an indirect lighting angle . With your translucent stones you will get a very nice effect by having the light fall behind the subject. This gives a nice delicate back lit effect that lets the light shine through the stone. Lastly try to bracket your exposure settings. When shooting with a black background I have found that if you can get your exposure so that the black background is jet black your pictures will really jump off the screen. Use a tripod and when shooting a pile of stones use a lens opening small enough to provide a good depth of Field and adjust your exposure by changing your shutter speed up and down from the recommended shutter speed the camera is telling you. Doing this will help you achieve the effect that you are looking for. Takes a bit of tweaking but once you find the right formula the degree of fine tuning between subject matter becomes very small. Those are some great sun stones. Stu
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 10, 2012 22:27:35 GMT -5
Steve,I found the sunstones I was talking about. 2-4oz bags.I think they are too small to mess with,but if I tried to tumble them,how would be best to proceed? What else could I do with them?
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Post by NatureNut on Jul 10, 2012 23:03:19 GMT -5
You could facet them.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Jul 10, 2012 23:09:40 GMT -5
Me? Facet them? ;D ;D The only facet I know is when I turn on the water facet. ;D snuffy
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Steve
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2005
Posts: 506
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Post by Steve on Jul 11, 2012 0:09:38 GMT -5
Snuffy, It looks like your sunstones have already been lightly tumbled, they appear to be rounded and a bit frosty. I also don't see any matrix. Sunstones are pretty hard, but they don't play well with others. You could try to tumble them with small chips of obsidian as a filler. I wonder if the pellets left from breaking safety glass would work? Use lots of plastice pellets in the prepolish and polish stage. Otherwise, try putting them in a small jar of mineral oil or water and dispay them with a back light. Sunstones are the Oregon state gem. I use them as give aways when I give talks.
Stu, I'm using a $40 kit I got on Amazon - white tranlucent frabic and 2 cheap lights described as 3000K Tungsten, 50 watt. I used a tripod that came with the kit, shooting with a 2 second timer. I set the camera at 100 ISO and used aperature priority, with everything else automatic. The camera kept complaining that it wanted to use its flash. I used Photoshop to crop and reduce the pixel density and size to get something postable. I did not do any other actions in Photoshop. My photography experience is point, shot and hope for the best. I first tried to use a blue background, but the pictures were....., let's just say not good.
I was surprised that using the flash actually took a lot of the artificial shinny out of the picture - look at the dime. I definitely need better lights. I also think I'll start using a better tripod, instead of the stange thing they called a tripod that came with the kit.
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