|
Post by iant on Dec 30, 2014 3:15:54 GMT -5
A big thanks for all your kind comments. Gingerkid - Eyes often fall out at the rough tumbling stage. It is a bit of a gamble to keep an eye agate in the rough for a long period to achieve a truly smooth finish because of the risk of it losing the eyes. So that is why some are left with imperfections. Snowmom I usually go hunting for a whole day at a time, it is often dictated/restricted by the tides. There are a few areas I visit, and usually come back with a rucksack half full of rocks. Of those, I separate out the small ones which go straight into the tumbler, then I cut the bigger ones. Unfortunately, about 50% of those are fractured and break, or are filled with quartz with no bands/features so are not worth keeping. It is a disappointment but always a great thrill to cut one open and find real beauty.
|
|
|
Post by iant on Dec 30, 2014 4:16:04 GMT -5
Great job. Sure look a lot like our Lake Superior Agates..............MrP So true. I agree, they are very similar indeed. Jim, we've had a few storms recently - so things have been stirred up a bit. Last collecting trip was particularly good. I personally feel this is the best batch I've had. A good few left off because of the time taken for pictures. Even had to open a new photobucket account this time!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 30, 2014 7:11:19 GMT -5
I agree, they are very similar indeed. Jim, we've had a few storms recently - so things have been stirred up a bit. Last collecting trip was particularly good. I personally feel this is the best batch I've had. A good few left off because of the time taken for pictures. Even had to open a new photobucket account this time! The geology must be similar to that of Lake Superior area. L. Superior at longitude 46, you are at 56, which is half way between Alaska and Washington state. The geology of Superior is technical; would make interesting comparison study. Conditions must be similar. Strong winds and ice movement exposes agates on Superior too. Photobucket ?? Your Flickr account allows a free TB of storage, have you used that up ?
|
|
|
Post by iant on Dec 30, 2014 9:43:15 GMT -5
I agree, they are very similar indeed. Jim, we've had a few storms recently - so things have been stirred up a bit. Last collecting trip was particularly good. I personally feel this is the best batch I've had. A good few left off because of the time taken for pictures. Even had to open a new photobucket account this time! The geology must be similar to that of Lake Superior area. L. Superior at longitude 46, you are at 56, which is half way between Alaska and Washington state. The geology of Superior is technical; would make interesting comparison study. Conditions must be similar. Strong winds and ice movement exposes agates on Superior too. Photobucket ?? Your Flickr account allows a free TB of storage, have you used that up ? I have used Flickr for wildlife and sharing family photos. I'm still not 100% happy with my rock photos. Need to use a tripod really and have a better light source but I find it hard to justify the setup time.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 30, 2014 10:09:14 GMT -5
The geology must be similar to that of Lake Superior area. L. Superior at longitude 46, you are at 56, which is half way between Alaska and Washington state. The geology of Superior is technical; would make interesting comparison study. Conditions must be similar. Strong winds and ice movement exposes agates on Superior too. Photobucket ?? Your Flickr account allows a free TB of storage, have you used that up ? I have used Flickr for wildlife and sharing family photos. I'm still not 100% happy with my rock photos. Need to use a tripod really and have a better light source but I find it hard to justify the setup time. Can you set your camera to manual or shutter priority ? S=shutter priority A=aperture priority Recently have been taking macros at around 1/20 of a second, it gives much better depth of focus for a round tumble. Using a desk lamp, light at an angle. To avoid the tripod I just get a 5 inch box and set the edge of the camera on it to hold it still at such a slow shutter speed, manually focusing, but auto does well too. You may have a shutter priority setting on your camera which will hold the shutter at say 1/20 and allow higher f-stop like f6-f9 in my case for my desk lamp. if you are shooting at f3 the focus is very shallow. White balance set on incandescent for this 40 watt desk lamp.
|
|
|
Post by iant on Dec 30, 2014 10:19:45 GMT -5
I've got it set to Aperture priority. Problem is, as you close your aperture to get a better depth of field, the speed goes down, so can get blur. Depth of field is very restricted for me as I use a Raynox adaptor for Macro. I need to buy a Canon Macro lens... but I'd rather spend the money on rocks!
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 30, 2014 11:07:29 GMT -5
I've got it set to Aperture priority. Problem is, as you close your aperture to get a better depth of field, the speed goes down, so can get blur. Depth of field is very restricted for me as I use a Raynox adaptor for Macro. I need to buy a Canon Macro lens... but I'd rather spend the money on rocks! yes, speed goes down. The simple prop works real well. My lens is not a macro, but does have a dime store switch for going to macro. Just saying, not a dedicated macro. It is 1:2 macro. But better depth of field that 1:1 macro. Got a 1:1 and despise it. I actually set the edge of the lens on the corner of the box, it blocks a corner of the photo, but that gets cropped out anyway. By holding the front of the lens still the shakeys are almost eliminated. it is like propping a gun at the end of the barrel, very stable. Hate using tripods. But I do not know the effects of the Raynox. If it blurs as you close the aperture then your goose is cooked. mine is 28-85mm zoom. Camera old, only 6 megapixel. But crops well. Often cropping one square inch or less out of 4" X 4" photo with no distortion. Crop is powerful tool. I do not even use the closest zoom settings always when doing macro. Depend on the crop. I would think you have a 12-25 megapixel camera allowing more extreme crops than my old 6M.
|
|
gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,023
|
Post by gemfeller on Dec 30, 2014 11:29:36 GMT -5
Great agates Iant. Thanks so much for sharing. I think my favorite is the one with the smoky quartz interior that contrasts so effectively with the lighter-colored fortifications. Neat stone! Others remind me of our Lakers and some stones from northern Mexico and Agate Creek in Australia.
Re: photography. I think add-on macro lenses always degrade picture quality. You might be better off shooting as close as possible with your normal lens in macro mode, then cropping and sizing in a photo-editing program. Regarding a tripod, I mostly use a short table-top tripod and natural light. Some people use bean-bags for stability. With natural light I'm often shooting brief time exposures up to around 6 seconds to get the desired exposure and depth-of-field. I just set the self-timer and with a steady rest there's no shake or blurring (except when a big truck rumbles by LOL). Good luck with both your agate-hunting and photography.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 30, 2014 13:15:17 GMT -5
Great agates Iant. Thanks so much for sharing. I think my favorite is the one with the smoky quartz interior that contrasts so effectively with the lighter-colored fortifications. Neat stone! Others remind me of our Lakers and some stones from northern Mexico and Agate Creek in Australia. Re: photography. I think add-on macro lenses always degrade picture quality. You might be better off shooting as close as possible with your normal lens in macro mode, then cropping and sizing in a photo-editing program. Regarding a tripod, I mostly use a short table-top tripod and natural light. Some people use bean-bags for stability. With natural light I'm often shooting brief time exposures up to around 6 seconds to get the desired exposure and depth-of-field. I just set the self-timer and with a steady rest there's no shake or blurring (except when a big truck rumbles by LOL). Good luck with both your agate-hunting and photography. Wow, 6 seconds. suppose that would give a heck of a depth of field. Got to try that. Your aperture must be f16-f30 ??
|
|
gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,023
|
Post by gemfeller on Dec 30, 2014 15:01:09 GMT -5
James, I think the little time exposures on my camera mainly benefit exposure, not DOF. I usually set my antique Nikon to aperture priority, focus as best I can on the stone's surface, then hit the self-timer. Focusing can sometimes be a PITA. Zoomed in my camera's smallest aperture is 10.7, which works pretty well in most of the light environments I work in.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 30, 2014 15:54:40 GMT -5
James, I think the little time exposures on my camera mainly benefit exposure, not DOF. I usually set my antique Nikon to aperture priority, focus as best I can on the stone's surface, then hit the self-timer. Focusing can sometimes be a PITA. Zoomed in my camera's smallest aperture is 10.7, which works pretty well in most of the light environments I work in. I will have to experiment with this. My narrow experience is 1/60 @ about f3 to 1/20 @ f9 for lamp lighting on rocks. Your photos are spectacular(I have noticed). Will have to digest this pill you handed. Thanks. I am not getting it yet. May PM you a question or two. I think you are setting the aperture small and letting the shutter follow suit. I'll PM you.
|
|
bcrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since June 2014
Posts: 418
|
Post by bcrockhound on Dec 30, 2014 16:24:07 GMT -5
Your agates are definitely some of my favourites I see on here. I always have to show anyone near me when I open your threads. You make Scotland look a lot more attractive!
|
|
gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,023
|
Post by gemfeller on Dec 30, 2014 16:54:11 GMT -5
[quote author="jamesp" I will have to experiment with this. My narrow experience is 1/60 @ about f3 to 1/20 @ f9 for lamp lighting on rocks. Your photos are spectacular(I have noticed). Will have to digest this pill you handed. Thanks. I am not getting it yet. May PM you a question or two. I think you are setting the aperture small and letting the shutter follow suit. I'll PM you.
[/quote] Thanks for the nice compliment James. I think your images are great too, especially your excellent macro shots. I've noticed as well. Yes, I set aperture to the smallest that's reasonable and let the shutter speed adjust. If that means a time exposure it's no big deal with the tripod. My set-up is very modern and technically advanced. Most work is done on a table next to a N.E.-facing window. My 13-year-old Nikon 4500 is one of the split body Coolpixes and the lens can be angled over a 180-degree range. That's extremely convenient. I use a small tabletop tripod sitting on a pile of inch-thick old L.J. Tucson Show Guides. I add or remove copies to adjust height. The stones are usually set on a display pad or a sheet of 18% gray paper, depending on the effect I want. Those sit on a small cardboard box I rescued from the recycling pile. If I want diffused light I use a sheet of white tissue paper rescued from an old shoe box. As I say, it's all very technical and advanced. My biggest problem is finding compact flash cards with low enough capacity to work with my old camera. [/p]
If you can stop your aperture down further than mine you should be able to get excellent DOF with time exposures.
Iant, sorry for the thread hijack. Hopefully some of the photography discussion will be helpful to you.
|
|
|
Post by gingerkid on Dec 30, 2014 19:26:47 GMT -5
Thanks, iant, for sharing the info on the eyes. I didn't know that they may fall out. Good to know. Sure would have freaked out if the agate's eyeballs fell out while tumbling and didn't know that it may happen. gemfeller, thanks for the photo tips. Sure wish there was a thread on the forum to discuss photographing gem materials.
|
|
jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,562
|
Post by jamesp on Dec 30, 2014 19:31:16 GMT -5
thanks gemfeller for the tips and expose on being casual w/the photography. I follow your method now.
|
|
|
Post by pghram on Dec 30, 2014 21:40:13 GMT -5
Those agates are sweet!
Rich
|
|
gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,023
|
Post by gemfeller on Dec 31, 2014 1:32:51 GMT -5
Hope it's applicable in some respects to your work. But my methods aren't quite as "casual" as you may suspect. I just don't believe in over-complicated set-ups. But what works for me may not be the best choice for others.
|
|
|
Post by iant on Dec 31, 2014 3:43:55 GMT -5
[quote author="jamesp" I will have to experiment with this. My narrow experience is 1/60 @ about f3 to 1/20 @ f9 for lamp lighting on rocks. Your photos are spectacular(I have noticed). Will have to digest this pill you handed. Thanks. I am not getting it yet. May PM you a question or two. I think you are setting the aperture small and letting the shutter follow suit. I'll PM you.
Thanks for the nice compliment James. I think your images are great too, especially your excellent macro shots. I've noticed as well. Yes, I set aperture to the smallest that's reasonable and let the shutter speed adjust. If that means a time exposure it's no big deal with the tripod. My set-up is very modern and technically advanced. Most work is done on a table next to a N.E.-facing window. My 13-year-old Nikon 4500 is one of the split body Coolpixes and the lens can be angled over a 180-degree range. That's extremely convenient. I use a small tabletop tripod sitting on a pile of inch-thick old L.J. Tucson Show Guides. I add or remove copies to adjust height. The stones are usually set on a display pad or a sheet of 18% gray paper, depending on the effect I want. Those sit on a small cardboard box I rescued from the recycling pile. If I want diffused light I use a sheet of white tissue paper rescued from an old shoe box. As I say, it's all very technical and advanced. My biggest problem is finding compact flash cards with low enough capacity to work with my old camera. [/p]
If you can stop your aperture down further than mine you should be able to get excellent DOF with time exposures.
Iant, sorry for the thread hijack. Hopefully some of the photography discussion will be helpful to you.
[/quote] Thanks for your input. I've been to look at your other pictures and like what I see!
|
|