Heart of Stone
A slice of Agate with a bit of red that looks like a heart, bleeding.
A slice of Agate with a bit of red that looks like a heart, bleeding.
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May, 2014Views
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Awards
Featured
Contest Finalist in Patterns In Nature Photo Contest
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
All Star
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
Great Find
Exceptional Contrast
Genius
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Behind The Lens
Location
Photo was taken at a Macro Photo Seminar giving by Mike Moots in my hometown of Woburn, MA.Time
Don't really remember the time. We were inside using static setups.Lighting
Since we were inside in a hotel conference space, the lighting was overhead fluorescent. The surface of the slab was highly polished so I had to do a lot of maneuvering to eliminate the glare from the lights overhead.Equipment
Camera was the Canon Rebel XSi Lens was a Tamron 90mm macro lens A tripod was used but I don't recall the brand as I have since upgraded that piece of equipment No flashInspiration
Mike had brought many items for us to photograph during the practical part of the seminar: flowers, feathers, coins, pinecones, rocks etc. Since my husband and I have been rockhounds for 40 odd years, I immediately gravitated towards this slab of polished agate that he had brought. The patterns were amazing and the red spot really caught my eye.Editing
I did a little cropping to eliminate some of the table showing on a corner and I bumped up the contrast a little.In my camera bag
Two camera bodies (both rebels as I have arthritis in my hands and need a light weight camera), two to three off camera flashes, ring flash, 90mmTamron macro lens, Sigma 10-20mm wide zoom, Sigma 18-200 zoom, lens cleaning kit, gloves, scissors, knee pads, pop-up reflectors and diffusors, table-top tripod, notebook, polarizers for my lenses, macro spotlight, small drop cloth and insect repellant.Feedback
Polished agate slabs can be fascinating to photograph. Look for interesting patterns and color contrasts. All one color pieces may be pretty, but they make uninteresting photographs. Be careful about the general lines of the pattern, diagonal compositions are more interesting. Because these slabs are highly polished, lighting can be tricky. Enclosing the slab on three sides with a matt, non-reflective material can help eliminate reflections. Try not to have any kind of light directly over the slab as that will reflect perfectly in the shiny surface. Angling the camera just slightly helps eliminate reflections. Use aperture priority and depth of field preview to check your depth of field to make sure everything is in focus. These slabs can be expensive. Check on line or approach a store owner to see if you can borrow some of his more interesting pieces to shoot. Offering photos of your finished shots to him for advertising may help convince the owner to oblige.
