Shooting a Huge Crystal

thirdeye · Sep 30, 2008

OK all you photo wizards,
I made a new light box today and did a few shots with a black background.
I liked what I saw so I decided to mess around and shot a huge crystal that I have.
This thing is bigger than a beer can.
First I under lit it with a clear LED then added some very soft light and finally full on lighting. Not to bad but needs some help.
Then I under lit it with a few different color LEDs and it took on a ghostly glow.

Any ideas, tricks and tips would be welcomed.

scoopster · Sep 30, 2008

Waaaay cool Dude. I feel like I was walking through Spencer Gifts at the Mall.

Austin · Sep 30, 2008

Very nice Ray. Does the crystal have any magical powers? :biggrin:

thirdeye · Sep 30, 2008

Austin said:
Very nice Ray. Does the crystal have any magical powers?

Sure does, I don't have to do all the things I used to do to see all the pretty colors... :biggrin:

battlemonk · Sep 30, 2008

The last one is great, underexposed so that the background is completely dark; the glow still comes through great.

DunEdinRanger · Sep 30, 2008

Reminds me of glowing ergone vortices. Nice photos!

adamk222 · Sep 30, 2008

try shooting a laser pointer into it.we use to do it for fun and thay took some cool pics as well.

thirdeye · Oct 1, 2008

adamk222 said:
try shooting a laser pointer into it.we use to do it for fun and thay took some cool pics as well.

I think I'll give that a try this evening. Thanks!

vcardona · Oct 1, 2008

battlemonk said:
The last one is great, underexposed so that the background is completely dark; the glow still comes through great.

I agree. The slight underexposure also allows you to see the internal structure of the crystal better. Very cool photos!

ltlsuz · Oct 1, 2008

awesome Ray! I love crystals. Does it hum?

RichGem · Oct 1, 2008

very cool! I was half expecting to see little green men in the background.

thirdeye · Oct 1, 2008

ltlsuz said:
awesome Ray! I love crystals. Does it hum?

I haven't heard it hum but I can actually feel this one vibrate.

Oxi · Oct 2, 2008

Why don't you try sunlight? With clear objects, I often try to find a backdrop and use the sun to light my subject.

For example, last week I shot this bottle of eau the cologne for the acquisitions thread. It is backlit by the sun on a cloudy day and I used a little fill flash to bring out the label.

I also try to find a backdrop which feels natural with the product I'm photographing. For example; A nice towel works very good with shaving products because the towel is used when shaving. A black cloth or black paper doesn't work that well with a translucent crystal. If you want that sort of backdrop, I suggest a white one. Light objects on light backgrounds are hard, just like dark objects on dark backgrounds.. But if you get the lighting correct, it will look much better (in my humble opinion).

Tranculency and backlit aren't easy to shoot, but immensly rewarding.

Just some ideas to stir the creative process. It's fun to play with light. :001_rolle

You got a good start and a good subject with enough detail to experiment with.

dcormier · Oct 2, 2008

Nice.

If I were shooting it, I would turn it a bit so you don't have that reflection from the underside of the facet on top of it. Also, I would underexpose it to try and bring out more of the internal structure (like the last shot).

thirdeye · Oct 2, 2008

Oxi said:
Why don't you try sunlight? With clear objects, I often try to find a backdrop and use the sun to light my subject.

For example, last week I shot this bottle of eau the cologne for the acquisitions thread. It is backlit by the sun on a cloudy day and I used a little fill flash to bring out the label.

I also try to find a backdrop which feels natural with the product I'm photographing. For example; A nice towel works very good with shaving products because the towel is used when shaving. A black cloth or black paper doesn't work that well with a translucent crystal. If you want that sort of backdrop, I suggest a white one. Light objects on light backgrounds are hard, just like dark objects on dark backgrounds.. But if you get the lighting correct, it will look much better (in my humble opinion).

Tranculency and backlit aren't easy to shoot, but immensly rewarding.

Just some ideas to stir the creative process. It's fun to play with light. You got a good start and a good subject with enough detail to experiment with.

dcormier said:
Nice.

If I were shooting it, I would turn it a bit so you don't have that reflection from the underside of the facet on top of it. Also, I would underexpose it to try and bring out more of the internal structure (like the last shot).

Thanks folks, I'll give your tips a go and see what happens.
Mind you, I am just playing around and really have no idea what I am doing... :biggrin:

RichGem · Oct 2, 2008

I can't wait for the laser pics.!

J Howard · Oct 2, 2008

Whew, Ray by the Subject I thought you were a Meth head there for a min. But I should have known that a cool guy like you would be into rocks. I know very little about this but do you have any idea of it's resonant frequency? I will get no sleep tonight trying to figure out an experiment to test it.

Oxi · Oct 2, 2008

thirdeye said:
Thanks folks, I'll give your tips a go and see what happens.
Mind you, I am just playing around and really have no idea what I am doing...

Aren't we all? :blushing:

It took me two days (not continuously) before I decided to throw out the towel and hold the bottle in front of the window. :lol:

thirdeye · Oct 3, 2008

J Howard said:
Whew, Ray by the Subject I thought you were a Meth head there for a min. But I should have known that a cool guy like you would be into rocks. I know very little about this but do you have any idea of it's resonant frequency? I will get no sleep tonight trying to figure out an experiment to test it.

When you figure on out, let me know and I'll try it.... :biggrin:

Oxi said:
Aren't we all? It took me two days (not continuously) before I decided to throw out the towel and hold the bottle in front of the window.

Man, that is to funny....

J Howard · Oct 3, 2008

thirdeye said:
When you figure on out, let me know and I'll try it....

Well first you would need a RF Signal Generator, a RF Voltmeter, and a Digital Multimeter. Throw in an oscilloscope and I think you could figure something out. Start testing different frequencies for resonance. Now as far as hooking the crystal up to a test circuit without harming it seems to be the first challenge.

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Shooting a Huge Crystal

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adamk222

thirdeye

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RichGem

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