Week 22 .... and still here
Hidden Wonders ..... beneath the rock surface (please bear with me .... two takes of the same subject)
First thing that came to mind when I saw the new theme was my crystal collection, in particular the various geodes, nodules and thunder egg ... all of which I consider to be hidden wonders.
How often have you walked along a beach or in the countryside and kicked a rock, that just looked like a regular stone?
I have been interested in geology and especially rock formations since school days when I studied geography.
Over the years I have acquired quite a collection of both rocks, gems, minerals and associated literature on the subject.
Here I have put together a bit of a study of some of the gems from my collection.
Hidden wonders ..... beneath the rock surface (Hidden - 1):
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Hidden - 1 by
crystal_singer (drodd), on Flickr[/IMG]
Geodes:
- geological rock formations which occur in sedimentary and certain volcanic rocks that are plain on the outside but can have beautiful crystals on the inside.
- the exterior of the most common geodes is generally limestone or a related rock, while inside the most common dissolved mineral is quartz crystals and/or chalcedony deposits and other minerals.
- created in the hollow areas of soil such as animal burrows or tree roots. They are also formed in the bubbles in volcanic rock. Over time, dissolved minerals seep into a hollow area and harden into an outer shell creating the geode. The minerals continue to form on the inside walls of the shell, growing towards the center.
- it can take hundreds of millions of years for the space inside a geode to be filled, and many geodes remain partly hollow. A geode which is completely filled with crystals is called a nodule. Agate-filled nodules are called thunder eggs and are a nodule-like geological structure, similar to a geode, that is formed within a rhyolitic lava flow and they usually look like ordinary rocks on the outside, but slicing them in half and polishing them may reveal intricate patterns and colours.
- can have many colors depending upon the type of crystal. Because crystals have flat, clear surfaces with many facets, they reflect light and have a beautiful sparkle.
- are found throughout the world, and many are concentrated in deserts and volcanic areas are a common place to find geodes.
- there is no easy way of telling what the inside of a geode holds until it is cut open or broken apart. However, geodes from any one locality usually have a more restricted variety of interior mineralization.
- Oco Geodes are geodes that have their agate edges polished, and have druze or crystal-lined interiors, no two are alike.
Next time you are out and about, remember that even the most plain and unusual of objects can hold a
hidden treasure
I hope you have enjoyed this mini project for the theme of 'Hidden'.
With regards to the photos .... originally I had placed them all in the same shot but wasn't happy with how that came out, i.e., trying to get the focus on all of them at the same time was a bit tricky. Also I did this last night and used the light tent with 20W halogen lamps either side. I decided to shoot them as individual photos and then compile the montage (Hidden - 1), at the expense of not being able to get the background colour exactly the same on each, but in some respects I think that adds to the uniqueness of each. What are your thoughts on this?
I positioned them in such a way that one shows what they look like on the outside, and how ordinary they look too. Then turned them over to reveal the
hidden beauty of each.
I had also considered just showing one or two of the formation, but decided to do it this way to show how the rocks can take on such different and unique forms and shapes inside.
Today, prior to posting, I had concerns about the backgrounds in (Hidden-1), so I took more photos, but using a black background, and various lighting techniques and camera settings. Some with natural light, others with flash and/or additional lighting and also decided to use a different layout and presentation, so here is ...
Hidden wonders .... beneath the rock surface (Hidden - 2):
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Hidden - 2 by
crystal_singer (drodd), on Flickr[/IMG]
Any comments or critique will be greatly appreciated. Especially regards the presentation of both, effects of the lighting, i.e., does the paler background work better than the black (visa versa)?
I've got a few other ideas for 'hidden', which, if I get time to photograph, I may post, or perhaps those ideas might fit a future theme
.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this project and comments made will be all much appreciated and help my learning experience.
Cheers
Dawn