Lady Sheena Palangan

Minerals are naturally-occurring solid compounds that are often associated with rocks. So for the sake of brevity, let’s call them rocks. You might think taking photos of rocks sounds pretty boring but, minerals aren’t exactly regular rocks. Tiffany & Co. does an awesome job at taking photos of their minerals, don’t they? So do Harry Winston and Cartier. Yes, their gorgeous jewelry items come from minerals. You don’t really have to turn the natural minerals to jewelry to make them look gorgeous. Using the right camera and tricks, you can make even the most boring rock look alive and amazing. How to Rock Mineral Photography (Pun most definitely intended!) Get to know your camera These days you don’t really have to own a high-end professional camera in order to come up with beautiful professional pictures. Many smartphones have powerful cameras that come with adjustable settings. Pair that with some basic photo editing and an eye for detail, you can give pros a run for their money. Take one… two… three… more photos Rome wasn’t built in a day and your mineral photography portfolio will not be built with a single photo. Take lots of photos from different angles, using different settings. You’ll be surprised how the variety of settings can actually make your subject look different in the photos. Keep attention on the mineral Don’t lose sight of your subject. Unlike other subjects that can be used with props, minerals do better by themselves. Props can cast shadows on your mineral and reduce its overall impact. There are enough going on in the mineral itself. Features like clarity, shape, color can be difficult to capture and adding any other object in the picture creates a distraction. Use a good background Keeping in mind that props are a no-go, you should take care to choose your background carefully. A plain white, flat background that isn’t reflective works great especially for colorful, high-contrast minerals. Lightly-colored minerals, however, look better with a gray background. Just make sure it isn’t too dark since a dark background may take away some of the details from the subject. The outline of the mineral is also important in determining the color of the background. A mineral with dark outlines look best with a white background and one with light outlines stand out in a darker background. Forgo any background that has patterns because the mineral is bound to have its own patterns. A busy background will completely destroy your photo. Play with lighting You notice how beautiful minerals look when the light hits them just right? That’s what you want to capture in your photos. Experiment with different elements like lighting angle, intensity and type of light to use. A light source placed at just the right angle with just the right intensity can produce the most amazing photograph. Choose your subject’s orientation To choose the best angle, put your mineral on the surface of your background and turn it 360 degrees. Decide on which angle gives the most attractive images. Don’t forget to consider your distance from the mineral. You can do this part best by looking through your camera lens or phone camera. Remember the general rules of composition In mineral photography, the general rules of composition in photography still apply. Your main goal is to display your specimen as realistically and as accurately as possible. That’s why it is also important to remember to maintain fidelity to the mineral’s original color. If you have to change color saturation or any setting, it should only be so you can match the specimen’s actual color. Some parting thoughts Mineral photography can be complicated and intricate since the subject tends to be reflective or at least some reflective surfaces. How you present it depends on the purpose of the photo. It may be for artistic display or for research. Whatever the case may be, the important thing is to always keep the mineral the center of attention. Your camera settings and your artistic flair can greatly affect the final product. Many photographers who use digital cameras or phone cameras use Photoshop to adjust their images. While it can be tempting to make the colors brighter or to add some lighting effect, don’t forget that it’s your mission to stay true to the mineral’s real colors and patterns. Ultimately, learning how to take the best mineral photograph can be hard but if you are interested enough, you can work your way towards being great at it by simply taking the first picture, then go on to taking more.