David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Peridot Crystals (Pele’s Tears). Image taken with D2xs camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, f/22, 1/60 sec, flash). Thom was curious what I was taking macro images of in my hotel room while waiting for dinner.
I have always been fascinated by crystals. Before I retired I learned to solve chemical structures using single-crystal x-ray images. I love whenever I ever find a crystal in nature.
Random large crystals . I used to grow crystals as a hobby. These are not gem quality.
I have always been fascinated with gems and crystals. I loved growing sugar and then alum crystals as a kid. Ultimately, I became a chemist where growing crystals became part of my job. These are several random rough crystals that I have grown over the years. Image taken with a Nikon D3x camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro (ISO 100, f/11, 30 sec). Processed using Capture One Pro 5, Adobe Photoshop PS5 and Focus Magic.
Early Thanksgiving morning we went to see the sun rise over the Kilauea volcano crater. There was no activity in the caldera, but the black and orange clouds looked like lava. While returning to the lodge we noticed a Nene. A Hawaiian goose. It looks a lot like Canada geese, but it does not migrate. The Nene almost went extinct, and are now protected. You can see the tags on its legs. Before lunch we spent more time on composition. I worked on the clump of ferns. I then worked on some macro images of a stone with green Peridot Crystals (Pele’s Tears). That afternoon we were treated to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as well as local specialties.