Colorchallenge Photography — Monday Red — Macro Shots of Beach Glass!

Back to something I haven't done in a while: Be part of @kalemandra's "Color Challenge."

Yup, it's probably Steemit's oldest and most widespread photo challenge (correct me if I'm wrong!), and I like to "do a little bit extra" for these... 

Vibrant red sea glass; these pieces are all quite tiny, maybe 3/8" (10mm) across

So, one of my hobbies/pastimes is beach combing, and we happen to live in an area where there was a public oceanside garbage dump, 50+ years ago.

Among the many things that were discarded over the years, is lots and lots of glass. Most of this was tossed before we used plastics for everything.

In the bright sunlight, they look almost orange

Some of you might have picked up beach glass (or sea glass) during seaside visits... and it's mostly old bottle glass that has been broken to small bits, and then tumbled smooth and matte by years and years of being in the sand, surf and pebbles.

Most commonly you find this glass in the colors of most glass containers: Clear, brown, shades of green and pale aqua blue (like Coke bottles). 

Other colors can be quite rare.

On this piece, you can still see remnants of the chevron pattern on an old car tail light

RED, for example. It pretty much only came from things like old automobile tail lights and warning lamps at road works, and lenses from ships' lanterns. Not a whole lot of that around.

This piece still has a bit of a "lip" on one edge, from the rim that held the lens in place

As it happens, sea glass has become quite collectible, and there's actually an active crafts market for it, as well, with 100's (if not 1000's) of artisans using it for jewelry and decorative items.

I happen to know a bit about it because it has fascinated me since I was about a 7-year old kid.

So, in this post I am basically sharing some super macro photos of red sea glass I have found over the years. Keep in mind that what you're looking at on the screen is pretty much all items less than 3/4" (20mm) across.

And a whole bunch of tiny red pieces, looking particularly vibrant against a white background

So, that's my entry for "Monday Red!" Hope you enjoy this rather unusual approach to the challenge!

How about YOU? Have you ever picked up sea glass (even if not red) when visiting the seaside? Did you know it was a popular collectible? If yes, what colors have you found? Have you ever made jewelry or crafts with it? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

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Created at 180806 20:46 PDT