Lake Superior Rocks & Gems - Spotted Agate
Hello Steemians and rockhounds! I want to thank everyone that's been posting to the #rockhound tag, I am happy to see it growing! Just a few weeks ago it was just two or three of us sharing on #rockhound but today I see more. This makes a perfect tag for true rockhounds to share the rocks we find since some of the other tags such as #rocks don't always pertain to just rocks. I am especially happy to see some of you posting glowing rocks just like me! I've never really seen the glow being showcased even when I searched on google for it. It's always about showing the colors and the bands but there's hidden beauty within! Just add a flashlight under the rock!
Lights Off
I was going through a few of the agates I found on Agate Beach (where I found the agate in a jasper) to see if I wanted to share any of those and sure enough, I found one. This is what I call a partial ball agate. It's pretty easy to find the smaller ones, but finding this gives me an idea of what the inside would look like. While I still wish could have found it whole, because of the spots alone, it's still quite the find! It looks like it has the chicken pox or measles! This agate is sick!
You can click on the images to view full screen!!
You can click on the images to view full screen!!
Through the 60mm Macro Lens
I really like the way this one glows. The spots are even nicer, but I seem to have a focus issue but I think that's just how the macro lens works. I usually take pictures of flatter surfaces while this is more rounded. Still amazing! The way the quartz glows inside gives it an amazing design that makes the thumbnail look like a painting.
You can click on the images to view full screen!!
Through a Jewelers Loupe 40X25 mm - Lights Off
You can click on the image to view full screen!!
No Shine
Even without the shine, this one shines a little because a lot of the rocks found on agate beach are already naturally tumbled so all they really need is a good polishing. Of course, it's no comparison to when it shines. Unfortunately, that day I didn't have my camera as I didn't really expect to end up agate hunting (I started the day shopping for car parts.
You can click on the image to view full screen!!
Shine
When it comes to this particular agate, I'd say the glowing section wins hands down. There seems to be a bunch of tiny little cracks in it that in my opinion make it a little ugly. Of course, it's a lot nicer in person because you can almost see right through the agate when it's wet. Still beautiful, and the closer you get, the cooler it is!
You can click on the image to view full screen!!
Through the 60mm Macro Lens
You can click on the image to view full screen!!
Through a Jewelers Loupe 40X25 mm - Shine
You can click on the image to view full screen!!
How Big is it?
Not very big, I couldn't help but notice the date on that dime. I think I'll be including a picture of my more collectible coins to show off the size, such as a 1962 silver nickel. I think I just may!
| Flashlight Settings | ISO 100 35 mm f/4.5 1/100 sec |
| Settings both Lights Off & On | ISO 800 55 mm f/5.6 1/50 sec |
| Camera | Nikon D3400 24 MP |
| Lens | AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR |
| Lens | AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm 1:2.8 G ED |
| Location | Superior, WI |
Fun Fact: I took a total of 299 pictures of this rock bring you the best quality! It takes me about 45 minutes to take the pictures, another 30 minutes to pick the best ones and re-scale them, plus another 20-30 minutes to make the post!
It's literally been like 10 days since I took pictures of my rocks but getting the settings was relatively easy. I still feel there was some lighting issue, but that could be because my light is running low on batteries. These LED lights are very bright and white, so as they dim it's hard to even notice.
I share my rock and agate photo's exclusive with the Steemit community! Feel free to share your thoughts! As a bonus, here's a picture of a ridiculously large, glowing rock being lit up by an even larger "flashlight". It's called The Moon! :)
Thanks for stopping by! God Bless!
March
Lake Superior Rocks & Gems - March Rocks
February
Lake Superior Rocks & Gems - February Rocks
January and Beyond
Lake Superior Rocks & Gems - January Rocks [and 2017]
When I joined Steemit I made the decision to always Power-Up my earnings. For now, payouts are set to 50/50 but you bet I will convert & Power Up! Besides internal transfers, I have never cashed out and don't plan on it! Power-Up only!
Those are beautiful pictures. I love that you love rocks (glowing ones) so much and even started a movement for it. That's ingenious and a great effort to foster community.
Pictures are great as usual, although some of it seem to be a little off focus. That could be that you are stretching your lens than it can go: going closer than the minimum focus distance. Since you have 24 MP and you need a tiny fraction of that to fill a web page, you can step back a bit and crop in post. I trust when you become Steem-rich you will buy a 100mm macro. Does Nikon make that too?
Amazing blog overall. Quality post. Lush images. Will check in the tag often.
Thank you so much for the support and feedback! I love being able to share my rockhounding finds with everyone! I bought the Nikon just to share sweet pictures on Steemit! I am pretty sure that I was at the minimum focus distance but I am also using manual focus with spot metering. Perhaps that's my problem -- I am still learning how to use this awesome camera and there's a lot of options! Next time I will play a little more with the distances to see if I can get a clearer shot.
I have considered cropping to get more detail, which may just be an added segment as I appreciate the quality I'm able to capture without cropping (I see cropping vs. scaling would give me more detail for the area that is focused). It's actually a good idea -- I'll take the most detail and crop it.
I do believe Nikon makes a 105 mm lens but I also spoke to the guy who owns the photography shop where I got the macro lens and he mentioned that the 'mm' part depends on how far away you want to be from your target. The best example he gave me was being able to zoom close to a spider that I don't want to get too close to. I will have to see what I can come up with on my next post.
I certainly plan on buying more lenses though! The one I really wanted was $1000 but that was too much. I'd like to have one of those big lenses that you mount to the tripod instead of the camera. One day...
The minimum focusing distance for the two lenses (60mm and 105mm) is 7 and 12 inches respectively. Unless you really need that extra working distance, what you have is more than enough. Just make the best of it. Read up how your auto focus select points work. Learn the different focus modes, and learn about back focus button for Nikon. @aperterikk has a brilliant video lesson on that on dtube: https://steemit.com/dtube/@aperterikk/u1g9yhix
His gear is Canon, I think, but you'll just have to refer to your manual and online articles to get a hang how it works on your system. Like I said, move back till the autofocus can work well. Take with the extra spaces in the frame, and crop in in post. 24 MP allows you a lot of room to do that.
Truth is, autofocus technology in recent cameras are pretty sophisticated and very rarely do you need to use manual focus. No one deserves that 😁
Following your blog and I'll look forward to those lovely rocks. Maybe soon I'll know enough to be initiated into "hounders league." 😉
You could well be on your way to shooting sports or wild life by then.
P.S. I should add this tip. When focusing with auto-focus, try to drop an auto focus select point on an area of the subject where there is higher contrast. Maybe a demarcation of a particular spot on the rock. Anything... just don't choose a flat spot on the subject. It helps the processors compute the focus.
Thanks for clarifying -- I am still learning all the proper verbage. When I compared the 60mm and the 105mm the clerk told me the 60 was good enough as well. I'll definitely try the auto focus and read up and check out that video.
I'd say since I've been using manual mode with manual focus it allows me the tedium that all other photographers have gone through in the past and will only help me understand my camera more.
Again I really appreciate the feedback! This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for as I grow my photography skills. Do you suggest I crop them all? I also understand I'd want to crop out the blurr? Is it common practice to consider the rule of thirds everytime I crop a picture?
Thanks for your time and answering my questions!
P.S. awesome tip! I watched a video that briefly told me about the auto focus select point so I had completely forgotten about that.
Good point you have there. It's a great idea to get a hang on manual focus. You never know when the machines will rise against man and we ought to be prepared for such onslaught.
Your composition is on point, in my opinion. You don't need to crop or always adhere to some compositional "rules". My suggestion of cropping is only so you can be able to take back the lens further, maybe up to a 10 inches distance, for optimal focus performance, and then crop later on to whatever you choose to have in your frame.
One thing is certain, you have a brilliant set of gears. Another is certain, you are learning really fast :)
I was looking for a perfect candidate to perform a crop on and I chose the moon picture above.
So I wanted to thank you again for the tip. So much detail that I was taking away by scaling the pictures instead of cropping first.
Well that certainly makes my day thank you! I did not consider optimal focus performance, I was simply focusing on minimum distance focus. Backing out a bit may just get me the desired results. I learned something today!
Wow. Now look at the details you were hiding 😊
Great pics! I think the glowing pics look like a brain. Do you know what it is? Thank you for sharing your pictures.
Thanks I assumed that it's just an agate. I see a lot of these quarts-looking rocks with agate characteristics, maybe most of the agate has been tumbled away. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!