A rich variety of over two dozen sea shell beads and sea shells in earth tones.

My brother-in-law sells unique and very attractive necklaces made of sea shells (among other things). Apparently they’re called “statement necklaces” because the shells are integral to the design of the jewelry rather than being incidental add-ons or accents. He also sells some of the components (beads etc.) that make up the necklaces.

Apart from one brief attempt at product photograph when my wife had expressed and interest in making jewelry I’d never attempted this genre. However, he wanted to have some pictures so I thought I’d give it a try. I considered making a do it yourself light tent, but then it occurred to me that we have some large windows where the light streams in early in the morning. We have some translucent blinds that, I thought, might diffuse the light nicely.

So I got out the tripod, arranged a background and we were ready to go. Unfortunately it turned out to be the first cloudy day in a while and no sun was streaming through the windows. We decided to go ahead anyway. The first effort was a test and led us to put a white card in place to reflect back some of the window light.

I’m not really satisfied with the results, but my brother in law seemed to think that he could use them. They’re certainly better than those he had before (taken with an iphone I believe). Would I do it again? If a friend or a family member were to ask me then probably I would (if only to see if I could do it better next time around). But otherwise probably not. It’s not really a form of photography that appeals to me a lot.

Three scallop shells gilded with gold plating strung on woven seed beads.

Square tiles inlaid with the iconic paua abalone linked with wire-wrapped turquoise and agate chips.

I was attracted to the curves and textures of this sculpture at Boscobel. Unfortunately I don’t know what it was called or who made it (maybe there was a sign but I missed it in my enthusiasm to take the pictures).

For a change a few color pictures. All pictures taken with a Sony Nex 5N and legacy lenses. The flowers were taken with a Rokinon 28mm f2.8 in Minolta mount. I bought an inexpensive Minolta X-700 and it came with a couple of Rokinon Lenses. The rest were taken with a Canon 50mm 1.4 FD SSC.

Hallowe’en is coming around again so I’ll start with a pumpkin picture. This one about this time last year.

Bicycle with flowers near Grand Central Terminal. The blurred effect is deliberate: I didn’t just miss the focus. When I saw the pastel colors of the flowers I thought I’d go for an “impressionistic” kind of effect.

Statue of George Washington in Union Square Park, Manhattan. Apparently it’s the oldest sculpture in the New York City Parks Collection. For more information follow the link. I once read that over time Washington had ceased to be a human being, with human strengths and weaknesses and instead had become an equestrian statue.

Rose in our garden

Motorcycle near Grand Central Terminal

More roses from our garden