sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

This is a tiny shell that Bill sent to me. I thought that it would make a good texture subject and something to practice staging and lighting. It was quite a small creature however I do not know what species it was.

Thanks as always in advance to those who view and all comments, recommendations and critique are highly appreciated.

(Download)

twowindsbear

would be a nice touch to include a small coin, or the edge of a ruler to show just how tiny it is

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

This was sent by me , to Gary. It is most probably a Hornshell Snail. Goniobasis virginica. They are common in small fresh water streams on the Eastern Shore(Md.). To one inch as adult. I collect these, clams, insects, fish and more by 'sweeping' the grass beds in the stream and then let the sweepings run their course in an aquarium stocked with grass. Better than TV, which I do not watch.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Bill, thanks for the opportunity to practice on one of your shells. There is a lot of textured details that you could not see at a normal "eyes" view. I placed this shell on the back of a white business card held in place with a dab of white modeling clay. The card was held in place with a 'third hand' clamp vertically which I needed to do because the camera was positioned horizontally.

I used two IKEA single LED lamps set at 45 degree angles and an LED lamp placed over the top of the subject to eliminate shadows. The shot was taken with a Laowa 60mm f-2.8 2X macro lens set at 1.5X to fit the entire shell into the frame. ISO at 150 and shutter set to 50 adjusted to keep the light meter 1/4 stop underexposed.

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Looks good! It holds up very nicely on DL. Excellent job. Only quibbles are that it is cropped on the top and bottom, and the reflections are a bit too strong in the area just below the opening.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

Thanks, Mark.

I highly value your feedback and I always learn something from it. The shell was quite dull so I put a drop of vegetable oil on a paper towel and wiped it to help bring the colors out. My Laowa 60mm lens has a manual magnification zoom so I tuned it to where it would fill the frame which was about 1.5:1.

The small end of this shell is blunt. I don't know if it grew this way or if it had a pointed tip that is now long gone. I did not diffuse the light setup although I have a variety of modifiers so perhaps I'll zoom out a bit and soften the light arrangement as another version.

newtoyou Loc: Eastport

The oil brought out the subtle color of the shell. Good idea. You took a mundane subject and brought out the beauty.
In the streams where these are found there may a huge population by late summer. In early winter the bottom is littered by empty shells, all eaten on, or eroded. A few trailers(the water flows briskly along gravel beds) of what I believe to be common waterweed, Elodea canadensis, are left.
In the aquarium, ten gallon, about a cupful or snails(one net sweep) will eat all greenery and the populations drops, the empty shells show this eaten, eroded pattern almost 100%. I am assuming they are eaten for the calcium, but???
In an aquarium or in the stream the result to the shells is the same, so I am led to believe the live snails do the eating. In this one you can see where it is eroded about the opening.
There is a surprising number of fresh water shellfish in Maryland, some once harvested for the button industry.
Very nice, Gary.

napabob Loc: Napa CA