513 - Denver Gem & Mineral Show
Today I found out what happens to geology nerds when they get rich.
It all started with one of those bloodshot phone calls you wake up to at 9am. Your brain warps back into reality as the phone buzzes, and you slowly remember you’re a living being.
Turns out a buddy I hadn’t seen in years was inviting to go to a rock festival downtown. Not the most appealing offer to wake up to, I must admit. I pressed for more details.
Apparently it was a rocks and minerals convention- one that only comes to Colorado once a year. And this particular convention featured some of the newest discovered rocks in the world.
Oh joy… Geology was my least favorite class in college. I’d rather learn about carrots. The bed started calling me back into its warm embrace.
But then out of the corner of my ear, I heard a whisper. It was my camera. Apparently it wanted out. I’ve been working like a dog recently, and I’ve barely had time to let it out to shoot.
I sighed. Alright, let’s do it. My beauty sleep could wait. After that wildly successful botanical garden shoot the other day, another macro sesh sounded like it could be fun. Plus it was only ten bucks to get in.
I loaded up the Prius and started the drive to downtown Denver.
I showed up to the Denver Convention Center at 10:30am, camera in hand. The clientele was exactly what you’d expect. Old dudes wearing Indiana Jones gear. They roamed the floor with giddy smiles on their faces, running up to rocks like they’d just found gold. Literally. I could fuck with this…
The show was divided into three main categories- two minerals sections and a jewelry section. One of the mineral sections was “upper tier.” This meant it required additional paperwork because of how valuable the stuff was. I decided to save that place for last.
And… I regretted that decision immediately. The first mineral section felt like I walked into an archeological dig site that had seen better days. I walked up to a few stands to take photos of the rocks, and was met with surprising resistance.
Apparently some people didn’t like me taking photos of their rocks. Even if it looked like it had just been bought from some tacky tourist rock shop hours earlier. At this moment my buddy called and asked where I was.
Turns out he had gone to a different rock/mineral convention, one that was all the way across town. We’d mixed them up. What the fuck? How are there multiple of these conventions happening on the same weekend?
My vibe started falling apart. I didn’t have any shots yet, and it wasn’t looking promising. I needed to save this shoot. I’d essentially woken up early for this.
So I did what any respectable photographer does when things go south. I left the scene. It was time to visit this so-called “upper tier” section.
I walked in and began to take in the room. As I slowly gazed around, I realized that this was why people went to this convention. These minerals were freaking insane.
A group of important looking men walked past me in suits, and I took a quick glance at the price tags. Most minerals were casually listed for thousands, and many stretched into the $50-70k territory. These things were no joke.
Now I understand why most museums and casual rock shops didn’t display this unique stuff. They couldn’t afford it. Which leads me to my first tip. If you want to see real minerals, go to a high-status convention where actual money is involved.
My camera immediately went into freak mode, and I took dozens of photos over the course of the next hour and a half. No one cared. All of these minerals were behind glass barriers, so taking photos wasn’t a concern to them.
Here’s my top five photos from the shoot:
“Terminator Rebirth”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 70mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/250s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
“Cube Runner”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 70mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/125s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
“The Underground”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 66mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
“The Underground”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 37mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
“The Underground”
Taken with Sony a7rIII + Zeiss 24-70mm f/4
[ISO 500 ~ 70mm ~ f/8 ~ 1/125s]
(Want a Print? Get it here.)
My favorite shot was the yellow one. Almost looks like a mad smiley face.
As you can see, almost all of those shots are macros. As enticing as it was to get a full shot of the larger, more expensive minerals, there was no physical way to do it. The glass casing and backdrops of them simply weren’t appetizing enough. Luckily all the glass was ridiculously clean, so shooting through it wasn’t an issue.
Here’s some tips for how I managed to snag these zoomed in babies.
Firstly, I looked for solitary colors that were contrasted by darker backdrops. This allowed me to use color as the subject. I also looked for singular colors. Too many colors, and the viewer wouldn’t know where to look.
Secondly, I aimed for simplistic patterns. In the editing process, I had to remove many small rocks on the edges and corners that distracted the eye from the overall pattern.
Finally, I made sure to balance the lighting. Since most of these minerals were lit by single lights from a certain angle, it meant a very high percentage of the rocks were unbalanced in lighting. Half the rock would be bright as hell, and the other half a dark oblivion. I fixed this by dodging (brightening) the dark parts during the editing process.
Oh.. and I also had to ensure I didn’t get any blown out specs when aiming the lens. Since many of the minerals were shiny, this was a common occurrence. I found that if I even moved an inch or two to the right or the left, I could redirect the blown out spec somewhere else.
Phew. That was a lot of tips. And a ridiculously fun session. Completely turned around once I entered the multi-million dollar room.
I’d say the highlight of the adventure was talking to some high school kid that was debating if he should buy a $3,000 mineral the size of my thumb. What a dumbass. Then I realized I was pointing a $4,000 camera at those rocks.
Stay tuned. In the next adventure my portrait game goes off the charts as I work with almost a dozen models in one sitting.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
*Please note this page contains affiliate links.
