# Gramma's Rock Collection



## 480sparky (Jan 3, 2013)

My paternal grandmother (rest her soul) spent much of the later years of her life being a rock hound, having been infected with Rocks Pox.  Lately, I dug out the part of her vast collection that I inherited and decided there's a lot of nice images to be had.

Toward that end, here's the first of a series I'm going to work on... Gramma's Rock Collection.


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## cgipson1 (Jan 3, 2013)

Lovely colors... nicely polished too!


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## 480sparky (Jan 3, 2013)

cgipson1 said:


> Lovely colors... nicely polished too!



Sadly... that polished look is what we think killed her.  She had a diamond-blade rock cutter that used an oil bath.  She would cut a rock, turn off the machine, reach into the oil and grab the rock.......... then in her excitement to see what it looked like, would lick it.  Turns out, the oil was PCB-based.


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## tirediron (Jan 3, 2013)

Nice rocks, sorry about Gran!


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## cgipson1 (Jan 3, 2013)

Sorry to hear that, Sparky!


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## 480sparky (Jan 4, 2013)




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## Demers18 (Jan 4, 2013)

Really like the lines in this one. Nice work Sparky!

Sorry to hear about your Gran.


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## sm4him (Jan 4, 2013)

480sparky said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > Lovely colors... nicely polished too!
> ...



Oh my!! That's horrible!

Beautiful images though. My youngest son is also an avid rock collector. Actually, he loved rocks (and dirt...seriously, not just getting dirty, but DIRT) from the time he was very little. He would look for interesting rocks everywhere we went. He would try to find one rock a day to give to his mother to show his love. He would find rocks and put them in his boots.  The boots he was wearing at the time!--because he liked the way they felt. He was an odd kid. :lmao:
His favorite birthday present, ever, was when my brother gave him a large wooden box (which he'd made himself, it was beautiful)--inside the box was...dirt. LOTS of dirt. And rocks, from different places my brother had traveled. Sean thought he was in HEAVEN, digging through that dirt looking for rocks. His older brother thought it was ridiculous. Until Sean also found $$ in the dirt. Then, suddenly, his brother wanted to "help!" 

The rock collection started gathering dust by the time he was about 16, and I thought that was the end of that.

This Christmas, one of the first items on his Christmas list was: Rocks. He seems to have discovered them all over again.


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## JohnWDavisJr (Jan 4, 2013)

love the images, the second one even better!


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## 07Vios (Jan 4, 2013)

Those are some cool shots. Sorry to hear about your grandma though.


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## 480sparky (Jan 5, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Jan 9, 2013)

Found in Arizona.


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## 480sparky (Jan 9, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Jan 10, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Jan 10, 2013)




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## Judobreaker (Jan 11, 2013)

Darn, these are cool...


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## 480sparky (Jan 11, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Jan 15, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Jan 16, 2013)




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## squirrels (Jan 16, 2013)

I really love this one. Very fjordy!
C


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## 480sparky (Jan 16, 2013)

squirrels said:


> I really love this one. Very fjordy!
> C



She wrote "Glendo Dam, Agate" on this one.  It's about 6" x 9".  I can get lost in this one.


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## squirrels (Jan 16, 2013)

Me too! Ocean waves and sea foam... I'm glad you shared it.


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## deeky (Jan 16, 2013)

Some great work, both on your part and on nature's part.  

From what I see, it all looks like front-lighting.  Have you played at all with backlighting some of the slices?


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## 480sparky (Jan 17, 2013)

deeky said:


> Some great work, both on your part and on nature's part.
> 
> From what I see, it all looks like front-lighting.  Have you played at all with backlighting some of the slices?



Ayyep!

But most of 'em are too thick for that.


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## 480sparky (Jan 17, 2013)




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## paigew (Jan 17, 2013)

These are really beautiful. A nice tribute to your grandmother.


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## 480sparky (Jan 18, 2013)




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## shefjr (Jan 18, 2013)

No.12 reminds me of an ominous sky that has been HDR overcooked. I like how it has depth to it.


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## dmunsie (Jan 19, 2013)

*Excellent work*, but please do a series of full size individual rocks to go along with the close up of the textures. Right now these look like a bit computer generated, almost like fractals, etc, so it would be great to see the individual rock where the textures came from.


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## 480sparky (Mar 12, 2013)

Dug out another box of rocks.


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## 480sparky (Mar 12, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Mar 13, 2013)

So I got out my 750,000,000mm lens and focused it on Mars...........


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## Tiller (Mar 13, 2013)

480sparky said:


> So I got out my 750,000,000mm lens and focused it on Mars...........



At f/1.2 right?


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## 480sparky (Mar 13, 2013)

Tiller said:


> 480sparky said:
> 
> 
> > So I got out my 750,000,000mm lens and focused it on Mars...........
> ...



0.95.  Pancake.


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## pgriz (Mar 13, 2013)

Ok, we know you're lying because Mars is on the other side of the sun right now.  Not to mention the many sharp edges that are in your image - those are all ground down on Mars by the winds.  But the reds look authentic.


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## KrisztinaK (Mar 13, 2013)

The textures in these are really cool!

I ditto the previous comment about seeing these rocks in their entirety.
The close ups are really nice, but I'd like to see more of the actual rock.


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## Tiller (Mar 14, 2013)

pgriz said:


> Ok, we know you're lying because Mars is on the other side of the sun right now.  Not to mention the many sharp edges that are in your image - those are all ground down on Mars by the winds.  But the reds look authentic.



Oh is that why? I though we knew he was kidding bc be said he had a 750,000,000mm lens


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## pgriz (Mar 14, 2013)

Tiller said:


> pgriz said:
> 
> 
> > Ok, we know you're lying because Mars is on the other side of the sun right now. Not to mention the many sharp edges that are in your image - those are all ground down on Mars by the winds. But the reds look authentic.
> ...



Oh yes, we knew.  Just because the support stand for a 750,000,000mm lens is kinda amazing in its own way, and being a f/0.95 pancake lens, it means that sparky has the world's most interesting camera.  Nothing works with jokes as well as some totally irrelevant facts.


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## 480sparky (Mar 14, 2013)

pgriz said:


> Oh yes, we knew.  Just because the support stand for a 750,000,000mm lens is kinda amazing in its own way, and being a f/0.95 pancake lens, it means that sparky has the world's most interesting camera.  Nothing works with jokes as well as some totally irrelevant facts.




No, it's just an ordinary D7000.


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## pgriz (Mar 14, 2013)

480sparky said:


> pgriz said:
> 
> 
> > Oh yes, we knew. Just because the support stand for a 750,000,000mm lens is kinda amazing in its own way, and being a f/0.95 pancake lens, it means that sparky has the world's most interesting camera. Nothing works with jokes as well as some totally irrelevant facts.
> ...



Maybe...  but it's the photographer who makes it interesting.  Anyways, flat jokes aside, I really like the images you took in this series.  I cannot help but think your Grandmother will be pleased to know her collection is in fine hands and that you're revealing some of the beauty she found in those rocks.  Did she, by any chance, let you photograph these before her passing?


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## 480sparky (Mar 14, 2013)

pgriz said:


> ........  Did she, by any chance, let you photograph these before her passing?



For the most part, I was much too young.  I do have some photos of her studio in New Mexico in my old K25 slides.  When I get around to buying a scanner, I'll keep an eye out for it.  She did a lot of neat stuff.... made jewelry, painted, poetry etc. She did a lot with driftwood as well. I also inherited her slides, which I plan on scanning some of her 'better' work some day.

One of her most unique features is her double thumb.  When she was 8, her right index finger was cut off in a farming accident.  After that, she started to grow a second thumb.  I took a shot of it for her in 1979:


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## pgriz (Mar 14, 2013)

Did you have any of your Gramma's paintings or poetry?  Sometimes the person does not appreciate what they have done/made, and it is up to the subsequent generations to bring that hidden talent out into the open.  She seems (through your presentation) to be a very interesting person.  Perhaps a book of her work?


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## 480sparky (Mar 14, 2013)

pgriz said:


> Did you have any of your Gramma's paintings or poetry?  Sometimes the person does not appreciate what they have done/made, and it is up to the subsequent generations to bring that hidden talent out into the open.  She seems (through your presentation) to be a very interesting person.  Perhaps a book of her work?



She didn't write enough for a book.  I do have about 15 of her paintings and one of her poems.








I used her title for this shot I took last year:


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## pgriz (Mar 14, 2013)

Sparky, you've got a treasure trove there.  Love, love, love her careful script, and phrasing.  Very poignant message too, and perhaps you will prove her wrong in thinking "Only in the specks of dust will my story be told".


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## Tiller (Mar 14, 2013)

She had gorgeous handwriting!


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## 480sparky (Mar 14, 2013)

A couple of her paintings:


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## pgriz (Mar 14, 2013)

Oh, those are good.  How much effort does your family spend on preserving the family heritage?  Most don't, but some do take care.  On my mother's side, the family history is written down to about 150 years ago.  Unfortunately, my father was not too interested in documenting his side of the family, so we don't have much beyond a number of small photographs and some that he took with his Leica.  My wife's family has tried to put together a family history, but my mother-in-law was one of eight, and my father-in-law was the youngest of 13, so as you can imagine, my wife's side of the family is quite large.  However, each of us is trying to document, in photographs, writings, and whatever we can find of painting, artwork, or other items, the life that was lived.  I've started assembling for each person in our extended immediate family (is that an oxymoron?) the photographic records of each person through the years.  So far, I've delivered three of these "packages" and have been asked to work on the rest.  It's a labour of love, but I think it will be well appreciated.

In your case, Sparky, your grandmother needs a voice, and perhaps you will be that voice.  Quite frankly, I would absolutely love to read a book (even a thin one) documenting the life of a person, as seen partly through their eyes (in the form of their body of work) and through the eyes of those around her.  It is quite obvious that your grandmother was gifted and talented, and her life should be celebrated.  Not trying to put you on the spot here, but I am enjoying tremendously what you've shared with us so far.


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## 480sparky (Mar 14, 2013)

pgriz said:


> .....  Quite frankly, I would absolutely love to read a book (even a thin one) documenting the life of a person, ..........



As you wish.

Her story, as written by my cousin, in 1979.


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## pgriz (Mar 14, 2013)

480sparky said:


> pgriz said:
> 
> 
> > ..... Quite frankly, I would absolutely love to read a book (even a thin one) documenting the life of a person, ..........
> ...



Thank you - that was very, very good.  She was a very interesting worman, who had lived her life in full.  Not easy by any means, but full.  But now... we need the images.  When you're ready.


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## Photographiend (Mar 14, 2013)

Awesomeness. My hubs is a Geologist. May have to show him this thread. :mrgreen:


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## 480sparky (Mar 15, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Mar 16, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Mar 16, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Mar 17, 2013)




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## 480sparky (Mar 22, 2013)




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## pgriz (Mar 22, 2013)

That one's different.  How much magnification did you give it?


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## 480sparky (Mar 22, 2013)

pgriz said:


> That one's different.  How much magnification did you give it?



1:1


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## pgriz (Mar 22, 2013)

I'm no rock expert, but that looks like quartz and pyrite?


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## 480sparky (Mar 23, 2013)

pgriz said:


> I'm no rock expert, but that looks like quartz and pyrite?




Beats me.  I have a box of rocks, and they're smarter than me!


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## CherylL (Mar 23, 2013)

480sparky said:


> Found in Arizona.



This one reminds me of Van Gogh's Starry Night.


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