FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[nimfiara]

Ufffff, give me a moment, I need to recover of the attack that has given me heart to see those pieces.

O_O

[Matt_Zukowski]

On Sunday at TGMS, I decided to get snappy and took a bunch of pictures. First up is a set of picts of the photography rig used by Joaquim Callen who photographs for Mineral Up Magazine. I think someone else took pictures of this rig in Jordi's room. Anyways, i wanted to take a bunch of pictures 'cause I think this rig may be an inspiration for others. He is a really nice guy - despite the language barrier, he was very gracious, and even invited me to look through his camera as he framed the picture. Shown here he is photographing a HUGE tourmaline from Paprok at the Fine Mineral Int'l booth.

[Matt_Zukowski]

Three picture of a cabinet with Southern IL galena and fluorite.

[Matt_Zukowski]

Dan Weinrich with some wonderful thumbnails from his lovely wife.

[Matt_Zukowski]

Luis Burillo had many of these glassy limpid gypsum on alabaster specimens.

[Matt_Zukowski]

...

[Matt_Zukowski]

Bisbee specimens

[Matt_Zukowski]

Peter Megaw's Mina Milpillas specimens

[Matt_Zukowski]

Minerals from the Chinese locality producing the nice ilvaites.

[Matt_Zukowski]

This case was really quite amazing. Jessica Simonoff (who I'd like to say never fails to impress) and Jolyon Ralph (who I had a nice chat with at Jordi's party) set out to find a bunch of nice specimens for less than $10 each. They really did a great job! Patience plus industry equals results.

[Matt_Zukowski]

Here are just some pictures of what it looks like on the floor of the TGMS on Sunday.

[Matt_Zukowski]

California spodumene and "the rabbit ears."

[Matt_Zukowski]

The SF Xtal Gazers fine cabinet.

[chris]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for posting all your pictures. I really like the fluorite / galenas from Illinois. Remember the owner(s) of those specimens ? I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of them was Ross Lilly.

Christophe

[Matt_Zukowski]

More cases of wonderful CA minerals.

[Matt_Zukowski]

more

[Matt_Zukowski]

Thanks Chris for the encouragement. I do not know who the owners were. Sorry.

[Matt_Zukowski]

A couple of pieces from Wayne Thompson and Rob Lavinsky that caught my interest.

[Matt_Zukowski]

The next set of picts comes from an intriguing case showing a collection assembled in the 18th & 19th centuries. It is great being able to see what people were able to amass back then.

A case like this causes me to reflect on where we are in mineral collecting history. Sometimes I think we are in a golden age of mineral specimen production. The internet has allowed people all over the world to see the value of mineral specimens. Although this has raised prices at the source (and probably decreased the competitive advantages of Indiana Jones types), it creates a pull that makes more people spend more time on collecting and preserving mineral specimens. This incents small artisanal specimen producers. At the same time, I wonder if there is more contract mineral collection at large mines, since the rise of the price of mineral specimens makes such sidelines at major mines worth the small production disruptions they may cause. Mineral specimen price inflation may be a double edged sword in that I want more for my mineral dollar but at the same time high prices attract more efforts at bringing mineral specimens to market. What do you think?

[Matt_Zukowski]

Now...the picts.