Seeds for a New Year

This whole photo series started spontaneously last week as Emily and I were killing some time with some friends at a local Starbuck's before taking them to the airport. There weren't enough seats inside, so we decided to brave the elements (low 50's) outside and enjoy our coffee alfresco-style. This is when I spotted this weird hanging shell-thingy (technical name unknown - see left) off of one of the trees. So I reached up and grabbed it, examined it, and thought "hey, this would be awesome for macro photography"...I know...I'm a dork, but hey, this is what happens when you get addicted to photography.

So I brought this "shell-thingy" home and came to the realization that I was going to need a way to properly light and isolate this cool object so as to let it speak for itself. That's when I started doing some research on the net (I've come to realize lately that you can find just about anything you need to know on the internet) and came across a webpage that demonstrated a how-to on building a light box. And so the next morning, as Emily was at work and I was on vacation, I went ahead and built it (without a voice ala Field of Dreams instructing me to)...and the rest was pure fun.

The last two objects were found on another separate day during a trip to the Dallas Arboretum (and no, no beautiful plants/flowers were sacrificed in the making of these photographs).

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!