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01-JAN-2005 Helen Betts

Crystal
by Helen Betts

Ankara, Turkey

These are two Swarovski crystal flutes that I bought in Prague. The bases are cut lead crystal with colors that look like a prism (in bright light), and the stems are filled with hundreds of tiny crystal balls. The stars are part of the original photograph, not added :-).

Sony DSC-F717
3s f/6.3 at 16.0mm iso100 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time31-Dec-2004 23:10:00
MakeSony
ModelCybershot
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length16 mm
Exposure Time3.00 sec
Aperturef/6.3
ISO Equivalent100
Exposure Bias
White Balanceother (255)
Metering Modecenter weighted (2)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programmanual (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Guest 11-Jan-2005 07:19
Wonderful sparkles in this simply elegant composition. An amazing story, Helen! -Michael
Katherine Stanback's Photos11-Jan-2005 01:30
Really nice lighting and clarity in the glass - I love the colors star lights!
Helen Betts09-Jan-2005 07:01
Thank you for your comment, Netgarden. I think it was luck that I got the stars since they didn't appear in my earlier pictures, only when I moved the camera into this particular position. I've gotten this effect before when photographing Christmas tree lights at a small aperture -- each light turns into a small star. Helen
Guest 08-Jan-2005 08:43
Helen beautiful photograph. I can't begin to know how you got such a perfect reflection. I've only seen those stars in raindrops and sun. Very nice!
Guest 03-Jan-2005 09:43
Those two stars are beautiful and add "life" to your subjects, Helen. What I love most about your image posts.... there's always a story behind them :-) Markjay
Helen Betts02-Jan-2005 17:40
Thanks, Sonny. The bases of the glasses are brilliantly colored cut crystal (and very heavy) -- in normal light, they are literally dazzling to look at. I think the camera just caught two different color facets and thus ended up with different colored stars (although the green one was red when it first appeared...). And you have no idea how much the "congratulations" actually means... We carried the two glasses all around Central Europe for almost two weeks and got them home to Turkey safely. After I had washed them, my husband picked one up to dry it, and the base broke off in his hand, with the hundreds of crystals in the stem running all over the floor. After much effort and expense on my part (locals didn't want to deal with it, shipping to Lichtenstein for $220, reimbursement by Swarovski and finally replacement by them, I now have three champagne flutes :-), which I treat with incredible care!

Helen
Guest 02-Jan-2005 16:02
Helen, congratulations on your purchase of these fine crystals. Those stars are intriguing; one is green and one is orange - must have come from 2 different sources.