I am lucky enough to have a couple bags of shells my father brought back from the South Pacific after World War II- from the island of Eniwetok, to be exact. Alhtough I’ve used some of them in other photos, I got them out again yesterday to shoot with my macro lens.
I wanted the shells to be on a wood background, but I don’t like how the grain of my dining table looks in photos- and, truthfully, I didn’t want to lie on the floor. I haven’t bought any kind of tray for still life (still plan to) or wood to use as a background, but I came up with something that for me was a brilliant solution, if I do say so myself! I took the little drawer out from the dental cabinet where my treasures are housed, turned it over, and scattered the shells on top. The wood you see in the photos below is birds-eye maple, which is used for the inside of the drawers in the otherwise mahogany cabinet. I used side lighting from the sliding glass door- and a wide aperture with my macro lens to create shallow depth of field (BeStill 52 lessons).
All the images are textured with two layers of Kim Klassen’s simple or simple1 textures.
Linking up with Texture Tuesday today.
melinda anderson photography 
What a gift your father brought you! Lovely stills, Melinda!
Brilliant idea on the drawer…they are fun to use in many ways! Love your macro work and side light on your treasured shells!
Nice work and very smart idea….
Very nice! Cool shells. What a special memory to have if your dad.
Amazing! Your images are so dramatic and elegant. Great idea to use the drawer.
Lovely images of some special treasures ! Love the light 🙂
These are lovely. I’m really drawn to the first shot but all of them are really nice. And the bird’s eye maple is beautiful. You may not need to get another background board.
All of these shots are really beautiful! Great color in the shells and wood. I have lens envy 😉 I’ve been wanting a Macro lens for ages. Soon, I hope.
Beautiful group.