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Title: Amber Beads
Medium: Digital Photography
Photographer: Aaron J. Greenblatt
Camera Type: Panasonic DMC-LZ7 Lumix 7.2 MP
Editing: Edited in PhotoShop 7.0 for color accuracy, size, and to apply copyright and border.

Location: Photograph taken at the 2008 Spring Bead Bonanza Show in Southfield, Michigan.

Description: These pretty amber beads were for sale at the show. They were so bright and glittery that it was difficult to take a picture of them. The amber in these beads does not naturally form like this. These beads have been created by pressing and heating small amber pieces together. It's still natural amber material, it's just not a natural formation of it. The nice thing about these beads, aside from their sparkle, was how little they weighed and how warm they felt to the touch. This is in direct contrast to how much most stones weigh (which can be a lot) and how most stones feel - which is often cold.

About Pressed Amber: Small fragments, formerly thrown away or used only for varnish, are now utilized on a large scale in the formation of "ambroid" or "pressed amber". The pieces are carefully heated with exclusion of air and then compressed into a uniform mass by intense hydraulic pressure; the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal plate. The product is extensively used for the production of cheap jewelery and articles for smoking. This pressed amber yields brilliant interference colors in polarized light.

About Amber: Amber is the name for fossil resin or tree sap. It is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelery. Although not mineralized, it is sometimes considered a gemstone. Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30–90 million years old. Semi-fossilized resin or sub-fossil amber is called copal. It can hold insects or even small mammals.

Information Source: [link] (wiki)

Legal: Copyright © Aaron J. Greenblatt. All rights reserved. Commercial use prohibited. This image and commentary may not be used for any reason without expressed written consent.


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