I love to stare at shiny things; things made of crystal will always attract my attention. When it comes to crystal I love Austrian Swarovski! As I look at a piece and marvel at the way it captures the light and colours around me it’s only natural that I want to capture its beauty in a photograph. … Easier said than done!

My initial attempts were a little dull, with little distinction between the the edges of the crystal and the faces. It really looked just like a fractured reflection of the room around me. I realised that part of the problem is that much of a crystal’s beauty comes from movement. Either you move the object or you move around it. In any case it is movement that accentuates a crystal ornament and brings it to life as the light and colours play on the facets.

With that idea in mind I really wanted the light to come from inside the crystal to light up the facets without lighting the edges. Here is my result with strobe backlighting, taken in full daylight with the strobe a few cm behind and diffused through tissue. I hope you like our crystal crab!

Photo: Robert Rath, ‘366 Days of 2012, Day 35 – Crystal Crab’. 1/200 sec at 100mm (macro) f/11, ISO 50, Strobe Backlit