While working at Patina Gallery I photographed many stunning gemstones. When I saw this black crystal opal I knew that it needed a video. I was fascinated by the depth and clarity of the black, and the vibrant pinfire flash was almost cosmic. It is certainly the most remarkable opal I've ever seen in person, and I'm glad I was able to document such a fascinating piece.

This particular stone was set by Atelier Zobel in a custom designed brooch for a private client. The opal was carved and polished rather than in cabochon. The stone was roughly 1-1/4in tall and 3/4in wide and the area that I focused on was probably less than a 1/3rd of the stone.

For this video I used a Nikon D780 set at 4k and a Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro. In post I added contrast and brightened the footage slightly with Premiere Pro. Then in After Effects I stabilized the footage to remove micro jitter and created the type treatment for Black Crystal Opal with masks and blending modes.

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