Moose Island, October 12, 2013 (Beachcombing series No.72)

Sea glass, Dog Whelk (Thais lapillus), Smooth Periwinkles (Littorina obtusata), Blue Mussel (Mytilus edulis), feather, Rock Crab (Cancer irroratus), and fishing rope. I wrote about this field trip back in October, but only recently finished the still-life.

This winter my husband and I built a new lighting support for the light box, and this was the first photo I shot on my new rig. It's much less cluttered than the six mic stands I used to borrow from him, and simpler than re-setting them every time he has a performance. 

It's pretty simple - the base and the four uprights are screwed together, and the top square is clamped on so I can move it up and down as needed. The design flaws are already becoming apparent. The front piece is annoyingly in the way when I move from arranging pieces to looking at them from above: I bonk my head every time. Must figure out how to remove that but keep the frame stable.  I still want to prop the foam core boards around the outside and lay one over the top, but that has also gotten more complicated. I'll need to trim some to fit within the frame, and tape others together so they are tall enough to rest on the floor. It's a work-in-progress, that's for sure!