The 2025 BMS symposium was held in mid-September. A photographic competition was held as part of it. The top 7 photos got over 50% of the votes. Here they are from number 7 to number 1…
Number 7 Vanadinite on Manganese Oxides, Tadaout, Taouz , Errachidia Province, Morocco.
By Colleen Thomson. Field of view 60mm. Taken in 2003 using a Fuji Finepix (no added lenses or bellows) (10mega pixels only) in natural daylight. No editing other than tidying up some ‘ghosting’ from low resolution. The crystals are up to 7mm.
Number 6 Malachite, Bollihope.
By David Green. Field of view 8mm. This is a single shot (no stacking) at 1:1 then cropping down (the malachite is 5 mm high) and I found it when I stopped round the back of a dump to take a ‘comfort break’ on the way up to Weardale.
Number 5 Uranophane, Clara Mine, Wolfach, Germany.
By Henk Smeets. Field of view 5mm.
Joint Number 3. Calcite, Moonen Bay, Duirinish, Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, Scotland.
By Richard Bell. Field of view 4mm. Taken with Nikon D80 DSLR with a Mitutoyo 5x objective lens. Depth of field – 2.18 mm 109 Images (stacked).
Joint Number 3. Crocoite on dundasite, Adelaide Mine, Zeehan District, Tasmania.
By Henk Smeets. Field of view 2mm.
Number 2. Chalcophyllite, Salsigne – France.
By Elise Chaigneau et Eric Penet. Field of view 2.8mm.
And the number 1 top photo in 2025. Rutile, Lanterdan Quarry, Tintagel, Cornwall.
By Rupert Harrison. Field of view 1mm. The small gemmy crystal impaled by rutile needles is an Albite.
