When asking for help with identifying rocks and minerals the more information you provide will allow better and more precise conclusions. Similar guidelines are used on other sites and lead to a much better identification rate.
PHOTO The specimen should be clear. Use the macros feature on your camera for small specimens. If your camera does not have a macro option then keep the camera at least 50-70 cm from the specimen. If the size of the specimen in the image is then too small, trim the photo and upload the trimmed photo. Use day light if you can so that you get good color, and if you cannot use a low power day light bulb, Use a tripod or something else to keep it stable. To avoid reflection from the flash try putting tissue paper over the flash.Use a photo sharing site such as flicks or picasa to host your images, pasting a direct URL in your posting.
LOCALITY Where was the stone/mineral found, this will help determine by referencing previous finds and or local geological knowledge.
COLOR Try to describe it as best as you can by referring to other rocks or other everyday items. On many occasions the color of the photo will not be accurate so the color of the mineral will not be correct – so tell us the color you can see in day light.
LUSTER & TEXTURE Its possibly the hardest for those starting out in the hobby: it is best to check this using daylight, to say that it is ‘metallic’ is easy, ‘semi-metallic’ a bit harder and then ‘non-metallic’ easy again: In the latter you can add other descriptions such as ‘silky’ (fibrous gypsum), ‘glassy’ (quartz), ‘greasy’, ‘waxy’ (talc), and ‘resinous’ (sphalerite).
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Rock & Mineral ID Guide
Submitted by PBGeo on Mon, 04/21/2014 - 23:01.Rocks & Minerals Identification Tips.
When asking for help with identifying rocks and minerals the more information you provide will allow better and more precise conclusions. Similar guidelines are used on other sites and lead to a much better identification rate.
PHOTO
The specimen should be clear. Use the macros feature on your camera for small specimens. If your camera does not have a macro option then keep the camera at least 50-70 cm from the specimen. If the size of the specimen in the image is then too small, trim the photo and upload the trimmed photo. Use day light if you can so that you get good color, and if you cannot use a low power day light bulb, Use a tripod or something else to keep it stable. To avoid reflection from the flash try putting tissue paper over the flash.Use a photo sharing site such as flicks or picasa to host your images, pasting a direct URL in your posting.
LOCALITY
Where was the stone/mineral found, this will help determine by referencing previous finds and or local geological knowledge.
COLOR
Try to describe it as best as you can by referring to other rocks or other everyday items. On many occasions the color of the photo will not be accurate so the color of the mineral will not be correct – so tell us the color you can see in day light.
LUSTER & TEXTURE
Its possibly the hardest for those starting out in the hobby: it is best to check this using daylight, to say that it is ‘metallic’ is easy, ‘semi-metallic’ a bit harder and then ‘non-metallic’ easy again: In the latter you can add other descriptions such as ‘silky’ (fibrous gypsum), ‘glassy’ (quartz), ‘greasy’, ‘waxy’ (talc), and ‘resinous’ (sphalerite).