Many years ago, when I was just beginning to explore the wonders of macro photography, I used a borrowed point-and-shoot to take this photo of a piece of polished rutilated quartz.
I love the colors– warm, honeyed spikes of rutile shining like wheat stalks, purple-blue shadows of evening light. The reflection from the stone casts a pool of gold onto the shadowed white paint of the window sill.
Such a simple piece of rock. Ordinary quartz with inclusions of rutile crystals. Rutile is more commonly known as titanium dioxide (TiO2), that ubiquitous substance found in cosmetics, paints, sunscreen, etc. In my little polished rock, however, TiO2 is a source of exotic beauty and color.
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