Cone Shell

When I lived on my own in Muscat with the children, I used to walk on the beach in the afternoon, after work. It was the best time of day.

Myriads of cone shells would be washed up and I collected many. I still keep around 200 of the best in a basket in my bedroom. I found it very comforting to handle them. They were smooth and beautifully ornamented. As time has worn on, the decoration seems to be fading.

Of course, when alive, these creatures could deliver a painful and sometimes fatal sting.

In order to take this photo, I've been playing with another new toy. A Canon MP-E 65 lens, which delivers 1.5x macro. I have yet to try out the macro flash with it and will need to buy another tripod head at some time to manoeuvre it on a rack so that I can stack photos.

You can even see the grains of sand stuck in the whorl. Still, after all these years.