Dried Abalone Closeups

After catching abalone, my uncle Terrus soaks them in a secret brine solution and then dries them. They end up losing more than 2/3 of their volume. The complete process takes around six months. It tastes amazing. My uncle wanted me to take some closeups. After searching in vain for a large piece of white paper to use as a seamless backdrop, I settled on overlapping some regular 8.5" x 11" paper. I don't like seeing the edges of the paper sheets, so that's why the pictures are cropped so tightly. I also don't like the grayishness of the "white" paper, I need to figure out what caused that. It was not a perfect solution, but with the shoot through umbrella I think it turned out reasonably well. This was yet another case of making the best of what you have. Photo info: 52.5mm focal length, f/7.1, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, 1/8 flash power, 24mm flash zoom, shoot-through umbrella Photo info: 52.5mm focal length, f/7.1, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, 1/8 flash power, 24mm flash zoom, shoot-through umbrella Photo info: 52.5mm focal length, f/4.5, 1/320 sec, ISO 200, 1/8 flash power, 24mm flash zoom, shoot-through umbrella (too bright) Here are some setup shots: Lesson learned: 1. Build the macro photo studio box. 2. Buy some butcher paper or something bigger than an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper!