Glowing flowers (UV induced visible fluorescence)

During April Foolishness of this year I was fool enough to start experimenting with photographing UV induced visible fluorescence of flowers. I got hooked

For those of You who did not see those pictures and are curious, here are the thumbnails:

Week 1: Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday

Week 2: Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday

All pictures in that series, as well as recent pictures are taken with Sony A77 and Minolta 100mm F/2.8 macro, uncropped.

Here are few recent shots:

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1) Comfrey



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2) Coltsfoot



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3) Dandelion



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4) White Deadnettle



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Your comments are very appreciated and thanks for looking,
Alex

Edited by Alex H - 31 August 2012 at 20:55

Thanks Neil, I am using high power 3W 365nm Nichia LED torch (just one for now, but will probably get more in the future if it works out well).

If You are interested in UV photography - You might find some interesting (and may be even useful) things in my blog

Alex

Alex H wrote: Thanks Neil, I am using high power 3W 365nm Nichia LED torch (just one for now, but will probably get more in the future if it works out well). If You are interested in UV photography - You might find some interesting (and may be even useful) things in my blog Alex

thanks for the info,good blog.i will have a proper read though it later.
i have an old engineering UV inspection lamp i'm using.an led uv lamp is on the way from Hong Kong.i will see how they work out before i get more.

Some cracking work Alex. I love the scientific influences on your photographic work (or perhaps your photographic influences on your science work?).

Either way, I loved the April series (and the oktoberfest UV series) and these again are some lovely examples. Nice to see a photo of a dandelion taken in a way I haven't seen before, didn't think that was possible

Wow! Great idea, and very well executed. Love them all.

Bass wrote: What torch are you using - your own build or a custom build? The Nichia LED's are quite rare, not available in a 'mainstream' torch I doubt? I do always look forward to your stuff. TFS.

Thank You Matthew! The torch I am using is what You would call a 'mainstream'. It is not very common, though, and not cheap either. I only know one company in Germany that sells it, and also someone on eBay (US) offers a similar model for even more.

Of course, when searching for such torch on Google, one will get dozens of links to some businesses in China that sell it, but they mostly do large volume contracts...

Alex

Hi Alex,

Scientific work (well; management of such!) has kept me from this thread though I fondly recall the April Foolishness images.

The additional images all work well but the last two, #'s 3 and 4, are particularly striking and show a combination of intensity and delicacy that I think would be hard to achieve in any other way; certainly not without some in depth treatment at the PP stage anyway.

The Dandelion head is definitly recognizable as such but could so easily also be one of those plasma 'bulbs' one sees in gadget stores - shooting against the necessary black background also imparts an isolation that enhances the subject well. The White Deadnettle, on the other hand, has a haunting beaty to it that is hard to resist - I wonder if the Victorian/Edwardian glass makers such as Lalique ever saw this sort of ethereal effect in their studies as this is surely the sort of effect they strove to achieve in their art.

A truly fascinating series and I thank you for continuing to experiment in this area - always a pleasure and surprise to see the effect it produces.

Best regards, Neil.