Thursday, April 25, 2013

Marsh marigold - Caltha palustris flower in reflected UV ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision

Today about another early spring flower, Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as my XBV filters for simulating butterfly and bee vision. Lens was a CERCO 94mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done at about f5.6.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visible light image:
 

UV image using Baader-U filter (approx. 320-395nm, effective peak approx. 375nm):
 

Simulated bee vision (UV - VIS) using XBV6 filter:
 

Triptych of the above:
 


This Caltha flower has quite a prominent UV pattern, its center is UV dark, as well as some UV dark veins on its petals and this gets quite nicely visible.

Close-ups may be seen here.

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...

More info on this very interesting field may be found on my site http://www.pbase.com/kds315/uv_photos