Orange coneflower - Rudbeckia fulgida and Mexican Zinna - Zinnia haageana in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision

Today more shots of these decorative flowers Orange coneflower - Rudbeckia fulgida var deamii and Mexican Zinnia - Zinnia haageana in reflected ultraviolet using Baader-U filter and in simulated bee + butterfly vision using my experimental XBV3 and XBV6 filters. Lens was my CERCO 94mm quartz flourite lens. Light source was Xenon flash. All shots were done at f8.

[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 butterfly vision image using experimental XBV3 filter:  

Simulated bee vision image using experimental XBV6 filter:  

Quadriptych of the above images:  


These attractive flower show very specific UV patterns, their petals have an UV dark pattern middle to base with UV bright petal tips, Zinnia reflecting around 340nm, Rudbeckia around 360nm, both invisible to us humans. All this gets nicely visible.

I have previously written about these flowers HERE and HERE.

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