Field Forget-me-not - Myosotis arvensis in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision II

Today shots of a spring flower, a Field Forget-me-not - Myosotis arvensis in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as my XBV6 filters for simulating 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]

Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 


This Myosotis flower has a quite specific UV pattern, its petals are bright in UV around 385nm, but its center is quite darker. Also very interesting to notice is, that this Myosotis signals the development state of its individual flowers (or even if it has been pollinated?) by different UV "colors" (meaning the reflectance peak changes from long wave UV to shorter wave UV) and all this gets nicely visible, also in simulated bee vision.

I have written about that flower previously 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

Dandelion and Daisy - Taraxacum officinale and Bellis perennis flower in reflected UV ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision

Today shots of two early spring flowers, Bellis perennis - Common Daisy. and Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale in reflected ultraviolet photography. Lens was a CERCO 94mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done at about f8 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV6 filter for simulated bee vision. Lens was a CERCO 94mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 

This Dandelion flower has quite a prominent UV pattern, its petals are UV bright around 365nm, its center is UV dark, especially the anthers. Common Daisy, however has a bulls-eye UV pattern, its center is UV dark, and the petals are UV reflective around 380nm and both gets quite nicely visible side-a-side, also in simulated bee vision. Wouldn't it be interesting to find out, which flower is actually preferred by its pollinators, based on the very different reflection patterns in UV and BV?

I have written about the Dandelion flower previously HERE and about the Daisy flower 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

Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale flower in reflected UV ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision III

Today shots of an early spring flower, Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale in reflected ultraviolet photography. Lens was a CERCO 94mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV6 filter for simulated bee vision. Lens was a CERCO 94mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done at about f8.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 

This Dandelion flower has quite a prominent UV pattern, its petals are UV bright around 365nm, its center is UV dark, especially the anthers, and this gets quite nicely visible, also in simulated bee vision.

I have written about this flower previously 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

Cretian Rock Tulip - Tulipa saxatilis with crab spider in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision

Today shots of a Cretian Rock Tulip - Tulipa saxatilis with a crab spider sitting in it, just having its lunch, in reflected ultraviolet photography, using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV6 filter for simulated 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]

Triptych of human vision, UV and simulated bee vision (left to right):
 

This tulip has a rather subtle UV pattern, tricky with inside UV reflective petals, which reflect UV rather well around 380nm using a very shiny petal surface and quite classic, an UV dark center creating a bullseye pattern. Surpisingly the spider also appears quite well in UV and has UV bright spots on it - maybe to attract its prey? Only nature knows...

I have written about this Tulip previously HERE and about the crab spider 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

How the sun sees you - human skin and sun blocker effect as seen through reflected UV photography II

Today more about how the sun sees us and how bees might see us in UV. Well, in other words: how does human skin look like in reflected ultraviolet (UV) light compared to normal human vision. After shaving every morning, I usually apply some day cream to protect my skin. Shots were done inside using a modified for UV Xenon flash. A UV capable lens was used for this. All shots were done at about f5.6.

[click on image to see a larger one]

BW human vision VIS image (left), bw UV image (right)

So, the sunblocker in my daycream obviously has protective effects, clearly visible by the darkened skin. This shows that the used cream absorbs dangerous UV-B and also UV-A radiation (the latter being important to protect against the so called "white" skin cancer). Further its gets visible, that the reflected UV image clearly shows otherwise invisible freckles, about which some dermatologists say that it is skin damage getting visible, caused by the accumulated UV radiation exposure over the years. So whenever you're out in the sun, protect your skin!

To summarize, I would say that reflected UV photography is a very suitable tool to make all that so nicely visible!

I have written about that HERE before.

There is also a corresponding video about that topic 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