Monday, June 29, 2015

Mexican Zinnia - Zinnia haagenea in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated butterfly and bee vision XXII

Today some shots of a very decorative summer flower, Mexican Zinnia - Zinnia haagenea in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as in simulated butterfly and bee vision using my proprietary XBV filters. Lens was my CERCO 94mm quartz flourite lens. Light source was sunlight. All shots were done at about f5.6.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Quadriptych (left to right, top to bottom): Human vision, UV, simulated butterfly vision, simulated bee vision:
 

Triptych (left to right): Human vision, UV, simulated bee vision:
 

Triptych (left to right): Human vision, simulated butterfly vision, simulated bee vision:
 

Mexican Zinnia flowers have a very specific UV pattern. Their petals are very UV dark in the middle and bottom, their petal tips, however, are very UV bright (here around 365nm), reaching deeper into UV as any other flower I know of, and all this gets nicely visible.

I have previously written about those Zinnias HERE

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