Cliff maids - Lewisia cotyledon in reflected ultraviolet photography, simulated bee and butterfly vision X

Today in Spring 2024 more shots of a white long blooming, perennial flower Cliff maids - Lewisia cotyledon in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee and butterfly vision. All shots were done at f11 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV filters for simulated bee and butterfly vision. Lens was a UV-Nikkor 105mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was a modified studio flash.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Human vision:
 

Reflected UV:
 

Simulated bee vision:
 

Simulated butterfly vision:
 

Quadriptych of human vision, UV, simulated bee and butterfly vision (left to right, top to bottom):
 

Lewisia has a visible UV pattern, its petal tips are UV bright around 385nm, its center is UV dark, so this gets quite nicely visible, also in simulated butterfly and bee vision. 

But there is also a highly UV reflective area visible, formed by those shiny petals which is especially quite visible in UV! This has recently been discovered by Prof. (em) Klaus Lunau of the University of Duesseldorf, Germany and he has published about that in NATURE 2020 here: Lunau, K., Ren, ZX., Fan, XQ. et al. Nectar mimicry: a new phenomenon. Sci Rep 10, 7039 (2020). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-63997-3

I have written more about that 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

Moth orchid - Phalaenopsis in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated butterfly and bee vision using a UV-Nikkor 105mm lens V

Today in February 2024 some studio shots of a well known decorative flower, a white Moth orchid - Phalaenopsis in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter as well as simulated bee and butterfly vision  shot with my "work horse" UV-Nikkor f4.5/105mm quartz fluorite lens. UV filter used was the Baader-U filter, my "work horse" filter for reflected UV as well as my proprietary XBV filters for simulated bee and butterfly vision. All shots were done at f11. Light source used was a Xenon flash modified for high UV output. 

[click on image to see a larger one]

Human Vision (VIS):
 

Reflected UV (Baader-U):
 

Simulated Bee Vision:
 

Simulated Butterfly Vision:
 

Quadriptych of human vision, UV, simulated bee and butterfly vision (left to right, top to bottom):
 

This orchid has not a very specific UV pattern, its petals are UV reflective around 380nm, but its middle tip (column and gymnostemium) have a rather UV bright spot reflecting around 370nm surrounded by an UV-dark area which gets nicely visible.

The UV-Nikkor 105mm lens is known to be a very well working one for multispectral imaging w/o focus shift, with a nice 1:2 close up focusing capability from infinity up to 48cm (0.48 meter). Sharpness is very good and so is its contrast, even from f4.5 onwards. With a Nikon PN-11 extension tube of 52.5mm length it reaches 1:1 (1x) magnification. It has the standard Nikon-F mount, and it covers full format sensors (41mm image diameter). It is defined to reach down to 190nm and up to 1300nm in near infrared; my measured transmission spectra of it may be seen here.

I have written more about this orchid 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

Arrowwood - Viburnum bodnantense in reflected ultraviolet photography, simulated bee and butterfly vision

Today still in cold January 2024 shots of a blossoming Arrowwood - Viburnum bodnantense bush in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee and butterfly vision. All shots were done at f11 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV filters for simulated bee and butterfly vision. Lens was a UV-Nikkor 105mm quartz fluorite lens. Light source was a modified Xenon flash.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Human vision:
 

Reflected UV:
 

Simulated butterfly vision:
 

Simulated bee vision:
 

Quadriptych of human vision, UV, simulated butterfly and bee vision (left to right, top to bottom):
 

Arrowwood bush flowers have no distinct UV reflection pattern, but their stamen create a UV dark center important to attract UV seeing pollinators and this gets nicely visible here, also in simulated bee and butterfly vision.


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