Nature in Brilliant Colour exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada showing butterfly vision

I have been asked by the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Queens Park, Toronto Canada for permission to exhibit a series of images to simulate the vision of butterflies at their forthcoming exhibit "Nature in Brilliant Colour " which is a travelling exhibit originally developed by the Field Museum Chicago. The exhibition will run from 14 December 2024 to 17 August 2025.

For that exhibit I chose images of a Rudbeckia hirta flower Black Eyed Susan - Rudbeckia hirta which I had shot using visible and reflected ultraviolet photography. All shots were then done at f8 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV filters for simulated animal 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:
 

Simulated butterfly vision:
 

I chose Rudbeckia hirts, as it has a strong UV pattern, its petal tips are UV bright around 365nm, but its center is quite UV dark, so this gets quite nicely visible, hence why I used this flower here to simulate butterfly vision.

 
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

Kaunergrat Nature Park Tyrol Austria shows St. John's wort - Hypericum in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee and butterfly vision

Today about my works being used with my permission by the Naturpark Kaunergrat (Pitztal – Fließ – Kaunertal) in Tyrol / Austria. Their idea was to show visitors how bees and butterflies see the world including their ability to see reflected ultraviolet (UV) light. 

They chose to use an attractive yellow flower, a St. John's wort - Hypericum sp. which were shot by me in reflected ultraviolet photography, simulated bee and butterfly vision. All shots were done at f8 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 sunlight.

[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):
 

Hypericum's outer petals strongly reflect UV around 365nm, whereas its stamens are quite darker, reflecting around 385nm, hence forming UV nectar guides for UV seeing insects. This is all invisible to us humans, but clearly visible to bees and butterflies, and all this will be nicely visible to the visitors at Kaunergrat nature park Tyrol, Austria.

I have written more about this 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 Those shown multispectral images of mine where shot in my studio with my "work horse" UV-Nikkor f4.5/105mm quartz fluorite lens using the Baader UV/IR Cut filter and my proprietary XBV filters for simulated bee + butterfly vision. Light source in studio used was a Xenon flash modified for high UV output outside.

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

Winter Jasmine - Jasminum Nudiflorum in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee and butterfly vision VII

Today in Decmber 2024 shots of a beautiful winter flower, a Winter Jasmine - Jasminum nudiflorum in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as in simulated bee and butterfly vision using my propriatary XBV filters. All shots were done at f11. 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 ultraviolet (UV):
 

Simulated bee vision:
 

Simulated butterfly vision:
 

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

This flower shows a very prominent and strong UV reflection around 365nm on its petals, but its center is UV-dark, and all this gets nicely visible, also in simulated bee and butterfly vision.
 
Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...


I have previously written about this flower HERE

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

Rudbeckia hirta - Human vs simulated animal vision II: butterfly, bee, dog, horse, bat

I was asked by a member working for their program Jeux Photoniques at the Université Laval in Québec, Canada for a series of images to simulate the vision of different animals. I used images of a Rudbeckia hirta flower Black Eyed Susan - Rudbeckia hirta which I had shot using visible and reflected ultraviolet photography. All shots were then done at f8 in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter, as well as my XBV filters for simulated animal 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:
 

Simulated butterfly vision:
 

Simulated bee vision:
 

Simulated dog vision:
 

Simulated horse vision:
 

Simulated bat vision:
 

Hexaptych of the above:
 

The idea behind these mappings is, to demonstrate the different forms of vision, including the ability to see UV and with this ability, to see patterns which only appear in ultraviolet light (UV) but invisible to us humans.

 I chose Rudbeckia hirts, as it has a strong UV pattern, its petal tips are UV bright around 365nm, but its center is quite UV dark, so this gets quite nicely visible, hence why I used this flower here to simuate the following visions:

1. Humans have trichromatic vision, they see Blue, Green, Red
2. Butterflies see UV, Blue, Green, Red, they are Tetrachromats
3. Bees see UV, Blue, Green, they are Trichomats
4. Dogs are Dichromats, see Blue and Yellow, but also some UV
5. Horses are Dichromats, they see Blue and Yellow, but no UV
6. Bats do not see color, but some are sensitive to UV also

 
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

My multispectral works at the Tokyo Polytechnic University Color Science and Art Center

Today about my works being used with my permission by professor Yasushi Noguchi of the Tokyo Polytechnic University in Japan who is the director of their new Color Science and Art Center, which was created to educate about about color. There is now an exhibit about animal color and vision and the difference to human vision, hence why they liked to show my works there.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/p7GPvQENfwSDn2qX6 

Those shown multispectral images of mine where shot in my studio with my "work horse" UV-Nikkor f4.5/105mm quartz fluorite lens using the Baader UV/IR Cut filter and my proprietary XBV filters for simulated bee + butterfly vision. Light source in studio used was a Xenon flash modified for high UV output outside.

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

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