Stemless Thistle - Carlina acaulis in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision

Today shots of a decorative flower, Stemless Thistle - Carlina acaulis in reflected ultraviolet photography using my "work horse" UV filter, the Baader-U filter as well as in simulated bee vision using my XBV6 filter. 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]

Visible light image  

UV image using Baader-U filter (approx. 320-395nm, effective peak approx. 375nm):  

Simulated bee vision image using experimental XBV filter:  

Triptych of the above images:  


This decorative flower has a specific UV pattern, its petals are quite UV bright around 385nm and the flower center is quite UV dark, and all this gets nicely visible.


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

Thistle: Quartz Singlet Lens for Soft Focus Reflected UV Ultraviolet Photography

Today a set of shots of a Thistle flower from Herrmashof Park, Weinheim, Germany using a custom made up UV lens from a simple quartz singlet that I used before, stopped down mildly to various degrees to control a wanted soft focus effect. Shots in UV were done using the Baader-U filter and sunlight was used as light source.

[click on image to see a larger one]







So, I'm sure this is not to everyones taste, but on my way to explore other possibilities then just "scientific" shots, it is a welcome new style.


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