Bermuda Buttercup - Oxalis pes-caprae in reflected ultraviolet (UV) and photography and simulated bee vision

Today about a very common weed flower Bermuda Buttercup - Oxalis pes-caprae I shot shot at Mountain Vew, CA 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 fluorite lens. Light source was sun. All shots were done at f8.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Bermuda Buttercup - Oxalis pes-caprae in Human vision, reflected UV, simulated bee vision (left to right):


This attractive yellow weed flower shows quite a tricky UV pattern, as shown in the following enhanced reflected UV image, a UV bright ring set on a negative space around the dark in UV petals, hence massively increasing contrast. Plus you also see the pyramidal cells in this enhanced resolution image (UV gives approx. 1.6x higher resolution) , which allows pollinators a much better grip while being at the flower.
 

All this invisible to us humans, but visible to bees and butterflies, and all this gets nicely visible here.

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

Californian flowers in visible, reflected UV and simulated bee vision photography

Today about some flower shots I took on my trip to California, shot at Shoreline Park in Mountain Vew, CA 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 fluorite lens. Light source was sun. All shots were done at f8.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Triptych: Hibiscus sp in Human vision, reflected UV, simulated bee vision (left to right):


Triptych: Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) in Human vision, reflected UV, simulated bee vision (left to right):


Triptych: Brassica sp in Human vision, reflected UV, simulated bee vision (left to right):


These attractive flowers shows their prominent UV patterns, invisible to us humans, but very visible to bees and butterflies and also hummingbirds which were feeding on them, and all this gets nicely visible.

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

Achromatic Quartz Fluorite Lens: Ultraviolet Photography and Simulated Bee Vision

Well, I had taken apart some older equipment a while ago and have extracted the quartz fluorite optics that was hidden in it. I now have added some focusing helicoid, as well as I had some front and rear adapters made to mount it. Results of using it I had shown here and here and today will even show a few more results using it. A yellow Gazania flower in its last stages served as a model for some multispectral shots, all at approx f8-f11.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visible light shot:


Simulated bee vision using XBV3 filter :


Simulated bee vision using XBV2 filter:


Simulated bee vision using XBV6 filter:


UV using Baader-U filter:


It only has a quite small focus shift of about 1/2mm when shooting macro, but that could have been expected from a well corrected quartz fluorite lens.


UV transmittance is also quite good, as was expected from a quartz-fluorite lens and stays rather flat even beyond 300nm.

More about that used quartz fluorite lens is  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