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UltravioletPhotography

UV in Action


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Ultraviolet photos of things that obligingly stay put, e.g. floral specimens or landscapes, are common here; but what of less cooperative subject matter? There are always artfully blurred long exposures taken from tripods, but that is not what I intend to share here. Many of what follows are in fact hand-held snaps, and I think they can be interesting, too. Some of these have also received a faux-vintage treatment, about which I have already posted. If anyone else has similar material to share, I invite them to post it here.

 

"Braving the Gale." Olympus 35RD, B+W 403 filter, Kodak Tmax 100; 1/125 second on shutter priority AE.

 

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The 35RD has TTF (not TTL) metering; I found that with the 403 filter, I could get the meter to read the IR coming through the filter and there existed an ISO setting that allowed the AE to work in this roundabout manner. Riding up this platter-pull ski lift more than 3,700 meters above sea level in a strong crosswind, I whipped out the little camera, skied right to get the angle, and clicked this shot. The UV had the effect of darkening both the skiers ahead and many parts of the lift pylon, making this more a study in silhouettes than what the eye saw.

 

"A Certain Air About It." Minolta Autocord, B+W 403 filter, Ilford Delta 3200; 1/50 second

 

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Many small airplanes like N4118T spin their two-bladed propellers at between 2,500 and 3,000 rpm at takeoff; to get the propeller to disk out completely in a photograph therefore requires a shutter speed in the range of 1/40 to 1/50 second, which is slower than I can hand-hold; so this ended up being a panning monopod shot. I tried for an orotone treatment in post-processing.

 

"Black Train Coming." Minolta Autocord, Baader U2 filter, Ilford Delta 3200. Shutter speed not recorded.

 

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This was a tripod shot from a bridge. The UV has the effect of darkening the white paint on the locomotives, dimming the headlights somewhat, and bringing out the puffs of diesel exhaust above the train, as well as the familiar landscape effects. Note how bright the polished running surface of the rails appears compared to the surroundings. The violet tinting was just a whim of mine.

 

"To Ride Over the Sun Itself." Minolta Autocord, Baader U2 filter, Ilford Delta 3200. Shutter speed not recorded.

 

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The use of UV here requires explanation. This hand-held backlit scene would have totally blown out in visible light; I was trying to maintain some shadow detail as much as anything. The original negative actually shows the sun's disk, but the scanner could not pull that out. At a street festival in Asheville a few years ago, a stunt cyclist attempted to ride the "world's tallest bicycle" (the 13-meter contraption pictured) around a test circuit to establish a new record. It did not go terribly well; he lost control about half-way around and toppled off. His fall was partially arrested by the crane belaying system shown. I like the moment I captured, especially the triumphant figure on the scaffolding.

 

"The Way We Skied." Olympus 35RD, B+W 403 Filter, Kodak Tmax 100. Shutter speed not recorded.

 

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This was taken on a mostly overcast day, so the shutter speed was likely not what it would have been in brighter light; hence the slight motion blurring. The elevation here was about 3,500 meters. The young skier's parka was much paler to the naked eye than appears here, and the light was less diffuse. I did manage to pick up a bit of texture on the snow surface. I gave this a sepia treatment.

 

"Fun at the Beach." Minolta Autocord, B+W 403 filter, Ilford Delta 3200. Shutter speed not recorded.

 

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A nondescript sunny sky with clouds is here transformed into a somewhat baleful-looking blank. The sunbathers' skin is darker than we expect; even the white towels have a greyed look to them, possibly due to polyester content. The people seem to be looking out to sea--expecting what? This was a handheld photograph.

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Just for the record: hand-held UV is equally possible in the digital era. I do it a lot. Stills or UV video. Vivek Iyer has posted many more examples of hand-held UV photography on Flickr.

 

Whether UV adds or detracts from the final picture is of course a question not easily answered. We do get our fair share of surprises - in either direction.

 

Nice examples, by the way.

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Yes, Vivek Iyer has posted quite a bit, even a portrait of this gentleman:

 

https://www.flickr.c...er/15330672521/

 

I do not know what shutter speeds he is using nor what sensor gains; some new digital cameras allow you to set the ISO as high as 102,400, though I do not know what image quality would result. Mr Iyer is not much in touch with the Flickr UV community and does not belong to the UV Spectrum group, preferring I guess to pursue things on his own. His photo pages contain few clues about how he makes his images.

 

My only converted camera is dodgy above 400 and virtually unusable above 800, so I am not in a position to play the digital handheld game. I would also be afraid to go skiing with a Baader filter; the thing is expensive and thinner than most other filters as well. If I lose/destroy a 403, that is less of a disaster.

 

I, too, have run into disappointments. I once tried to shoot a UV field portrait of my mother. The result was villainous--ugh! I did not even save the scan.

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Currently, Vivek uses a modified Sony A7 digital camera and runs it at max. 800 ISO. Apparently its UV sensitivity is high so shutter speeds are quite acceptable even in overcast weather.

 

Baader filters can be destroyed without taking them on skiing adventures. Ask Andrea - she knows!

 

On a tangential note, UV makes you appear 'manly' - not?

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Not intending to high-jack your thread, only showing a random example of UV hand-held from my own collection.

 

Girl hiding behind Moth Orchid. (Bansbury, London, UK). Nikon D40X, Noflexar 35 mm f/3.5, f/5.6, 1/2 sec (camera firmly pressed against a signal box), ISO 400. Very typical British spring weather meaning dull, heavy overcast, and rain in the air.

 

UVP_D40X_Noflexar_hand-held_J1103161784.jpg

 

The D40X was (and still is) a very nice and surprisingly robust and reliable little camera, with excellent image quality and UV sensitivity. Its high ISO performance allows ISO 800 with adequate image quality. It had the Baader U2" inside so very convenient for lenses with negligible or no focus shift in UV (no LiveView on this early model). Later I converted the camera to IR only and replaced it with a Nikon D3200 to get more pixels and improved high ISO quality (although, to be frank, one should still stop at ISO 1600 for best quality).

 

Both cameras are well suited for hand-held photography if matched with suitable lenses.

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Clark, I'm a bit late getting around to commenting here. I'm enjoying very much seeing your UV work featuring ordinary scenes. By that I mean -- how nice to see something in UV that is not a flower. :) I quite think I may now have done enough flowers to last a lifetime.

 

I like "Braving the Gale" -- a good photograph no matter what wavelength it would have been shot in -- good composition and that 'fade' into the snowstorm.

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