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UltravioletPhotography

Lichen [Yellow on Red Sandstone]


Andrea B.

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Blum, A.G. (2016) Yellow Lichen on Red Sandstone. Lichens photographed in ultraviolet, visible and infrared light. Multispectral composities are included. http://www.ultraviol...-red-sandstone/

 

Valley of Fire State Park, Overton, Nevada, USA

25 February 2016

Lichens on Rock

 

Comment:

Lichens consist of a symbiotic pairing of either fungus & algae or fungus & cyanobacteria. The nutrient and moisture gathering fungus filaments protect the photosynthesizing algae.

This crustose yellow lichen is so striking against the eroded red sandstone rocks in Visible light. But you never know what you're going to get when shooting lichens in UV light. Anything can happen. The yellow lichen all but disappeared in UV, but does show some IR-reflectivity.

 

Reference:

1. Wikipedia (June 2016) Lichen. Wikimedia Foundation, San Francisco, CA.

The Wikipedia entry is extensive and well written with a large number of references and links..

2. Brodo, Sharnoff & Sharnoff (2001) Lichens of North America. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

This is the best reference on the subject.

3. Brodo (2016) Keys to Lichens of North America. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

This is the companion to the larger book.

 

 

Visible Light [f/11 for 1/50" @ ISO-200 with Nikon D600-BB + Coastal Optics 60/4 in Sunlight with Baader UVIR-Block Filter]

lichen_visible_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289crop.jpg

 

Ultraviolet Light [f/11 for 5" @ ISO-200 with Nikon D600-BB + Coastal Optics 60/4 in Sunlight with BaaderU UV-Pass Filter]

It is difficult to spot that yellow lichen in this photo.

lichen_uvBaader_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45300crop.jpg

 

Infrared Light [f/11 for 1/15" @ ISO-200 with Nikon D600-BB + Coastal Optics 60/4 in Sunlight with B+W093 IR-Pass Filter]

lichen_093IR_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45293crop.jpg

 

 

Here are some channel stacked composities. There are 6 possibilities using the 3 preceding photos. The UV, Visible and Infrared photos were assigned each to different R, G or B channel and then difference layered (PSE 11). I made these because the UV and IR photos above were rather uneventful compared to the vibrant Visible shot. "-)

 

 

Composite [Channel Stack. R=Infrared, G=Ultraviolet, B=Visible]

lichen_composite_Rir+Guv+Bvis_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289-293-300crop.jpg

 

 

Composite [Channel Stack. R=Infrared, G=Visible, B=Ultraviolet]

This multispectral stack somewhat matches the Visible colours above.

lichen_composite_Rir+Gvis+Buv_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289-293-300crop.jpg

 

 

Composite [Channel Stack. R=Ultaviolet, G=Infrared, B=Visible]

lichen_composite_Ruv+Gir+Bvis_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289-293-300crop.jpg

 

 

Composite [Channel Stack. R=Ultaviolet, G=Visible, B=Infrared]

lichen_composite_Uv+Vis+Ir_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289-293-300crop.jpg

 

 

Composite [Channel Stack: R=Visible, G=Infrared, B=Ultraviolet]

The 2nd stack and this stack show the most tonal differentiation.

lichen_composite_Rvis+Gir+Buv_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289-293-300crop.jpg

 

 

Composite [Channel Stack: R=Visible, G=Ultraviolet, B=Infrared]

lichen_composite_Rvis+Guv+Bir_20160225valleyOfFireStateParkNV_45289-293-300crop.jpg

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Apparently lichens as such behave differently in UV. I have observed some quite brightly UV-reflective specimens.
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Here is a comparable channel stack of the lichen community on an erratic boulder from the last Ice Age. Obtained using the Coastal 60 mm f/4 and UV, Vis(actually, green), and IR into the B, G, and R channels. There is a marked diversity in the multispectral appearance of these crustose lichens.

 

UV, Vis, IR composite lichens A07123062346.jpg

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Andy Perrin

I got a nice pic off a fence recently. My technique for combining visible and UV was simply to use the "multiply" option in PS with the UV in a layer above the visible.

 

visible

post-94-0-76000000-1466091029.jpg

 

330WB80 F5.6, 0.033", ISO6400

post-94-0-46921900-1466091058.jpg

 

Above two with a multiply and increase saturation:

post-94-0-05209500-1466091073.jpg

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oooooooooh !!!!! Those are simply gorgeous (to both Bjørn & Andy).

 

So, Bjørn's stack is an Rir + Gvis + Buv stack -- as is my second stack above. That combo seems to work well for lichens on rocks if our two examples are any guide.

 

I wish I were better at identifying lichens. I've ordered the Lichen key referenced above.

 

A funny story: I wanted a field guide for Lichens to carry in the backpack and saw online (somewhere) the book Lichens of North America (referenced above). It had gotten nice reviews and looked promising, so I ordered it. Imagine my surprise when an 800+ page, 9x11" book arrived which weighed about 2.5 pounds (1.13 kg). More of a doorstop than a backpack item! Lovely book though.

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To your lichen book story: I ordered Flora Europaea and got 5 tomes weighing a whopping 6.5 kg total ...
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Andy Perrin
Hah, this is why I like ebooks on my iPad. All the information, color pictures, and the weight stays the same.
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Each to his own - for me using a gizmo like that is an abhorrent though (for reasons related, or not, to the device itself). Working with a huge flora like Flora Europaea is a massive challenge, but the one who seeks will eventually find the answer. I have been able now to identify all flowering species photographed by me in Europe over the last decade.

 

Getting similar coverage for say [south] African flowers would be great, but this is a task for the future I assume as the general floras simply might not be adequately explored in all areas.

 

Oh well, I'll look for more UV/multispectral lichens to keep to the topic of the current thread.

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I have no choice but to use the North American Flora online. When complete, it will span a massive 20+ volumes. It is up to 28 now. I'm not sure how many "pages" each volume contains though. Usually 400-600 I think.

 

This is going to sound like a serious case of one-upmanship for which I duly apologize in advance as that is not the intention, but the North American Flora for just the family Asteraceae comprises 3 volumes in the series and spans 1942 pages.

 

Now that I think about it, it is a wonder I can identify any North American wildflowers at all. Whew! Of course, we start out simply: this is a Dandelion, that is a Buttercup of some kind -- and go from there.

 

*****

 

Yes I should split up this thread because we typically do not let formal posts "wander" or have other photographs posted to them. When I get some time.........

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