Floral Patterns as Compositional Elements

[OlDoinyo]

Much has been said here and elsewhere about specimen shots of various flowers and their UV patterns. Somewhat less has been said about using these UV characteristics as compositional accents in landscape photographs. But some interesting effects are indeed possible. I do not claim to be the first to have done what is seen below, but there are few discussions of it.

 

The first example takes us to a sunflower (Helianthus anuus) field in Minnesota. This was taken with Ilford Delta 3200 film (wISO~100,) 403 filter, and Minolta Autocord camera:

 

"The Fields of Mourning:"

 

 

The mass effect of large blooms which are darker than the foliage is what stands out in this scene.

 

The next two pictures take advantage of the venerable Rudbeckia pattern. Although the pattern is not entirely invisible to the naked eye, it is, as we know, far more striking in UV and makes for a very different appearance. The next photo was taken on Kodak Aerochrome 1443 (wISO~30) with the Baader U2 filter and the Autocord again. The frame was worked up as a tinted monochrome; it had little or no actual chromaticity, because almost all the UV was intercepted by the top emulsion layer.

 

"Fading Hopes:"

 

 

I allowed the dark blooms in the lower left corner to create a mass effect again, while playing with in-focus/out-of-focus ideas.

 

The final (somewhat mangled) example is more recent (and digital.) It depicts a native prairie vegetation plot in Minnesota. The image was taken with the Sony A900, the Enna 28mm lens, and the Baader U2 filter. Exposure was 13 seconds at f/22 and ISO 100. Display intent is BGR.

 

Untitled:

 

 

I managed to get some cloud detail in this photo; the foreground was underexposed and required considerable boosting. Worse, the filter's dichroic ring artifact spoiled the image for presentation, though I still find it interesting in the abstract.

 

Most of the visible color here comes from the tips of the Rudbeckia ray flowers; there is a small red spot at center right that might have been a spot of butterfly weed. When this was taken, not a great deal else was blooming. A lens with more bandpass than the Enna might have produced a wider palette here; wide-angle lenses are ever a battle in UV. I was helped by a virtually calm day, but this still took several tries to carry off: the slightest breath of air can completely wreck a shot with such a long exposure.

[Andy Perrin]

I like the middle one best! The flowers really stand out against the background in that one. (These remind me of Victorian mourning customs, almost.)

[Cadmium]

I actually like the last one best, the idea of it and overall image, even though it seems a little dark.

[Andrea B.]

I like the field of black flower heads in the first photo. Very striking.

 

(The photos also seem a bit dark on my monitor.)

[Andy Perrin]

I like the field of black flower heads in the first photo. Very striking.

 

(The photos also seem a bit dark on my monitor.)

Yeah, I've noticed that a lot in OlDoinyo's posts, but I figured it was MY monitor. Which to be honest, it could be, since the thing is like 15 years old now. (Apple monitors are hardy.) But maybe OlDoinyo's backlight is like the Death Star or something too. ;-)

[OlDoinyo]

My monitor does seem to display things on the pale side--but so do a lot of the laptop screens in our household. The exception seems to be an old CRT monitor on my office computer: that, if anything, goes to the other extreme. My photo computer uses a 23" AOC flat screen, if that tells anyone anything. It is difficult to know what target to shoot for, sometimes. I actually lightened up the second photo from its original posted form to repost here.

[OlDoinyo]

Postscript: the 482 at Silverton

 

This photo was taken in Silverton, Colorado (elevation 2,837 meters, which makes it favorable for outdoor UV.) The Sony A900 was fitted with a Baader U2 filter. Exposure was 0.6 second @ f/16. Display intent is BGR.

 

 

The Taraxacum in the foreground have been dubbed the official flower of Silverton. The bulls-eye patterns are quite visible and give a different effect from the same flowers seen in visible photos of the scene.

[nfoto]

With some of the lenses now available for UV, incorporating floral signatures on a larger scale into a compositional element of significance is possible.

 

Some wide lenses, like this 18/4 Nikkor does UV fairly well.

 

Old farm houses and flowering meadow of Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria);

 

 

The 21/4 Tamron is better for UV and displays much less focus shift, thus even infinity focus is easy. It also allows very close focus, perhaps as a result of the modifications Erik Lund and I performed on it? We modified the original Adapt-All mount to factory Nikon F mount and added a CPU to the lens. The rear filter was permanently removed to improve UV response. The combination of acceptable although not massive wide angle and very close focus can make wonderfully contrasting images, like this snapshot of the ubiquitous Tussilago;

 

 

My favourite bridge, by the way :D

[Andy Perrin]

I love the top picture! The bottom one, I'm less sure about. Is that a double exposure or is the transparency due to movement during long exposure?

[nfoto]

Rear-curtain synch flash (SB-140) D3200/Baader U 2 gen., exposure f/16 ISO 100 8 sec. It was a fairly dark rainy day with strong wind gusts, however I got the image I planned for after a few trials and errors. Flowers can move a bit unpredictably around at long exposures, so not guaranteed they end up where you wish them to be :D