Hello, my name is Tony and I am happy to meet you

[Tony Grover]

I just joined this group / blog because you all seem to be the deepest files on the subject of UV photography and I would guess you are also very capable in the adaptation of photography gear to meet your needs and interests.

 

I have been shooting avidly for many years and have been drawn over time to the completely acceptable to me, older and more interesting gear. This may have started in the last year, when I diverted from buying ever new F-mount Nikon gear to investing in a used D4 and then an even more used, but by no means beyond its' lifetime, D4S. I then, in a mixture of anxiety, anticipation, glee and curiosity picked up a late 1990's vintage 400mm f2.8 Nikkor ED AF-I lens. Wow. I love the lens and what I can do with it.

 

On a recent trip to kayak and photograph in the NW corner of Glacier National Park, I was walking a grizzly bear infested, rumored anyway, trail and talking with my partner, about how birds saw the world. She asked if there was some way we could see the world through their eyes. Since most birds see to a greater or lesser degree in UV, I answered that I would look int it.

 

I am sure many of you can pick up the story from here. I have bought some old Nikon enlarger lenses. 80mm and 105mm. Also got a PB-4 bellows and after reading this and other web=sites, got the right rings and such to hook it all up and last week acquired an interesting visible light image using my D7100. So, as a result of that pleasant experience, I sent the D7100 off to Life Pixel to get converted to UV. I should have it back in a week or two.

 

I am very much wading in the shallow end of the pool right now, but am determined to understand and get interesting natural subject photos in the UV spectrum.

 

I have a few thousand photos on flickr here, if any of you are at all curious about my style and such. https://www.flickr.c...hotos/awg_pics/

 

Thank you for allowing me to join your community. I will do what I can to share, partipate and follow the discussions. But heck, I am so very new at UV photography, that I feel like most of the time I should just listen and learn.

 

Kindest regards,

 

Tony Grover

Portland, Oregon, USA

[Cadmium]

Welcome, Nice photos.

Portland! I am in Eugene.

[dabateman]

Welcome to the fun and expensive world of UV photography.

Soulds like you got a good lens. With your style you maybe interested in a telephoto lens capable in UV.

Cadmium had good results with Lentar 400mm f6.3, I think. I still haven't tested mine. Its manual focus, T-mount, but at least cheap. I think made by Tokina. I will have to test mine one day in UV. With my 450mm f6.5. I had the odd idea to photograph birds and some wild life in UV but haven't yet. Still moving through flowers. Starting to look at dried dead insects I have been finding in the house. I haven't moved to moving subjects yet, but the light I have been using is too dangerous for live things. Recently playing more with UVc.

Make sure to have fun. I look forward to seeing your images.

[Tony Grover]

Thanks to both of you, Cadmium and dabateman. I bought a UV flashlight that takes 8 AA batteries. Thinking that on our often cloudy days here in Portland I could supplement natural UV with the handheld source. All conjecture now since my UV converted D7100 is still a couple of weeks away. I hope I did not make a mistake. I seriously considered sending in the D800. Well -- time will tell.

 

If I figure out how to photograph birds I will share what I learn. Suppose it will be flowers and such at first.

[JMC]

Welcome Tony.

 

By all accounts the d7100 converts ok for UV work (as you'll read on here some cameras are ok, others not so). Definitely a good start point for trying UV without diving in and converting the d800 straight away.

 

The older El nikkor enlarger lenses you mentioned - 80mm and 105mm - are good for UV. You may want tp put pictures of theses themselves up if you are unsure whether they are old or new versions.

 

Raf camera on ebay makes a filter adapter for them to 52mm, which is what a lot of the filters normally come as, and is worth investing in.

 

Jonathan

[ulf]

If I figure out how to photograph birds I will share what I learn. Suppose it will be flowers and such at first.

The birds must be very stationary as the exposure times are long.

If you want a long lens for UV-photography Novoflex made some real tele lenses with good UV-trasmission:

https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/3090-novoflex-400mm-f56-and-600mm-f80-for-uv-photography/page__fromsearch__1

[Andrea B.]

Hello Tony and welcome to UVP! I hope you are able to find some useful info here. We have lots of details stored in our Stickies in the reference section. And we are always happy to answer any questions.

 

How a UV-capable animal sees in UV is quite an interesting question. For example, bees have a UV visual receptor. But the current research indicates that bees use UV to detect "up" rather than incorporating UV to form a trichromatic "image" in their little bee brains*. I've not read much about birds' UV-cabability other than very basic articles which mention that in some cases it is thought that birds might use UV vision for checking out plumage of desireable mates. So, as you learn about the birds & UV, please do report back what you find! We all enjoy trying to make photos which simulate bee/insect, bird and animal UV vision (regardless of how these guys *actually* see) and hope that you will add yours soon.

 

References:

https://www.cabi.org/bookshop/book/9781789240894

See also for a synopsis of Horridge's work:

https://blog.cabi.org/2019/05/16/what-do-bees-see-and-how-does-it-inform-our-understanding-of-vision/

[Tony Grover]

Hello Tony and welcome to UVP! I hope you are able to find some useful info here. We have lots of details stored in our Stickies in the reference section. And we are always happy to answer any questions.

 

How a UV-capable animal sees in UV is quite an interesting question. For example, bees have a UV visual receptor. But the current research indicates that bees use UV to detect "up" rather than incorporating UV to form a trichromatic "image" in their little bee brains*. I've not read much about birds' UV-cabability other than very basic articles which mention that in some cases it is thought that birds might use UV vision for checking out plumage of desireable mates. So, as you learn about the birds & UV, please do report back what you find! We all enjoy trying to make photos which simulate bee/insect, bird and animal UV vision (regardless of how these guys *actually* see) and hope that you will add yours soon.

 

References:

https://www.cabi.org...k/9781789240894

See also for a synopsis of Horridge's work:

https://blog.cabi.or...ding-of-vision/

 

Thanks Andrea. I have much to learn, and the notion of seeing the world in ways not human but perhaps not unusual for the animals and insects around us intrigues be greatly. Bird plumage in the UV is perhaps the nest reason to see what they see in each other. Sadly our cats do catch and kill birds occasionally. So I may have a chance to get some regrettably fresh plumage photos!

[Andrea B.]

We have had the occasional bird photo over the years, not many though. Here is a link to an Australian Magpie feather which shows some UV-reflectivity: https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/988-cracticus-tibicen-australian-magpie/