Hi from Italy

[Stefano]

Hi, my name is Stefano, I am 18 years old, I live in Italy and I have been photographing outside the visible spectrum since I was 16. It all started "randomly". My phone has a normal camera with an IR-block filter, but it is weak enough that a significant amount of IR light can pass through it. So, out of curiosity, I started playing with a TV remote, and I managed to use it for illumination. I also discovered that I can see a remote LED, if I stare directly at it in the dark. Probably my first photo made using only IR light was one showing a book, and I also shot a visible version of it, for comparison. I took it on April 27th, 2018.

 

First NIR photograph "with illumination" (without filters). Camera: SM-A510F (Samsung Galaxy A5 2016 rear camera), f/1.9, ISO 800, 1/8 s exposure, 4 mm focal length.

Illumination source: TV remote LED (probably at 940 nm).

 

Visible version, f/1.9, ISO 125, 1/476 s exposure, 4 mm focal length.

 

Then, experimenting with stuff, I accidentaly discovered that the black ink of a marker pen was completely transparent in the NIR. I wanted to see how different colors of marker pen ink looked like in the infrared, and I couldn't see anything. They were invisible. So I made a very "raw" filter with a plastic container, water and black ink. It wasn't perfect at all, the images were a bit distorted because the container wasn't flat, but it worked. I now could shoot infrared outside, just 3 days after I shot my first infrared photo.

 

First NIR photograph of the external world. Camera: SM-A510F (same as before), f/1.9, ISO 125, 1/8 s exposure, 4 mm focal length. Black ink filter.

 

Of course this is not the best photo I have, it is simply the wery first I took.

 

UV came 9 months later. Since I didn't have a source of UV radiation, I bought a filtered 365 nm UV torch. I was amazed by the fact that the light emitted was barely visible, and that we can make LEDs with a high enough bandgap (3.4 eV in this case) that they can generate true UV light. I didn't have any filter, so the first photos I took were made without them, but they weren't polluted too much. I simply had to avoid strongly fluorescent subjects. The first one shows a pair of polycarbonate goggles, which looks black. This time I used a USB webcam, with the hot mirror removed from the lens. I was 17 when I took it.

 

First UV photograph. Camera: Kevler KP-109. Unknown settings, probably the exposure time was around half a second.

 

If I wanted to shoot outside, I needed filters. So I bought a ZWB2 and a chinese BG39, both 2 mm thick. I know that with better glass (S8612 and Hoya U-340, for example) I can make a better filter, but this stack does work well too. I managed to break the BG39 five minutes after opening the package, by dropping it from like 40 cm (15 in), and I was lucky that two of the five pieces it broke into were large enough to completely cover my camera's field of view.

 

First UV photograph of the external world. Camera: Kevler KP-109. Unknown settings. Filter: ZWB2 (2 mm) + BG39 (2 mm).

 

Later I successfully modified the rear camera of my old smartphone, and that made things a lot easier: the sensitivity to UV was significantly higher, and I didn't have to bring a laptop with me. Now I use a modified Panasonic DMC-F3. I modified it with a friend, and we didn't replace the hot mirror with anything, but since the lens are not removable the sensor is sealed inside. Surprisingly, the autofocus still works well (not always but most of the times).

 

That's all for now. Hope everything is correct and all loads up properly.

[Andy Perrin]

Hi! Nice work, also very similar to how I started off. I first modified an iPhone 4 as my infrared camera, and added Hoya R72 to the front, which I cut down from a full size R72 filter using a glass cutter and a dremel tool to smooth edges.

 

Your UV pics are pretty similar to what I got with a self-modified Nikkon CoolPix 995. In my case, and probably in yours, the wavelengths were limited to the 400-380nm range roughly because the lens cuts out all of the shorter wavelengths.

[Guest]

Hi Stefano, and welcome to the forum.

 

My early attempts to shoot IR/UV produced similar results to yours. Unfortunately, at the time I did have the benefit of such information as this forum provides - so my learning process started from the most basic! I think you will enjoy exploring the world outside of 400/720 nm, and I look forward to seeing where your particular interests take you.

[Andrea B.]

Hi Stefano and welcome to UVP!

I greatly enjoyed your story of how you got started in UV and IR photography by experimentation and curiosity. The very best way to begin I think! We have lots of references here but are always available to answer any questions as they arise. And there are lots and lots of great photos to look at.

 

I am a bit late in greeting you here in the Introduction because we just moved house. So you have probably already been to the reference section, but here are a few links anyway.

 

 

SAFETY: READ THIS!!

 

UV and Your Eyes :: UV Safety Reference

Xenon Strobe and Flash Safety Hints

 

STICKY REFERENCES

 

Sticky :: UV Photography: Cams, Mods, Lights, Links

How to make a UV photograph

 

Sticky :: UV-Capable Lenses

And some which are UV-Dedicated.

 

Sticky :: UV/Vis/IR Filters

How to use filters for UV photography

 

Sticky :: White Balance in UV/IR Photography

White balance your false colour -- or not.

 

Sticky :: UV Induced Visible Fluorescence

Read about the Shiny Metal test here.

 

Sticky :: SWIR Photography: Cams, Mods, Lenses, Lights, Links

Go a bit further into the IR.

 

WHITE BALANCE

 

Sticky :: White Balance in UV/IR Photography

 

How to make UV colours reproducible

 

White Balance Search tag for topics/posts about white balance in UV/IR photos.

 

FLUORESCENCE

 

Sticky :: UV Induced Visible Fluorescence

Basic info about shooting fluor. Although originally written for vis fluor, the principles also hold for induced IR fluor.

 

Board: UV Fluorescence & Luminescence

Photos showing fluorescence may be scattered throughout the site, but this is the dedicated section.

[Stefano]

Hi Stefano and welcome to UVP!

I greatly enjoyed your story of how you got started in UV and IR photography by experimentation and curiosity. The very best way to begin I think! We have lots of references here but are always available to answer any questions as they arise. And there are lots and lots of great photos to look at.

 

I am a bit late in greeting you here in the Introduction because we just moved house. So you have probably already been to the reference section, but here are a few links anyway.

 

 

SAFETY: READ THIS!!

 

UV and Your Eyes :: UV Safety Reference

Xenon Strobe and Flash Safety Hints

 

STICKY REFERENCES

 

<> Sticky :: UV Photography: Cams, Mods, Lights, Links <>

How to make a UV photograph

 

<> Sticky :: UV-Capable Lenses <>

And some which are UV-Dedicated.

 

<> Sticky :: UV/Vis/IR Filters <>

How to use filters for UV photography

 

<> Sticky :: White Balance in UV/IR Photography <>

White balance your false colour -- or not.

 

<> Sticky :: UV Induced Visible Fluorescence <>

Read about the Shiny Metal test here.

 

<> Sticky :: SWIR Photography: Cams, Mods, Lenses, Lights, Links <>

Go a bit further into the IR.

 

WHITE BALANCE

 

<> Sticky :: White Balance in UV/IR Photography <>

 

How to make UV colours reproducible

 

White Balance Search tag for topics/posts about white balance in UV/IR photos.

 

FLUORESCENCE

 

<> Sticky :: UV Induced Visible Fluorescence <>

Basic info about shooting fluor. Although originally written for vis fluor, the principles also hold for induced IR fluor.

 

Board: UV Fluorescence & Luminescence

Photos showing fluorescence may be scattered throughout the site, but this is the dedicated section.

Thank you