UV induced fluorescence tree Lichen with electronic flash

[Doug A]

Pentax 645Z with Pentax 645 A 120 macro lens and Tiffen UV Haze 2A filter. First attempt using diy modified Pentax AF540FGZ full spectrum flash with 6mm of Tangsinuo ZWB1 UG11340nm glass covering flash tube.  F11 ISO400 21 seconds to allow 3 flash pops.

 

I tried this shot earlier without flash on a moonless night. Unfortunately, there are bright lights about 1/4 mile away and they diluted the purity of the yellow.  

 

I struggled processing this image. Difficult to decide how it should look . Any tips and comments are welcome.

Thanks for looking,

Doug A

[colinbm]

Looks good Doug
What did you use to block the IR, from the flash, on the cameras lens ?

[Doug A]

Thanks @colinbm.  Nothing.  Just 6mm (3 plates of glass) ZWB1. Thought that would do it. Should I have some kind of IR blocker as well? Guess I could rob the BG39 from the full spectrum camera lens.

 

Thanks for looking,

Doug A

[colinbm]

It is looking good as it is, but there will be an element of IR so some extra blocking of the IR is desirable,

[Andy Perrin]

Yep, definitely need to cut IR from the flash. I bet that’s what diluted the purity of the yellow a bit. It looks good though!

[Doug A]

Thanks @colinbm, @Andy Perrin what would you add to block IR? 2mm of Tangsinuo BG39? Or something else? Is all 6mm of ZWB-1 needed?

Thanks,

Doug A

[colinbm]

 BG40 filter to block IR or many UV IR blockers that would get your converted camera back to normal colour.

[Andy Perrin]

Honestly most BG glasses (even cheap ones) would probably work to get in the ballpark of normal color. Fluorescence colors don’t have any way to white balance that isn’t ridiculously expensive so there is no sense spending much for this application. Fluorescence in general is easier than UV reflected photography. Nobody knows what the colors “should” look like, so there is a lot of flexibility. The main reason to block IR from the flash is that it might be washing out the colors a bit. 

[Nate]

That's a really great pic @Doug A  I'm discovering there's a lot of fluorescence in nature to be seen.

[dabateman]

If you have just one more Zwb1 2mm filter,  than that will block all the IR coming out of your flash, without hurting the UV output too much.

Or you could go with BG39 and much less Zwb1,  if its weighing down the flash head too much.

 

Yes I like this lichen. I have a couple of spots of it on my front trees too. Its in a sea of the other stuff. So hitting it with a 365nm flashlight is fun to make it really pop out. Even in daylight.  A 385nm light doesn't work as well. 

[Adrian]

Great image Doug. Do you have a visible light version to compare it with? 

[Doug A]

@Adrian Couldn't leave equipment out all night, so this was taken the next day. The composition isn't exact. Whole areas of the tree look like this. There are only a few decent size yellow patches. Don't know if the yellow is related to the rest.

 

Thanks for looking,

Doug A

 

[Doug A]

Thanks everyone.

@colinbm this Pentax is stock, not converted. I will investigate IR blocking for the flash. 

 

@Andy Perrinand @dabatemanTangsinuo seems to have more rectangular ZWB choices than BG. The flash head will be fine so I'll reorder what I have.

Thanks,

Doug A

 

Ps@dabateman looking forward to seeing pics of your Lichens.

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Perrin]

Doug, I meant blue green glasses more generally, not just what Tangsinuo labels as "BG".

[Cadmium]

Wow that really looks cool! That first one, and what a difference there is from the visual shot! 

 

[Craigo79]

Love the yellow , what flash power did you use? I use 1/1 with mine and also shoot at synch shutter speeds and just raise the iso 

[Doug A]

@Craigk79 this was taken at full power manual. Tried to keep ISO lower and shot multiple flash bursts. Wish I had more power.

Thanks,

Doug A