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UltravioletPhotography

Mushrooms and friends


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Col, thanks for confirming that.

 

I have just been assuming that my out of the box Canon SX50 would be blocking what IR was being given off from the Blak-Ray. I am not versed in anything IR. Do you see anything in my images that would make you suspect IR is getting through to my sensor? If I find one to borrow then I can carefully compare two shots and see if there is any difference.

 

-D

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Damon, The best way to be sure, as I learnt very early here, is to get a R72, 720nm pass filter, & screw it on the lens of your choice & take a longish exposure with it, a few seconds.

The cheapo Chinese IR filters are just fine.

If you get a nice red mono image, then welcome to the world of IR photography, if it is very dark, then the shorter exposures you are using for Visible fluoro should be safe.

Having said all this, all your photos are fantastic & I see no IR contamination ;)

Col

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Bill De Jager

Wow oh wow, Damon!

 

Re: Wood and Science article:

I did notice the ends of the pieces of a type of red pine I cut a few days ago were fluorescing blue pretty good. Caught me off guard actually. Maybe the sap, although it totally blanketed the entire surface of the end. The black oak I had cut showed nothing.

 

-D

 

If it's not the wood then it could be the sap. The young pines I've cut (long-ago job) subtly bleed sap out across the entire diameter of the stump; old trees would not have sap in the middle where the heartwood is. The pitch oozes out in a ring of well-defined beads around the circumference of the stump. Sap is water-based and is the tree equivalent of blood, as it carries water and nutrients around the body. In contrast, pitch is hydrocarbon-based and is a defensive fluid against boring insects. Most Americans seem to believe that sap and pitch are the same thing when they actually are not.

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Hi there Bill!

 

That's interesting. I always thought they were the same. Thanks for sharing that info.

So a couple observations.

 

When I took images of oozing "stuff" from a local pine--it fluoresced blue as I showed previously. And when I cut into other pines and most other plants, this blue shows up again--like it is in the cells of them all.

I took an image of "stuff" oozing out of the bark of one of my pitch pines awhile ago--it's fluorescing blue at the hole--but dries kinda yellowish/light green and eventually turning white when all dried up. See below. So what ever is causing the blue doesn't hang around. It's no longer "alive"? Or the sugars are gone?

Another ex. I trimmed my bog garden. There were quite few small woody species that I cut, pencil sized and smaller. Species in the heath family mainly. All the stems fluoresced blue after being cut but no longer fluoresced after a while.

 

So would you characterize the goo coming from the hole in these pictures pitch or sap?

 

Visible: Canon 5D Unmodified, Canon 24-105mm f4 IS, LED light, .8 s @ f/13 ISO 100, No Filters.

post-51-0-02829700-1417019407.jpg

 

 

UVIVFL: Canon 5D Unmodified, Canon 24-105mm f4 IS, Blak-Ray B100AP, 2.5 s @ f/8 ISO 100, No Filters.

post-51-0-84018500-1417019567.jpg

 

Diptych

post-51-0-43562700-1417019648.jpg

 

 

-D

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Bill De Jager

Hi Damon!

 

When I took images of oozing "stuff" from a local pine--it fluoresced blue as I showed previously. And when I cut into other pines and most other plants, this blue shows up again--like it is in the cells of them all. I took an image of "stuff" oozing out of the bark of one of my pitch pines awhile ago--it's fluorescing blue at the hole--but dries kinda yellowish/light green and eventually turning white when all dried up. See below. So what ever is causing the blue doesn't hang around. It's no longer "alive"? Or the sugars are gone? Another ex. I trimmed my bog garden. There were quite few small woody species that I cut, pencil sized and smaller. Species in the heath family mainly. All the stems fluoresced blue after being cut but no longer fluoresced after a while.

 

So would you characterize the goo coming from the hole in these pictures pitch or sap?

 

Damon, it's goo. :)

 

Seriously, that's probably pitch oozing out of pine trees. It oozes prolifically from wounds in the surface layers of the tree, as it would to expel a burrowing larva, and there's not a huge amount of volume loss when it dries out. I don't know whether pitch contains any sugars or not, but I'd guess not much if any since it's not a conveyance for plant food- it just sits there in special "pitch vessels" which await the jaws of a burrowing larva. (I learned tonight that plant latex (milky 'sap') isn't sap either. In contrast to pitch it's water based, but like pitch it resides in special vessels.)

 

In contrast, sap is nearly all water. For instance, to make maple syrup from maple sap a very large quantity of sap must be boiled down into a small volume so the sugars and flavor become strong enough to make the product desirable for consumption in the customary manner. Plants really don't want to bleed out true sap (as opposed to pitch and latex which have repellant functions) as that's a waste of food and water, but such leaks can still happen from major injuries to the plant. The key point in your earlier text above is "like it is in the cells of them all". That's sap, which is somewhat similar to but not the same as the fluid in living cells (cells do exercise discretion in what they let in or out of their membranes).

 

It's interesting that both the sap and pitch fluoresce in the same or similar color. While pitch and sap are like oil and water, it's possible for the same substance to be present in both if it has a polar chemical structure. The change in the color of the pitch over time could be due to the loss of a constituent from evaporation chemical changes due to exposure to oxygen.

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Try taste the goo. It has been used as a sort of candy in the really old days. At least in my part of the of world. Same stuff as the Greek use to flavour their Retzina wine.
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Tasted the pitch today.

I would characterize as so-so. So while it was pretty ordinary tasting, kinda like gum that has lost it's flavor--the consistency was pleasant enough.

I felt like I was chewing on one of those old wax candies. Over here they used to sell wax lips that kids could eat as a kind of candy. Maybe they still do. So it was kinda like chewing on wax.

 

Apparently Turpentine is a volatile oil distilled from pine resin, which itself is obtained by tapping trees of the genus Pinus. Of which Pitch Pine (Pinus Rigida) is part of. Traditionally, turpentine has been used as a solvent or cleaning agent for paints and varnishes. So I am not sure if we are still talking about the same thing or if I am going to continue trying it. :P

 

 

-D

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UVIVFL of Plant Interior Structure

 

I took a fresh plant from the heath family and cut it in half. I don't know it's ID as there were no leaves and I didn't feel like getting a field guide out. But I can ID it if this post doesn't sneak by Andrea. It has about the diameter of a pencil.

My goal was to show how this plant (and many others including some trees) fluoresces on the inside while looking perfectly normal outside while under UVIVFL.

 

 

Close up of cut plant

Visible Light: Canon 30D Unmodified, Canon MP-E 65mm macro @~2X, Halogen light, 1 s @ f/8 ISO 200, No Filters.

post-51-0-36345400-1417408017.jpg

 

 

Close up of cut plant

UVIVFL: Canon 30D Unmodified, Canon MP-E 65mm macro @~2X, 3 Blak-Rays B-100AP, 2.5 s @ f/8 ISO 200, No Filters.

post-51-0-05023400-1417408086.jpg

 

 

Diptych

post-51-0-48488400-1417408193.jpg

 

 

Here are a couple of pics for size reference--both @5X

You can see the very tip of a poorly sharpened standard no.2 pencil on the right

Visible Light: Canon 30D Unmodified, Canon MP-E 65mm macro @5X, Halogen light, 1/4 s @ f/8 ISO 200, No Filters.

post-51-0-50061600-1417408439.jpg

 

 

And one of the blue inside

UVIVFL: Canon 30D Unmodified, Canon MP-E 65mm macro @5X, 3 Blak-Rays B-100AP, 5 s @ f/8 ISO 200, No Filters.

post-51-0-35871800-1417408514.jpg

 

 

-D

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Thanks Col and cool link John.

 

Thought I would post a few more here.

 

I don't have enough evidence to support any kind of real hypothesis but I have found most of the mushrooms so far that have fluoresced significantly, are really plain in visible light. And I don't include the ones which have a moss or something growing on them.

Anyway, here is another from the Nuclear family...

Visible Light: Canon SX50 unmodified, LED, 1.3 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters.

post-51-0-59191100-1417987210.jpg

 

 

UVIVFL: Canon SX50 unmodified, Blak Ray 100AP, 6 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters.

post-51-0-16266400-1417987275.jpg

 

 

Diptych

post-51-0-50578100-1417987386.jpg

 

 

Virtually indestructible like the one below, a lot of bracket fungi can sit on your shelf indefinitely and what neat colors on this one. Many are edible too, especially for those who enjoy the taste and consistency of old boot leather. This one is about 1 foot across.

Visible Light: Canon SX50 unmodified, LED, 2.5 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters.

post-51-0-01171800-1417987504.jpg

 

 

UVIVFL: Canon SX50 unmodified, Blak Ray 100AP, 15 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters.

post-51-0-24878800-1417987521.jpg

 

 

Diptych

post-51-0-38066600-1417987552.jpg

 

 

Now from the side. This one has a chip in the end from dropping it.

post-51-0-68282900-1417987604.jpg

 

 

UVIVFL: Canon SX50 unmodified, Blak Ray 100AP, 15 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters.

post-51-0-90580700-1417987651.jpg

 

-D

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I am all astonishment as to the diversity of the fluorescence records you have documented. Kudos and keep up the good work.
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A labor of love my UV friend, a labor of love.

I am happy to have a place to be around others who share such a passion. It's all thanks to you and Andrea so kudos back at you and keep up the good work of everything that entails running this site.

 

Thanks for the compliment as well. If you are ever in my neck of the woods, we can throw on some polycarbonate goggles, drink some beers and fire up the Blak-Rays. :)

 

-D

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  • 4 years later...

A few new ones. A lot of rain around these parts. Good mushrooming weather.

 

Trumpet of the Dead/Black Trumpet/Horn of Plenty, Craterellus cornucopioides - Edible and highly sought after by mushroom eaters and weirdos with UV lights

 

Visible: Canon SX50 unmodified, 8 Convoy S2+, 1/5 s @ f/8 ISO 125, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-05423400-1551149132.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

UVIVF: Canon SX50 unmodified, 8 Convoy S2+, 4 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-34240100-1551149172.jpg

 

 

 

Diptych

post-51-0-36234500-1551149288.jpg

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I think these are young Honey Mushrooms Armillaria sp. -yummy, which of course can sometimes look very similar to the deadly Galerina marginata -not so yummy

 

Visible: Canon SX50 unmodified, 8 Convoy S2+, .3 s @ f/8 ISO 125, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-72761700-1551150451.jpg

 

 

UVIVF: Canon SX50 unmodified, 8 Convoy S2+, 3.2 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-68422700-1551150393.jpg

 

 

Diptych

post-51-0-11298900-1551150485.jpg

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This seems like a young "Old Man of the Woods" Mushroom -Strobilomyces floccopus. One wonders sometimes what the scientist are thinking with these names. I don't come across too many purple fluorescing shrooms.

 

Visible: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 1 s @ f/4 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-82823900-1551151308.jpg

 

 

UVIVF: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 3.2 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Auto

post-51-0-70061200-1551151317.jpg

 

Diptych

post-51-0-18641300-1551151335.jpg

 

For Øivind :)

post-51-0-32594500-1551234637.jpg

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These are really cool, Damon! In the last one, I would have wished for framing a little more to the right, as the little mushroom has such a nice neon green color. Perhaps cropping left side could restore that balance.
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Thanks!

 

 

LBJ (little brown job)

Visible: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 1/10 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-13812400-1551234874.jpg

 

UVIVF: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, .3 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-61327500-1551234883.jpg

 

Diptych

post-51-0-17949800-1551235713.jpg

 

 

Parasol Mushroom perhaps

Visible: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 1/15 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-79461500-1551234893.jpg

 

UVIVF: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 1/4 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-86285900-1551234899.jpg

 

Diptych

post-51-0-14555500-1551235738.jpg

 

 

Ghost Plant/Corpse Plant/Indian Pipe

It's not a fungus but I think weird enough to chuck in this gang as a friend. It's usually much whiter and prettier than my beat up one here.(non-photosynthetic (i.e. heterotrophic) flowering plant. Does not contain chlorophyll)

Visible: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 1 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-96637200-1551234921.jpg

 

UVIVF: Canon SX50 unmodified, 2 Convoy S2+, 1 s @ f/8 ISO 80, No Filters. WB Sunny

post-51-0-87695300-1551234930.jpg

 

Diptych

post-51-0-23404000-1551235723.jpg

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Well it has certainly been a while since you've posted fluorescent fungi, Damon!! But I am very happy to see that you have not lost interest in this.

 

These are beautiful examples. I really liked the Honey Mushrooms. That lime green & blue fluor - wow! way cool!

 

Love the little intruder in the Old Man photos.

 

Don't stay away so long next time, OK?

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Thanks for the nice words. And yes I have been away far too long - I do miss it.

I got lost in the visible world. Time to blow the dust off my old UV googles!

 

Yeah those honey mushrooms were displaying strange colors. I look forward to coming back into the fold. No end to the rain here so more coming.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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