Saturday, September 14, 2013

Orange coneflower - Rudbeckia fulgida in reflected ultraviolet photography and simulated bee vision VI

Today more macro shots of that decorative flower Orange coneflower - Rudbeckia fulgida var deamii in reflected ultraviolet using Baader-U filter and in simulated bee vision using my XBV6 filter. Lens used was an older 2.8/55mm triplet taking lens. Light source was Xenon flash. All shots were done at about f11.

[click on image to see a larger one]

Visible light image:  

UV image using Baader-U filter (approx. 320-395nm, effective peak approx. 375nm):  

Simulated bee vision image using experimental XBV filter:  

Triptych of the above images:  


This attractive flower shows its very specific UV pattern, its petals have an UV dark pattern, invisible to us humans. It also shows that in UV and BV damages on petals shows easier and earlier, and all this gets nicely visible. The lens being a "normal" taking lens, it transmits less UV than a capable UV lens like the Dialyte lenses used previously, yet enough to make the UV pattern visible.

I have previously written about this flower HERE.

Stay tuned, more will follow on that fascinating subject...