Ultraviolet Macro Photography

[@ShevillMathers]

A very interesting topic, one the many that I have been meaning to start again on non medical/scientific objects. I still have a darkroom from my film and fluorescein retinal angiography days, maybe a topic that has crossed your path in a previous life ? I still have some bits and pieces, plus a nice UV source and some filters- time is the enemy these days with too many projects on the go. I need to clean out the darkroom and set it up for a new use. I am setting up a Pluto Trigger Dropper system that has been waiting patiently to be fired up-quite a popular activity from what I have seen . I want to try something a bit different to what most folks do, so another layer of complexity. Your range of topics and detail with insect macro photography must be very welcomed by newcomers to the field, which is so easily affordable given the wide range of equipment now available from that well-known country. Thank you for sharing your experiences in this fascinating area of photography. Stay safe. 👍🇬🇧🇦🇺🔭

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Thanks Shevill. I know the feeling of too many projects! Well familiar with fluorescein and I have thought about using it to do UVIVF water drop photography. Just haven't had a chance to experiment yet.

[@ShevillMathers]

Allan Walls Photography . Having several DSLR camera’s modified for various astrophotography uses, makes them ideal for work in the IR and or UV, two of them are also fully Peltier cooled, one being a mono de Bayered camera. I saved som laboratory UV lamps, Swiss made with two specific wavelengths- below 300 nm around 230 and 366 I think, not sure what the others are but imagine they will come in useful. I modified a couple of Mecablitz 60’s to allow UV for other research projects so maybe this old equipment may still have a use for ‘playtime’. Our number of clear nights have reduced my astrophotography & photometry and projects with NASA & other USA institutions have slowed down a bit. I am still occupied with the university in climatology research on an honorary basis, so still have my academic status and access to various resources. It has proved useful having a parallel career in astronomy, something that the Tasmania University has been able to use as it has its own 1.3m telescope and double beam spectrograph, donated from Mt Stromboli’s. It also has three radio telescopes, one donated by NASA after our involvement in the moon landing 1969. We have our own 5-acre property about 10-minutes drive away from the radio telescope & 5 minutes up the hill to the optical site. Had a 50 odd year association with UTAS astronomy, hence all my diverse projects other than my primary medical activities. I suspect that you, like me, need another lifetime (less the training years) to put to use what we spent years learning!!. Stay safe-as I know you will, we do not have any COVID-19 cases in Tasmania and our borders remain locked down to the outside world. I note with concern the way things are going in the USA, I hope commonsense prevails sooner rather than later, however the‘genie’ is well and truly out of the bottle. Regards from down under.

[@Dilburtus]

I would never try and modify a modern day dSLR in any way by opening it up and try and get to the sensor. I did buy a Nikon d3100 and had it sent off to be professionally converted over to full spectrum. I’m pretty happy with the IR and UV outdoor pics I get by using different filters, though the UV filters tend to be somewhat spendy. I agree the UV side of photography is pretty interesting overall. Thanks as always Allan for dropping us another terrific video!

[@tapariayogesh]

Hi Allan, which camera has the most sensitive sensor for dark photography. I am trying to substitute a microscope camera for fluorescence microscopy with commercially available camera that generally cost much less.

[@stuartpinkney2340]

Hello Allan, I’ve just watched this video about UV light which is fascinating and really looking forward to you doing a full length on it’s use. Once I’ve watched that then I might shell out and buy one. I use UV light at work to check coverage of a moisture proof coating we put onto circuit boards which shows up under this type of light.

[@nilsoberg793]

Hi Allan! I'm looking forward to see the full length video how you do ultraviolet photography.

[@mondujar279]

another very interesting and unique video Allan . Please keep it up because you have a growing number of fans now who need an Allan Walls fix regularly. I won’t be trying this UV stuff though, my dwindling brain cell count might spell disaster

[@andrewh2341]

Any clear plastic safety glasses (something you would wear using power tools) will very effetely absorb UV light. To check if they work, just shine the UV on something fluorescent and then hold the safety glasses in front of the UV light and see that your subject no longer fluoresces. Typically speaking any optically clear plastic is a strong absorber of UV. (I’m an engineer that works with optics and lasers or a living)

[@robertstorost629]

Hello, Allan. Another enjoyable video! I especially enjoyed the stop-motion segment. Your creativity knows no bounds! Reminds me of the penny cartoons from Pee-wee's Playhouse, and of course Gumby. Looking forward to part two of this UVIVF process. I am still unsure about the output of the UV flashlight or the converted speedlights, maybe more than one or two speed lights. My goal is to get shutter speeds and ISO down sufficiently to do some Focus stack images. All the best, Robert

[@Just-a-bystander]

Allan.. So I am connecting a few videos together here.. but I had an interesting idea. Lets see if this all makes sense. First.. this video has some very interesting ideas. My perspective: I am committed to using a flash set up, so any foray into UV would have to go down the path of Flash Speedlights. So lets hold onto that thought... In an earlier video you talked about making a home built Fiber Optic strobe system. Well I found a dual gooseneck dolan-jenner light source and I constructed a lens focused speedlight box that works like a charm. I had to mill out the connector from aluminum and construct a custom box, but honestly, it really is amazing. Currently, for light modifiers, I have a couple of ping pong balls which I have yet to test, but I suspect the plastic material is too thick and the light will be too modified or in plain english, too dulled down. I have been interested in making something better. Oh and BTW, I completed a macro light cage made of wood parts which can be knocked down for storage and rebuilt into a strong unit each and every time. Its very much your basic design but I added my thoughts on the wood frame and strength and modularity. I'm still adding some refinements but pretty awesome so far. Back to light modifiers - I also just watched your video on polarized light modifiers, the large over the speedlight filter tubes - great idea which I am likely to construct.. however, I had this thought about using that same idea to make various small modifiers for the fibre optic strobes. It will be super simple to create softboxes that slide onto the ends of the gooseneck optics. I will be making those ASAP using foam and maybe a screw-in filter set up.. I have all sorts of old red, green, yellow, orange filters I never use anymore from my B&W days.. they could be become useful again. As well, I also have many polarizers that would suddenly become extremely useful. 1: I may be able to alter a speedlight to be a dedicated UV light source and utilize it through the fiber optics 2: I can create several modifiers for the fiber optics, such as a softbox or use color gels (often free gifts included from godox) or Y, O2, R glass filters - they just need to be small 3: On top of normal modifiers, I can add polarizers and control the light output - plus they can utilize very small, less expensive polarizing filters I imagine there is an idea of two in there that might interest you.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Brilliant stuff, Gary. Your brain seems to work like mine! I am going to digest all these concepts and see what looks worth some experimenting. I'd love to see your fiber optic strobe setup - would you mind emailing me a snap of what you came up with? [e-mail] will come straight to me. Cheers!

[@rodneybartholomew240]

Hi Allan, your explanation and the graphics made a complex topic fairly easy to follow. Here on the southern tip of Africa we use UV torches to find scorpions at night as they fluoresce particularly well and can be spotted from some distance away. I must admit though that the torch I am currently using falls into the "cheap" category you refer to and I will definitely follow up on your recommendation to source one of the more expensive unit.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Hi Rodney, I keep waiting for someone to come out with a quality UV source that is also affordable. There are so many products that look good on paper but just don't deliver. If you find one, please let us know!

[@photografiaaustralis2131]

Looks like fun Allan. Hope you're doing well.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Hi Greg... it is and I am!

[@wassim2364]

Ty Allan

[@zoomzoom530]

Fluorescence need not necessarily be done with UV excitation. It could be done by at any spectral range. The only limitation is that at least in nature, the exciting light must be done at a shorter range than the emission range.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Hi Luca. Yes, this is absolutely true, but most of our insect subjects fluoresce only weakly, making photography difficult when the exciting radiation includes wavelengths in the visible spectrum.

[@zoomzoom530]

@@AllanWallsPhotography That is correct. I was only referring to your statements re. the general phenomenon. BTW 1- fluorescent emission ranges cannot be too far from their excitation ranges so UV excitation is typically eliciting emissions in blue or green and whenever emissions are at much further ranges from their excitation ranges it means that they are based on a *cascade* of a few fluorophores (e.g. in many photosynthetic systems). BTW 2- the chitinous exoskeleton of some scorpions give an amazingly strong glow when lit with UV....

[@davismorrell6541]

@@zoomzoom530 that's interesting! Are there other non visible types of light besides long wave UV that charge different colored phosphors besides the blue and greens (independent of the cascade)?

[@zoomzoom530]

@@davismorrell6541 There are. In fact, some natural metabolites fluoresce in the UVA and violet ranges when excited by UVB, and the differential fluorescent characteristics of normal and cancerous tissues allowed the development of diagnostic protocols for clinical purposes back in the 90'.

[@messylaura]

yep been very intreasted in UV macro, i have a second hand adaptalux with two uv arms, they dont really put out alot of uv power, i have heard that the nitecore uv is a good option. i'll be very intreasted in you future uv vids

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Hi Laura. Thanks. My experience with the Adaptalux was the same. The MTE U301 365nm UV energy source is the one that I settled on (the broken one!). It is the best I have found for UVIVF.

[@steve697united]

Would really like to se how you set up and shot us lit subjects and what subjects work the best.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

As soon as my energy source is working, or replaced, I will be doing a part II of this video. Should be fun and already have a few ideal subjects lined up!

[@Lysander-Spooner]

OFF TOPIC: What brand shirt are you wearing in this video.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

It's from Walmart. It is much the same as the long-sleeved fishing shirts from Columbia, but half the price. I think the brand name is Bimini?

[@robd99]

9 mins: This is why scorpions glow in the dark when you use a UV light to look for them....... nb Many invertebrates (notably bees) can see UV light. What looks like a plain white flower to us looks very different to bees and other pollinators -. often having target markings to attract them..... So when we were made to sing at school "God made the beautiful flowers for us...." well maybe not..... :)

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

True, Rob. There is a lot of interesting stuff going on just beyond our senses!

[@mariomifsud1302]

Well explained but i admit it's to heavy for my mind.

[@AllanWallsPhotography]

Thanks Mario... it is definitely a niche thing!

[@dirkmeijer996]

Fluorophore

[@skakdosmer]

Interesting to see how many subscribers you’ll lose due to sudden blindness or even sudden death after this video. By the way, not only flashes have high voltage capacitors in them; cameras do too! I've sometimes thought of having an older camera modified for IR and UV photography, but it’s certainly not something I’d do myself, because you’ll have to take it completely apart. I saw a recipe online, and you really have to know what you’re doing, and you can NOT afford to be clumsy!