Project Concept
For the project brief of Colour, I have chosen to explore the concept of colour through the eyes of a bee. I have chosen this because bees see the world very differently as their visual range extends into ultra violet light, meaning many ordinary objects such as flowers can appear significantly brighter and more vibrant to them than it can to us.
For this, I plan to take images of plants and flowers using ultra violet light rather than natural light (though I may take some in natural light to show the contrast between the spectrums). However, to successfully take images using UV photography, its requires either a modified camera or an environment utterly devoid of visible light. I do not have access to this level of equipment within the time frame of this project. In order to produce the UV effect without the access to this equipment, I plan to combine the flowers with UV paint flecks and drips, to produce a similar pattern to the petals but producing a far stronger UV effect. To further develop the idea, I plan to further experiment and further incorporate UV Paint into the flower images to provide a more artistic and surreal feel to the work without straying too far from the original project concept. I also plan to take a combination of macro images as well as normal images to get a range of shots. I ultimately aim to produce 8-16 final images. With prior access to UV lighting and a dark shooting space, I will be able to complete this project without needing to travel and take significant risks within the COVID-19 environment. |
Research
Concept Research:
As a nature photographer, the concept of bees being able to see in a wider spectrum of colour has intrigued me for some time. Most species of bee can see beyond the standard visible light spectrum humans can, being able to see ultra violet wavelengths too. Because of this, many species of flowers have evolved to produced extremely bright colours visible only on the ultraviolet spectrum, making them more visible to bees and increasing they're chances of bees pollenating them: "some flowers such as sunflowers, primroses and pansies have nectar guides that can only be seen in ultra-violet light". Unfortunately, the many flowers to not possess bright enough UV qualities to be picked up on simple blacklights I am using. This means there is an entire world of colour completely invisible to humans. As such I wanted to bring attention to this, looking at a world of colour that we cant even see. |
https://laidbackgardener.blog/2017/10/12/what-bees-see/
https://www.beeculture.com/bees-see-matters/#:~:text=Their%20ability%20to%20see%20ultraviolet,makes%20finding%20nectar%20much%20easier.
https://www.beeculture.com/bees-see-matters/#:~:text=Their%20ability%20to%20see%20ultraviolet,makes%20finding%20nectar%20much%20easier.
Photographer Research:
Craig Burrows:
Craig Burrows is a photographer who works heavily in the medium of UV photography, working to show the world the beauty and colour that exists in nature even though we cannot see it with the naked eye. He creates these images using a blacklight flash in a pitch black environment to prevent any visible light reflecting back into the camera and affecting the UV effect. I do not possess this flash nor would I be able to create it in the time allotted but I can learn from his taking images in a pitch black environment to cause the UV to fully brighten the area. Burrows also states that he is particular about his flowers as many do not produce a necessary level of UV light, hence why I have chosen to add UV paint to the flowers I use to compensate for this.
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https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/craig-burrows-flowers-ultraviolet-light_n_58f4ff14e4b0b9e9848d7da6?ri18n=true&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9jb25zZW50LnlhaG9vLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALzlhNHxr_qbBWFihZ-su4qRbpFCnDvnLKo-EFaKTT_yQoRZNhmKIlNUwdPa53tW4bNFAIo8qxJ_Ol5AtaR3nXrsXYFipAglaaa390C_HwA3MNdCRDJ5JD9RZg89nM9lg96X3zkKUpxV1OHf8ZHdtriBrL_b9PFoEdDkwj0IPw8J
https://www.cpburrows.com/
https://petapixel.com/2015/08/31/diy-an-ultraviolet-flash-for-black-light-photography/
https://www.cpburrows.com/
https://petapixel.com/2015/08/31/diy-an-ultraviolet-flash-for-black-light-photography/
Don Komarechka:
Another photographer who works with UV flash, Komarechka take blacklight flash images of flowers as well macro fauna such as insects. Like Burrows he also works to present the hidden world of UV: “My interest in photography tends to play around the world we cannot see with our own eyes". He too uses a UV flash in a pitch black studio. |
https://www.donkom.ca/
https://www.catersnews.com/stories/amazing/nature-in-the-spotlight-insects-and-plants-under-uv-lights/
https://www.catersnews.com/stories/amazing/nature-in-the-spotlight-insects-and-plants-under-uv-lights/
Initial Test Shoot
For this initial first shoot, I plan to experiment with photographing any UV effect on the flowers as well as experimenting with the use of UV paint to accentuate the UV colours found on the flowers. This should create an effect similar to the image (shown left) using the technique used in this second image (shown right).
I plan to take a combination of landscape and portrait images as well as regular and macro images. Equipment: Camera (Canon 80D), Zoom Lens, Kit Lens, Macro Lens Attachment, UV Paint, Blacklights, Flowers H&S: Care must be taken when taking these images in the enclosed space of a studio. All cables from lights must be kept safe and out of the way to prevent tripping. |
Contact Sheets:
Images:
Shoot Evaluation:
Whilst this shoot was just an initial experiment, I am very pleased with the images produced. Unfortunately, the natural UV properties of the flowers were not particularly vivid and did not show in the images well. However, the use of UV paint has proven extremely effective in creating a bright and surreal appearance whilst also fitting the original concept of this project. Working forward from this shoot, I will purchase additional larger flowers to create a wider range of effects and images. I will also attempt to further blacken out any surrounding area to focus in more on the UV light and less visible light, theoretically creating a brighter UV effect. |
Second Shoot
Following the initial test shoot, I have purchased a number of additional and larger flowers, to widen the range of images I can produce. Also, to further experiment with the UV paint, I have left some flowers to soak in UV paint infused water, akin to the food dye flower experiment often learnt in schools, to attempt to get the UV effect deeper into the flowers themselves. Equipment: Camera (Canon 80D), Zoom Lens, Kit Lens, Macro Lens Attachment, UV Paint, Blacklights, Flowers H&S: Care must be taken when taking these images in the enclosed space of a studio. All cables from lights must be kept safe and out of the way to prevent tripping. |
Contact Sheets:
Images:
Shoot Evaluation:
The addition of several new, larger flowers have proven particularly successful. Serendipitously, one of the types of flowers proved particularly sensitive to UV light, glowing with a bright pinkish hue (shown right). The details found in the larger flowers proved especially effective with the use of UV paint, allowing for far greater detail to be visible in the images. However, due to the particulate nature of the UV paint, the dye-esque experiment proved ineffective at infusing the flowers with UV. To change this in future, I will need to use a UV reactive liquid that can be fully absorbed by the plants. I could also experiment with soaking the flower heads in the UV paint to coat them in UV particulates as it should make the textures of the petals far more vivid. |
Final Shoot
In preparation for this final shoot and working forward from the previous one, I have attempted to overcome the UV particulate flower issue by soaking the flower heads themselves in the UV solution. This should, in theory, coat the heads entirely in UV paint particulates and create a very evenly spread effect on the flower. Equipment: Camera (Canon 80D), Zoom Lens, Kit Lens, Macro Lens Attachment, UV Paint, Blacklights, Flowers H&S: Care must be taken when taking these images in the enclosed space of a studio. All cables from lights must be kept safe and out of the way to prevent tripping. |
Contact Sheets:
Images:
Shoot Evaluation:
Refining the flower/UV technique into soaking the flowers in the UV solution have proven extremely effective, covering the flowers in UV particulates and making them appear significantly brighter, more colourful and more textured. This allowed for a more evenly spready appearance. However some of the flowers proved sensitive to excessive water and began to turn of colour and begin rotting, making them unusable. Despite this the technique has proven to be the most effective method thus far of producing a UV effect on the flowers. |
Final Images and Evaluation
I have chosen these 16 final images as I feel they are the most successful, with a range of colours, textures and shot types (e.g. macro, portrait etc). They also all have strong surreal UV qualities about them without feeling so abstract as to no fill the brief of being what a bee would see.
This project has been very successful given the short timeframe. The final images have been produced to a high standard and accurately fit the brief whilst still retaining and artistic style to them. Through experimentation the UV paint technique was refined to produce the most effective results. Something that did not work well was the background, with a great deal of UV being reflected and the background having to be mostly edited out in post. To fix this in future shoots, a more light secure dark space should be used shoot in next time. Were I to continue this project, I would find more experimental ways to combine the flowers with the UV light. It would also be prudent to research further into and acquire what flowers show up best under UV. |