Fluorescent photos?

[Kismet]

I know I've seen some really nice fluorescent photos on here. So spill... how do you guys do that? Do you have a photographer's assistant or a third arm? Also, how can you tell when a stone fluoresces? I mean, I can see when these stones fluoresce red and I can see when nothing happens on other stones but when I use the black light on my pink tourmaline it doesn't look like fluorescence but it's not nothing either. It turns a pale blue.

Here are my feeble attempts at black light photography. The stone on the left is a lavender blue sapphire the stone on the right is my new red spinel. The red spinel doesn't really look blue with the black light on it, it just looks more red. How do I get them to stop looking so purple in the photos?

 

[Kismet]

This is more normal viewing. The black light is still on but the flash went off.

 

[Kismet]

This is my new sapphire ring from Fay Cullen. The pink sapphire is on the top.

 

[Kismet]

The FC ring again with the pink tourmaline. It doesn''t really look that purple under the black light, it just looks pale blue.

 

[Kismet]

Another of the tourmaline. Here's the daylight picture.

 

[Arcadian]

I''ve tried black light photos before and they NEVER come out for me. I''m no help in that category, sorry.

My red and pink spinels have a very strong fluor, I''ve got a tsavorite ring with small stones that some will fluor orangy-red. I took photos and they look like terrible blurry red things...lol

Funny though, I have a lavendarish spinel I purchased ages ago, no fluor at all.

under black light, blue sapphires can turn to purple-y color, hackmanite turns yellow(thats so bizzare to see!) The rest of my stones don''t show anything.

with a chelsea filter its another story. I may have to set that up to take some pictures though it when I have the time.

-A

 

[chrono]

Kismet,
I''ve not tried any fluorescent photography nor used a black light to do so, so I''m not of any help. Do you know for sure if any of the stones pictured here react to UV? It looks like maybe only the top pink sapphire might show a reaction, so it could just be the photography.

 

[innerkitten]

I tried it on my spinel the other day which does glow under black light and it came out looking like a blob. I''d love to learn the secret too.

 

[innerkitten]

Oh yeah forgot to say. If the stone does flores you'll know it right away because it will become neon under the UV light. It'll turn bright neon pink or red ( if it's a pink or red stone) . Some diamonds turn violet. Not all types of gemstones do.

 

[Kismet]

Date: 3/14/2010 4:13:46 PM
Author: Chrono
Kismet,

I''ve not tried any fluorescent photography nor used a black light to do so, so I''m not of any help. Do you know for sure if any of the stones pictured here react to UV? It looks like maybe only the top pink sapphire might show a reaction, so it could just be the photography.

Yes, they all react to black light. Well, except for maybe the pink tourmaline; I don''t know what''s happening there as it turns blue. In the FC ring the pink sapphire turns a bright reddish pink and the purple sapphire turns a bright red. The loose lavender sapphire turns a bright pink and the red spinel turns even redder. I can see it all with my eyes but my photography leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[PrecisionGem]

You guys got me wanting to try this. I bought one of the small LED ultraviolet lights a few weeks ago, but had not tried taking pictures yet.
Here''s the first attempt. The only light source was a dim room, plus the LED UV light, held about 3 inches from the stone. The exposure was 1/6 of a second at F 5.6 with a Nikon D70 SLR and a 105 mm macro lens.
With the long exposures, you will need the camera on a tripod, and the stone laying still. The stone is not for sale, but is a Mahenge spinel.

 

[innerkitten]

Wow cool. What does it look like under regular lighting conditions?

 

[LtlFirecracker]

Date: 3/14/2010 5:58:44 PM
Author: PrecisionGem
You guys got me wanting to try this. I bought one of the small LED ultraviolet lights a few weeks ago, but had not tried taking pictures yet.

Here''s the first attempt. The only light source was a dim room, plus the LED UV light, held about 3 inches from the stone. The exposure was 1/6 of a second at F 5.6 with a Nikon D70 SLR and a 105 mm macro lens.

With the long exposures, you will need the camera on a tripod, and the stone laying still. The stone is not for sale, but is a Mahenge spinel.

I have got to get me one of those lights to see if mine does that. I have noticed that my Mahenge looks best in low-medium life conditions. Great for real life because now I have a colored stone that will look good when I got out to dinner on a Saturday evening. But bad for photos because I don''t have enough light to capture it.

 

[Arcadian]

Date: 3/14/2010 5:58:44 PM
Author: PrecisionGem
You guys got me wanting to try this. I bought one of the small LED ultraviolet lights a few weeks ago, but had not tried taking pictures yet.
Here's the first attempt. The only light source was a dim room, plus the LED UV light, held about 3 inches from the stone. The exposure was 1/6 of a second at F 5.6 with a Nikon D70 SLR and a 105 mm macro lens.
With the long exposures, you will need the camera on a tripod, and the stone laying still. The stone is not for sale, but is a Mahenge spinel.

hmm... its raining and dark and ugly here...I should try this.

Ok tried it. Gene one other question; are you using a timer? my pics are still not terribly in focus because of the long focus.


-A

 

[LD]

The trick to taking these photos is that you don't take photos in a blacked out room. Just make sure that the lighting in the room is dim (not too dark). Shine the UV penlight (or whatever you're using) directly onto the gem and then take a photo with your macro setting on and the lighting setting to fluorescent (if you've got that option).

Here are some of my fluor photos. Fluor on the left - how the gem appears in normal lighting conditions on the right.

In order:

Black diamond with blue fluor
Yellow diamond with strong green fluor
Mahenge Spinel with pink fluor
Chameleon Diamond with strong yellow fluor
I Colour Diamond with strong blue fluor

 

[innerkitten]

edited

 

[innerkitten]

True about your stone Ltlfirecracker. It'll be a great dinner ring as well as a day time ring.

 

[PrecisionGem]

Date: 3/14/2010 6:23:17 PM
Author: Arcadian

Date: 3/14/2010 5:58:44 PM

Author: PrecisionGem

You guys got me wanting to try this. I bought one of the small LED ultraviolet lights a few weeks ago, but had not tried taking pictures yet.

Here''s the first attempt. The only light source was a dim room, plus the LED UV light, held about 3 inches from the stone. The exposure was 1/6 of a second at F 5.6 with a Nikon D70 SLR and a 105 mm macro lens.

With the long exposures, you will need the camera on a tripod, and the stone laying still. The stone is not for sale, but is a Mahenge spinel.

hmm... its raining and dark and ugly here...I should try this.

Ok tried it. Gene one other question; are you using a timer? my pics are still not terribly in focus because of the long focus.



-A

If you can, you should have your camera on manual focus, and you need to be using a tripod. My exposure was 1/6 of a second, so if it wasn''t on a tripod it would be a blurry mess.
This is the how the stone looks in normal lighting.

 

[Kismet]

Bah, after taking 30 more pictures I''m still getting massive fail on the black light photography. I shall try again another day.

 

[Arcadian]

Thats a lovely stone Gene

I used one of the lighter tripods I have. but I think my problem comes in when I push the shutter button. (one of the few things I don''t like about the G1 is the heavy button)

My pic isn''t as nice as yours, but finally captured one.


Hang in there Kismet, maybe tomorrow is a better day.

-A

 

[T L]

Date: 3/14/2010 8:27:15 PM
Author: Arcadian
Thats a lovely stone Gene

I used one of the lighter tripods I have. but I think my problem comes in when I push the shutter button. (one of the few things I don''t like about the G1 is the heavy button)

My pic isn''t as nice as yours, but finally captured one.


Hang in there Kismet, maybe tomorrow is a better day.

-A

Wow, I see some fluorescent diamonds in that photo as well. Beautiful shot!!

If a stone has really strong fluor, you can actually just go out in the sun, or shine some sunlight on it, and see the fluor. Ignore the tsavorite in this photo, which doesn''t have any fluor. I was in my kitchen and directed a beam of sunlight through the window at this stone.

 

[T L]

Date: 3/14/2010 9:45:20 AM
Author: Kismet
Another of the tourmaline. Here''s the daylight picture.

It doesn''t look like the tourmaline has fluor. Someone correct me if I''m wrong, but I don''t think tourmalines fluor, at least not pink ones. If it did, it wouldn''t be so purple in the photo.

 

[chrono]

I haven’t heard of tourmalines reacting to UV either. But look at all these fluorescent pictures!!!

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 3/14/2010 8:27:15 PM
Author: Arcadian
Thats a lovely stone Gene

I used one of the lighter tripods I have. but I think my problem comes in when I push the shutter button. (one of the few things I don't like about the G1 is the heavy button)

My pic isn't as nice as yours, but finally captured one.


Hang in there Kismet, maybe tomorrow is a better day.

-A

I use the timer built into my camera when taking fluorescent photos to avoid the vibration from pushing the shutter button. My camera has a choice between 2 sec and 10 sec, and often I use the 10 sec delay to make sure the camera has stopped vibrating from pushing the shutter. Five seconds would probably be plenty long enough, but I don't have that option. Pictured is my Mahenge spinel with red fluorescence and my diamond ring with medium blue fluorescence.

 

[chrono]

Awesome picture and stones, FlyGirl. It’s really neat that your other melees react to UV too.

 

[LD]

Flygirl - like Chrono, the first thing I saw was the fluor on your melees! What a cool shot - you can see yellow and green fluor in them.

 

[Arcadian]

Date: 3/15/2010 6:26:27 AM
Author: tourmaline_lover

Wow, I see some fluorescent diamonds in that photo as well. Beautiful shot!!

If a stone has really strong fluor, you can actually just go out in the sun, or shine some sunlight on it, and see the fluor. Ignore the tsavorite in this photo, which doesn''t have any fluor. I was in my kitchen and directed a beam of sunlight through the window at this stone.

My namya spinel has a particularly strong fluor on it. the top of course is with a bit of sun, the bottom extremely indirect light. (its from inside my closet...lol) If I let the sun shine directly on it, its gets very very red.

-A

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks Flygirl. I generally don''t do any long exposure pictures and am like a fish out of water! I''ll for sure set the timer for the next go round.

-A

 

[Fly Girl]

Date: 3/15/2010 3:58:44 PM
Author: LovingDiamonds
Flygirl - like Chrono, the first thing I saw was the fluor on your melees! What a cool shot - you can see yellow and green fluor in them.

Thanks LD and Chrono. There is another UV shot of that ring about halfway down this page. Link It is so strong that even weak sunlight turns my yellow sidestones rather green.

A - Good luck with your next set of photos. Looking forward to the pics.

 

[stepcutnut]

I love all these fluor pics!!!