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I finally used my DIY UV box for making Van Dyke wet prints – Here’s my complete process

It’s been a little while since I built my UV Box but sometimes, life gets in the middle of our fun projects! Now, I’ve finally tested the UV Box and I can say that it works great. I made a test with two different negatives: a very soft flower subject lighted with painted light and a very sharp subject lighted with a very contrasty light. I wanted to see how this printing process deals with different subjects.

I proceeded with some step tests to find the corrected exposure for my negatives. I did 2 seconds steps and as you can see in the video, I was a little optimistic with my first strip of 2,4,6,8 seconds of exposure. In the end, the correct exposure resulted in 11 minutes.

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How to build your own DIY UV exposure box for when the sun won’t shine

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I was always told: if you have to do something, do it with your own style! So here is my Italian style UV box to expose the papers coated with antique photographic processes.

At the origin of photography, many technologies of printing required exposure to UV light. In those times, the sun was the perfect source and the exposure was usually made outdoor. But the quantity of UV light from the sun can vary a lot in different seasons or with different weather. Plus, baby it’s cold outside now in winter! For this reason, I decided to build a UV Box.

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This extreme Raspberry Pi camera mod uses a laser to removes the Bayer filter array

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There are a lot of reasons why one might want to have the sensor in their camera modified. We see it all the time for those who wish to shoot infrared or ultraviolet photography. There are even companies out there who will do the whole process for you. Usually, though, it doesn’t involve stripping off the Bayer filter array. Typically it’s just removing the filter that blocks UV and IR.

Well, for Les Wright at Les’ Lab, just removing the blocking filter on his Raspberry Pi camera wasn’t enough. he wanted all the raw data, without any colour interference at all from every pixel on the sensor. So, he went on a mission to figure out away to remove it without killing the sensor. Ultimately, the best method proved to be to burn it off with a laser!

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This awesome UV video lets you see the world the way insects do

It’s always interesting to see something familiar in a totally new light. This is exactly what photographer Don Komarechka did in the latest video for DPReview TV. In this fun video, Don shows us how insects see the world using a modified camera and ultraviolet light. And it’s incredible how flowers we see every day suddenly become something completely new!

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Turn ordinary objects into extraordinary photos using only a UV light

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Using a UV light for photos can give you some spectacular results and give your images an unusual twist. Even when you illuminate ordinary subjects with it, they can look extraordinary. In this video, Mathieu Stern teamed up with fellow photographer Pierre-Louis Ferrer to show you what everyday objects look like in UV light, and inspire you to try it out yourself.

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UV camera & ringflash shows subjects in a whole new light with amazing results

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We’ve all seen the effects UV from sunlight has on human skin and why you should be heading for the sunscreen. But what about using it safely in a more creative manner? Thats’ what French UV and IR photographer Pierre-Louis Ferrer wanted to find out. So, he developed a UV ringflash, to shoot some crazy UV portraits, and see how different substances react to UV light.

In collaboration with weird lens guru, Mathieu Stern, this pair of videos show some pretty awesome results.  They also put together a behind the scenes video showing how the video was made, as well as the DIY UV ringflash.

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Watch these 10 fruits chopped up under UV light

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Going out of the visible light spectrum isn’t something most photographers think to try. But for a select few, seeing the invisible has become an integral part of their photography. Infrared conversions are common for DSLRs these days, and prices have come down greatly. What’s not seen so often, though, is UV photography.

Mathieu Stern delves into that realm a little with his latest video. Teaming up with fellow photographer Pierre-Louis Ferrer, Mathieu chops up some fruit under a UV blacklight. It’s an interesting look at how different surfaces react to different wavelengths of invisible light. The inside a pineapple, for example, become a rich purple flesh. The skins of tomatoes, however, turn jet black, reflecting nothing.

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Six great tips for creating freakishly awesome UV photography

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A few weeks ago, the folks from the Cooperative of Photography brought us an excellent video on taking our photography to the next level. One of the projects highlighted in that video was on UV photography. Starting simple and building it up to produce something amazing.

This time, the Cooperative are back with photographer Markus Berger and some amazing practical tips that will definitely help to take your UV photography to that next level they were talking about.

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How To Make a DIY UV filter for 2 cents that actually works

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It just so turned out that I am surrounded with really talented body paint artists. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I shoot a lot of modern circus performers and maybe it is just the route life planned for me. Either way, I am surrounded by wonderful body painters. I also see my share of UV body art photoshoots. The results are usually very noisy and flat. Plus it is quite hard to avoid some softness and slight blur that comes with the long exposure required to get enough light in. Light that should have made the details shine, but is lost due to blur. I was obsessed with finding a way to take good pictures of this art form that will make the fine details pop out like they should. I did it, with a big fat Sharpie.

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The Hidden Wonders of the Amazon

Photographer Nicky Bay headed to the Amazon’s tropical rainforests, but he wasn’t after the jaguars, anacondas, sloths or piranhas the region is so famous for.

Instead, being a macro photography, Nicky set out to document the creatures so small they are often overlooked or disregarded.

If you like creepy-crawlies you will love these photos. If you don’t, you’ll probably remove the Amazon rainforest from your travel wishlist.

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