Author Topic: Taking uranium glass photos - help please! (Read 4280 times)

angel2 · « **Reply #20 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:58:47 PM »

:angel:

Well, I've had another go with very mixed results but of course, different glass will have different uranium content. Trouble is, they light beautifully with the torch just in daylight but still struggling a bit to capture it. I'm just going to practice because as they say, it makes perfect!

angel2

Paul S. · « **Reply #21 on:** August 25, 2011, 08:06:08 PM »

it's also possibly you're shining the light source too much 'head on' - thereby producing the reflected glare shown in these latest pics. Try diffusing the light a bit - maybe shining the torch from the side so the camera doesn't see the reflection - or perhaps shining the torch light through some transparent material to kill some of the shine - which I guess is really the purpose of a tent. But pic. No. 2 is good.

angel2 · « **Reply #22 on:** August 25, 2011, 08:17:55 PM »

:angel:

Thanks Paul, :thup: that's another tip for me! Here's living in hope! :X:

angel2

KevinH · « **Reply #23 on:** August 26, 2011, 01:45:48 AM »

As Christine said earlier, my photo of paperweights under UV did not include "uranium glass" items. The idea there was just to show that the UV reaction can be captured with everything in focus, even though the green glow may seem to be "fuzzy". But here are some examples with a piece with "uranium glass" in it - showing that even with a digital SLR camera, "hoped for" results may not be easy to obtain ...

a) The item in normal room lighting
b) Same item under UV
Both images from a Nikon Coolpix 4500 (non-SLR), on auto settings. The UV shot was taken with room lighting still on and the image cropped and reset onto a fully black backround via photo editing. The UV colour in the photo is reasonably close to what I see with eyesight.

The two images below were taken with a Minolta digital SLR, manually focused lens, and exposure settings on manual. No room lighting. Same UV light as with the Nikon shots. For the first photo below, the camera indicated exposure settings were correct - but the UV green is far too bright (well over exposed). For the second photo, the exposure settings were adjusted to be "well under exposed", and gives a better colour for the green. However, the green is not as good as my shot with the Nikon on auto settings and with room lighting!

So, for anyone struggling with UV shots, I say don't worry, it's not always easy. Even an expensive camera with full manual controls may not give good results if its "correct exposure" indicator is trusted. Experimentation is needed, trying all or many of the suggestions in this thread.

angel2 · « **Reply #24 on:** August 26, 2011, 05:19:38 AM »

:angel:

Thanks Kevin. Just taking grown-up daughter to hosp. for tonsils out. Reply more later.

angel2

angel2 · « **Reply #25 on:** August 26, 2011, 12:46:54 PM »

:angel:

Yes, Kevin, it does look like I'm not a total moron and that results can be decidedly mixed. $:-\$
I was a little bit confused with your message though because you seem to be talking about 4 shots - 2 one camera, 2 t'other but there are only 2 shots. I'm really pleased with all the help you've all given me and you personally are obviously very knowledgeable. It's surprising though because one method might work reasonably with one item, not another but a second method does almost the reverse.

:sun: I'm much better informed now and I'm sure will make a better fist of it overall! (Any other tips always welcome and gratefully received). :hiclp:

angel2

Lustrousstone · « **Reply #26 on:** August 26, 2011, 02:11:30 PM »

He is, the blue text is links to different photos

angel2 · « **Reply #27 on:** August 26, 2011, 08:30:04 PM »

:angel:

Ah ha! Thanks Christine. :thup:
Kevin, my little 'point and shoot' is a Nikon Coolpix S550 and I'd be happy with the result obtained with your's. That's another trick for the list then, editing onto a black background. I haven't the first idea how to do that but I'm going to give it a go!

angel2

Cathy B · « **Reply #28 on:** August 30, 2011, 01:48:53 PM »

Kevin, how do you edit to make the background black? Do you just take the brightness down then crank up the contrast a little? That's prob. all I would do.

ju1i3 · « **Reply #29 on:** August 30, 2011, 03:36:30 PM »

To change the background it depends what software you have and if the object has a definite outline. What are you using? If it already has a definite outline then you can "flood fill"/"bucket fill" the background. Otherwise you have to help it find the outline using one of the tools and possibly tweak it. For the basics I just use Picture Manager which won't do this. For more difficult things, like this task, I use GIMP which is free to download.

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