UWOL Challenge #29 "[in]visible light" by Marj Atkins

[Marj Atkins]

Originally Posted by Mike Sims

. . . What were you using for the black background and how was it lit? Or perhaps I’m asking how it was not lit. How did you avoid light spill onto the background? . . .

Hi Mike
Well you are asking a complete novice in this regard. As usual it was trial and error, but I set the challenge for myself and was determined to get it as right as possible with minimum expense.

For the black backgrounds I used paper and fabric.
I found some very black paper (yes, there are degrees of black when it comes to paper!) at a local art store. It has a near non-reflective surface. My subjects were small so I only needed a few sheets of this. For the clothing shots I used non-reflective black fabric – nothing special.

Three things helped here – keeping the subject as far away from the background as possible, organising the lighting to avoid light spill (ie focusing it on the subject) and setting the camera to maximise available light. I did not always get it right and, as you would probably have noticed, I forgot to set my white balance when shooting the fabrics under normal light, but I simply did not have time to reshoot those images.

Ninety percent of the shots were done at night time so it was completely dark when I switched off the lights.

Basically for the non-fluorescing subjects I used normal room light (daylight fluorescent on the ceiling behind me – as a ‘fill light’) and a small LED spot light with a diffuser (around 50-70 cm away from the subjects).

I used two LED UV torches for the subjects that fluoresce – each having a very small radius of light from a close distance (round 30cm away from the subject). Where I did get light spill it wasn’t much and a little work in post sorted it out.

[John Nantz]

Marj - I have to comment but I think that everybody has said it all. That was a very educational video and I've already forwarded the URL to a couple granddaughters, along with a few of my editorial comments, and I'm sure they will enjoy and learn something from it. I also put a plug in for the fact that this was done by one person with a video camera (hint) and a computer (they really like computers), and of course some applications. They are both very creative and I hope this gets them thinking.

They take pictures and video clips with their iPhones but we need to upgrade their technical approach to video capture and maybe this will help. They are also good story tellers.

Thank you for making this available and it will definitely help me to broaden the vision of not only myself but a couple others. Outer space certainly has a lot of glamour but "inner space" here on earth doesn't seem to get enough of the awe factor and something like this video really helps make us aware that there is so much we don't know and it's all in our own back yard.

As an example, just yesterday in the news was a report about a deep diving whale that had a dive that I think was two miles deep and was under water for over two hours. Unfortunately, with species of animals and plants disappearing at such an alarming rate much of our Earth's eco system will be lost before we will know it even existed.

Loved your graphics. I'm just getting going on Motion 5 and can really appreciate what you put together. The black "green screen" shots were good too. At least the black didn't glow under the UV light.

Thank you for your very viewable and educational video.

[Marj Atkins]

Thank you John - really appreciate your comments especially coming from someone outside the Challenge.

I would say it is about time you and your grand daughters joined us! It provides a great opportunity to learn new stuff as you go along.

One thing that absolutely fascinates me are the things that are not immediately visible to us in nature - I have tackled quite a few of these things in my movies for UWOL - we live in a truly amazing world but many people are totally unaware of the visible wonders never mind the invisible!

[Marj Atkins]

Appreciate your kind comments Paul. (I did not see it till now - slipped in last on the previous page.)

[Geir Inge]

Hello Marj.
You always deliver great movies.
Your videos are full of information and knowledge, which has become your trademark.
To me, this creates the impression of a wise lady behind the films.
That's how I see you too, like a wise lady who loves what she does and is committed to nature and its well being.
This makes your movies believable and at the same time educational.
I am grateful to be able to take part in your world of knowledge.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes.

[Finn Yarbrough]

Now that's really something that I was surprised to learn. Our clothes glow in the dark?

But beyond the thesis statement, I was particularly stricken by the eloquence of your introductory summary of the nature of light and the difference between EMR and perceived, visible light.

This should be playing in a museum!

[Marj Atkins]

Appreciate your comments Geir and Finn.

Wise lady? no definitely not a wise lady. But maybe Finn is the better person to tell you about wisdom. :)

Our clothes glow even more during the day because there is much more UV light around to make them fluoresce – only problem is we can’t see it – at least not without the aid of a black light!