The strange world of black light photography - Brief Article

PSA Journal, Jan, 1998 by Fred Lewis

Have you ever dreamed of exploring new worlds or traveling to the farthest reaches of our universe or exploring the deepest depths of our seas, bringing back slides that will astound the judges? You can easily achieve these goals through the medium of Black Light Photography.

Many years ago my wife, Barbara, and I belonged to a camera club in Brooklyn where we were introduced to Black Light Photography by a gentleman named Mr. Richard Davis. Unfortunately, Richard has passed away, but I am dedicating this article to him.

When you are photographing black light, you are photographing ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet photography is used in many areas. For example, police investigations know it as "Ultraviolet Forensic Photography." It is also used in examining faded documents, photomicrography and dermatology.

Ultraviolet radiation is divided into three wavelengths. The short wavelength is the most dangerous and can cause harmful sunburns. The middle range is found in sunlight and can cause sunburns if you are not careful. The middle range ultraviolet rays are also emitted from sun lamps used indoors for tanning effects. The long wavelength is known as black light and is transmitted by regular optical glass from which most photographic lenses are made. The long wavelength is supposedly safe, but I have found out by personal experience that you must be careful not to stare directly at the black light tubes or you will get a headache. When I want to view my tabletop setup under black light, I turn the fixtures on for about ten seconds and then quickly turn them off.

What You'll Need

You'll need a tripod with a ball head and a dolly. The dolly is optional, but if you are going to do a lot of black light setups, the dolly is well worth the investment. They are really not that expensive. It is faster and easier to position your camera around your tabletop using a dolly than it is to move your tripod-mounted camera by hand. If the ball head has a quick release plate you can separate the camera from the ball head easier than from the tripod head. You will also need a cable release for taking time exposures, your choice of slide film, and a single lens reflex camera with either a medium telephoto lens or a 105mm or 200 macro lens. This prevents your shooting too close to the black light tubes.

Most importantly, you'll need to purchase the black light tubes themselves. These tubes usually come with the fixtures. I have three 18 inch (BLB) tubes with fixtures and one spare tube, in case something happens to one of the other tubes, from Edmund Scientific Company in Barrington, New Jersey, (609) 547-8880. A heavy extension cord is also usually necessary.

For the background of your black light setup, black velvet is available at most fabric stores. Black velvet absorbs the ultraviolet light, giving you totally black backgrounds. Buy at least three yards. With careful use the cloth will last a long time.

Finally, you need a UV filter. This filter filters out the ultraviolet from the black light tubes. Without this filter your slides will have a bluish cast. I use a Tiffen Haze No. 2. In a pinch, you can use a K2 or a No. 85 conversion filter. These filters can be purchased in your local camera store.

How We Do It

Barbara and I have developed our own style of shooting black light. The following will explain how we achieve our effects.

If you enjoy building plastic models of airplanes or space ships you can put together your own black light props. (I'm a big science fiction fan.) Put the space ship together first, spray it with fluorescent paint and let it dry for several hours. When the model is dry, paint in the fine details with a triple zero sable brush using different colors of fluorescent tempera paint. For a planet or a moon, use a small rubber ball, found in most sporting goods stores. Then spray the ball with different fluorescent colors.

A different way of placing a moon into your exciting spaceship tabletop involves a slide duplicator and a single lens reflex which will make double exposures. On a clear night, go outside armed with your SLR, cable release and sturdy tripod and take several slides of the moon. On the same roll of film shoot your spaceship tabletop, leaving the top left or right empty. Have the film processed. Then put the slide of the moon in your duplicator and copy it. Without advancing the film, copy on the same frame your spaceship tabletop. The final result should show the spaceship in the foreground and the moon in the background. The f-stop of the moon should remain between f/11 and f/16 throughout the duplication process. When duplicating the spaceship vary the exposures starting at f/16 and go all the way to f/5.6 in half-stop increments.

The final stage is to add stars. After I have my slides processed, I put the slides on a light box and add stars by punching the slide with a small pin. You have to be very careful when you try this procedure. You do not want to put a hole through the spaceship. To ensure accuracy, I use a head magnifier from Edmund Scientific to view the slides while puncturing them.