UV light

UV light

One of my friends has been suggesting that I do something with UV light for months. And I’ve been a bit reluctant, for a couple of reasons… I’ve now done some serious research, and I have a few caveats to throw at you: if you don’t mind some expense and some risks, this may be for you…

My research (yes. Quite a lot of internet time) threw up an acronym: UVIVF – it stands for ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence. Some materials emit visible light when strong UV light falls on them. This distinguishes what we’re doing here from shooting using the UV part of the spectrum – this requires an adapted camera which is sensitive to all wavelengths, and using a UV transmission filter (the opposite of the UV filter somebody sold you with your lens – this one blocks infrared and visible light, and allows only UV light to reach the sensor. Firms that adapt cameras for IR can also do this.
First, you’ll need a light source. I’ve got a ten-quid UV torch, which is quite effective but not terribly powerful. You can get UV lamps for fish tanks, but beware – the first ones I happened on emit UVC light – what you wear sunblock to avoid. This is seriously bad for you… But will be OK for inanimate subjects. There’s more on this later.

A 450mm UV tube will set you back £19 on eBay, and the type of UV light isn’t stated – but at least it’s sold for parties, rather than killing algae in fish tanks.



Broncolor make a special UV flash accessory, used with the glass UV filter that normally protects very high quality flash tubes. But Broncolor lights are VERY expensive.

To make the sort of pictures we want to take needs stuff that fluoresces under UV light, and there’s a disappointingly limited amount of it in my house! Allegedly, tonic water, honey and plants all work, and most paper with brightening agents in it. Interestingly, a lot of plastics work wonderfully: if you have plenty of children’s cups and plates, you should do well!

And you can buy pens and makeup, even Holi powder that fluoresce under UV. It would be really easy to spend a lot of money on this… And, if you want to get those special model images with wild makeup, you need to be prepared for a shoot that is mostly preparation. If paying a model to sit and be made up for two hours for the sake of less than an hour’s shooting, this won’t be for you…

Both focus and exposure may present problems: the exposure levels will be quite low, and AF may not work terribly efficiently, so you should be prepared to focus manually with ordinary lights on, and then kill the visible light and switch on the UV. The low level of visible light emitted means that slow shutter speeds, wide apertures and a tripod will need to feature.



That low level of emission causes another issue – you will need to ensure that the background light level is very low, or it will overpower the UV-induced light. The glow-in-the-dark look depends on having a lot of dark. Ideal for winter evenings…

Safety – for once, health and safety is something you need to take notice of. UV light damages and ages human tissue: it’s bad for skin, and particularly for eyes. Make sure that you understand the risks and precautions, and if you use a model, make sure that he or she does, too. Use UV sparingly, and don’t look directly at a UV source, or point it at someone else. It’s a good idea to wear eye protection – the good news is that if your glasses have a UV coating, they’ll do. I'll finish by quoting from PhotoExtremist's website:

WARNING: Short-term/long-term overexposure to ultraviolet radiation can contribute to causing sunburn, health problems, skin cancer, premature ageing of the skin, eye damage, DNA damage, immune system suppression, etc. As a photographer, your eyes are very important, you don’t want to damage them, shorten their lifespan, or get cataracts, so always wear proper eye protection whenever using UV lights. You also have to mindful of the things you photograph. Never look directly into a UV light source without proper eye protection and never shine a UV light into another person’s eyes directly.