Judges ruling on black light

gov_balls · September 28, 2021, 5:31pm

I’m pick up an ivory from a 3rd party that claims the breeder told them it was either 66%het paint or visual paint.

Having another ivory female in my collection for a couple of my projects works out either way.

I got her under a black light and managed a few shots that look interesting, but not having had much luck with using black light in the past doubt they are definitive one way or another.

I’m curious what others think, that have more experience, as well as any suggestions on how to get better photos using black light.

t_h_wyman · September 28, 2021, 6:04pm

It is really hard to tell here because, as is the case most of the time, these images are overexposed and wash out details. Try opening in an image software and turning down the brightness of the images. Flipping to grey-scale also helps sometimes

slither_shack · September 28, 2021, 9:59pm

Can I see how you setup your black light? I have some that I used a couple years ago for something but they are big and bulky so I would need to hangem up or something

t_h_wyman · September 29, 2021, 2:22pm

I do not have my UV rig set up any longer as I have not made white snakes in four or five years. But I did have the tube hanging and I placed a diffuser between it and the subject to help with the scatter. Part of it also has to do with the camera, which tries to compensate for the lower ambient light by increasing exposure time and aperture. It is usually harder to tweak these settings on a phone but most have some degree of granular control.

gov_balls · September 30, 2021, 4:26pm

Thanks, tried you’re suggestions to no avail using my phone. Going to try with my light box and T7i when I get a chance next week.

t_h_wyman · October 4, 2021, 4:04pm

Trust me, I understand how much of a pain it can be to get the set up right and the camera dialed in properly.

ascended · November 14, 2021, 10:39pm

HI, I had trouble initially too.
yes as others have said photo editing software is essential. However…
Personally I have found Its the quality and strength of the UV light that makes the most difference. (like the power and penetration of a normal cameras flash gun for normal photos.)
There are now much more powerful UV torches, I have 100 LEDs in mine. when I used the cheep ones I had trouble, not now. (also the amount of UV verses blue and red light produced is important.)
In addition UV programmes in a camera without lights are not the best.
One more point. There are different kinds of UV. - UV A, UV B and UV C. to my limited knowledge.
Certain things only glow under the right type of UV. Mainly minerals, (to which I collect and test with UV) But the type of UV might apply to snakes too.