Making a start in Ultra Violet Fluorescence photography – 3 with glass

One of my daughters has a small collection of uranium (and other) glass that fluoresces under Ultra-Violet (UV) light. I tried photographing some of these to see how they look:

A composite showing the base of an oil lamp in white light and the glass strongly fluorescing green under UV

The glass in the above image fluoresces green quite strongly making it probably uranium glass. However, we are not so sure about the glass below – it may be manganese or selenium.


Vase in white light
Vase in white light with UV fluorescence superimposed

Similarly, we are not sure of the glass below that glows orange. The second view is a composite with a version containing tonic water which fluoresces blue:


orange fluorescent glass
orange fluorescent glass with tonic water

This example below is a clear glass that fluoresces well in ultra-violet (note the alignment of the two images isn’t perfect!)


clear wine glass
fluorescing wine glass

But pour in some tonic water enabled me to create this composite view:

Composite showing glass glowing green and tonic water glowing blue under UV light

Author: Paul L.G. Morris

I am an amateur photographer whose photography is mostly of gardens, nature and the rural environment. My specialities are close-ups, panoramic views, or a combination of both that I call 'Nearscapes'. I work mostly for my own interest having closed my business PM Studios Ltd.