Colorblind

I was reading recently how early photographic technologies were only sensitive to blue (and into ultraviolet) light. The early photographs were not merely colorblind in the sense of being in black and white; they were furthermore blind to reds, oranges, yellows, and greens, rendering them all dark, no matter how bright they would appear to us. What appears to us as a bright yellow ball or a bright red fire hydrant would both appear totally black or very dark in these kinds of photos. Conversely, blue things appear very bright or even white: thus clouds become indistinguishable from the blue sky, and blue eyes appear ghostly white.

Lately I've been using a filter that admits mostly blue, violet, and ultraviolet light. I especially like how it renders plants. It is colorblind. I think that flowers have such spectacular colors that it's easy to overlook the structure or texture of flowers. Blue-light-only cuts out nearly all the color, and allows the form to take prominence. One challenge with these photos is that the camera receives much less light, requiring longer exposures. Thus, I have to keep the plants very still while photographing them. I've found it easier to bring them inside for this purpose, where there's no wind.

Heliotrope and other pasture weeds. Heliotrope flowers are violet with yellow-green centers, thus white with black centers here.

White rain lily (Zephyranthes candida). White flowers with yellow stamens.

Rudbeckia triloba. Bright yellow-orange ray flowers and dark brown disk flowers.

Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum). Yellow ray flowers and yellow-green disk flowers.

Verbena rigida. Bright violet flowers.

Lantana camara 'Dallas Red'. Bright red and orange flowers.

Cosmos sulphureus. Bright orange ray flowers and yellow disk flowers.