View allAll Photos Tagged iridescence!
Today I was so lucky enough to see the rear phenomenan cloud iridescence. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget!
digital2017
Recently I have spent many hours tracking and stalking brief flash's of iridescence just to have them completely disappear into some mysterious black hole.
Taken uncountable photos of feet and totally non recognizable and out of focus objects,not to mention tripping over,banging my head and in general getting myself into some rather precarious situations.
Who would of thought that this could add up to having so much fun,not to mention the new worlds discovered ... a new way of seeing indeed .....!
Thanks so much Pauline for helping me to discover this amazing, and fascinating world of insects...!
Continuing the journey of exploring digital paint effects..
Thank you for your wonderful comments,
awards,invites and faves...
all are very much appreciated....!
(original photo in 1st comment box )
Breeding Bufflehead males show a striking iridescence on the head in the right light. Their pink feet stand out in flight. This diving duck nests as far north as Alaska, though its main breeding range is in Canada from Ontario west. The “off” season is spent along both coasts, or in much of the USA and northern Mexico.
During a partial power outage, the night sky took on a beautiful contrast with the brilliant full moon.
Picture of the day
I'd previously posted images of this bird saying that would be the last but I think this one shows the iridescence of it's plumage to best effect.
Male Starling, in all his breeding plumage finery, perched on the Gull guard, in our Norfolk garden.
This is a photo of the iridescent film of cleaning detergent on a store window. The vertical lines are the reflection of telephone pole lines. The photo has been rotated to the vertical.
It's the point in Summer when Long-tailed Skippers, both in caterpillar stages and mature butterflies, make their appearance...
I suppose that I can compose something "artsy" to say about this. You know something like the traditional "pieces of our lives woven into a beautiful tapestry of our being."
OR
I really like peacocks. I like the way the sun makes the colors of the male's colorful array of feathers, iridescent. This detail photo of a wall hanging reminded me of that.
Of course, I applied a bit of Lightrooom "torque" on the colors. This might . . .just might wind up as a big framed print on my wall.🤔 In fact, it's pretty much a done deal. 😎
Inside of a large abalone shell for the Smile on Saturday group, challenge: iridescence. Happy Saturday!
Cloud iridescence or irisation is a colorful optical phenomenon that occurs in a cloud and appears in the general proximity of the Sun or Moon. The colors resemble those seen in soap bubbles and oil on a water surface. It is a type of photometeor. This fairly common phenomenon is most often observed in altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular, and cirrus clouds.
Irisation is caused by very uniform water droplets diffracting light (within 10 degrees from the Sun) and by first order interference effects (beyond about 10 degrees from the Sun). It can extend up to 40 degrees from the Sun.
If parts of clouds contain small water droplets or ice crystals of similar size, their cumulative effect is seen as colors. The cloud must be optically thin, so that most rays encounter only a single droplet. Iridescence is therefore mostly seen at cloud edges or in semi-transparent clouds, while newly forming clouds produce the brightest and most colorful iridescence.This image was taken over Alexandria VA.
Hummingbirds amaze and delight us for many reasons, not the least of which is the remarkable iridescence of their plumage. Until fairly recently, however, the mechanism behind that iridescence has been a mystery. The latest research seems to have unlocked the secrets of their unique shimmer (hint: it's more than merely a matter of special pigmentation in their feathers); for an excellent summary, see here: www.allaboutbirds.org/news/what-is-the-essence-of-iridesc....
For another example (like this one, an Anna's Hummingbird), please see: flic.kr/p/2qFgsnG.
The Nicobar pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica) is a pigeon found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas and the closest living relative of the extinct dodo.
It is a large pigeon, measuring 40 cm (16 in) in length. The head is grey, like the upper neck plumage, which turns into green and copper hackles. The tail is very short and pure white. The rest of its plumage is metallic green. The cere of the dark bill forms a small blackish knob; the strong legs and feet are dull red. The irides are dark.
Females are slightly smaller than males; they have a smaller bill knob, shorter hackles and browner underparts. Immature birds have a black tail and lack almost all iridescence. There is hardly any variation across the birds' wide range. Even the Palau subspecies C. n. pelewensis has merely shorter neck hackles, but is otherwise almost identical.
It is a very vocal species, giving a low-pitched repetitive call.
Los Angeles Zoo. California.
Something different today - a bit of science! I think it's quite well known that many birds have feathers which are colourful due to iridescence rather than pigment - like the colours you sometimes see when water has a thin film of oil on the surface. The colours tend to be very bright and attractive, and there is no finer example than a kingfisher as it flashes by in flight along a watercourse. (Although the rose chafers flying around my garden in the spring are pretty good too!) The iridescence is why the colour of a kingfisher varies from green to blue depending how the light falls on it and what angle you're viewing from.
On rare occasions, though, if the lighting conditions are just right, the iridescence doesn't happen and you can see the true colour of the back and wing feathers, which is a rather plain brown! Here's a shot which shows the phenomenon as well as I've ever caught it - and it's the same bird I posted yesterday so you can see the difference.
So I'm sure you're wondering why the orange feathers are still orange? It's because unlike the blue/green feathers, the orange colour comes from pigment so it always looks roughly the same.
Isn't science brilliant?
Arran hidden by rain-clouds and sunbeams. Taken from Portencross on the north Ayrshire coast.
I love the almost metallic sheen sunlight creates on a body of water under certain conditions.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
EF400mm f/2.8L II USM +1.4x
The plumage of most kingfishers is bright, with green and blue being the most common colours. The brightness of the colours is neither the product of iridescence or pigments, but is instead caused by the structure of the feathers, which causes scattering of blue light (the Tyndall effect).
The kingfishers have long, dagger-like bills. The bill is usually longer and more compressed in species that hunt fish, and shorter and more broad in species that hunt prey off the ground. The largest and most atypical bill is that of the shovel-billed kookaburra, which is used to dig through the forest floor in search of prey. They generally have short legs, although species that feed on the ground have longer tarsi. Most species have four toes, three of which are forward-pointing.
The irises of most species are dark brown. The kingfishers have excellent vision; they are capable of binocular vision and are thought in particular to have good colour vision. They have restricted movement of their eyes within the eye sockets, instead using head movements to track prey. In addition, they are capable of compensating for the refraction of water and reflection when hunting prey underwater, and are able to judge depth under water accurately. They also have nictitating membranes that cover the eyes to protect them when they hit the water; the pied kingfisher has a bony plate which slides across the eye when it hits the water.
Labradorite is a calcium-rich feldspar mineral exhibiting iridescence (schiller effect).
The base color of labradorite is a dark smoky gray, but when light strikes the stone in a particular direction, it displays striking rainbow-colored reflections. Most typically, these metallic tints are violet, blue and green; but sometimes yellow, orange and red can be seen. This effect is so unique to labradorite that it is referred to as labradorescence.
Labradorization is the peculiar reflection of the light from submicroscopical planes orientated in one direction (rarely in two directions); these planes have never such a position that they can be expressed by simple indices, and they are not directly visible under the microscope.
See base photo of the stone against a cm scale. www.flickr.com/photos/126878250@N07/53081625082/in/datepo... This image is approx 1cmx1cm. It is possible to see the inclusion on the original base image.
Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte Anna)
Sun Lakes, Arizona
Anna's hummingbirds are 3.9 to 4.3 in (9.9 to 10.9 cm) long with a wingspan of 4.7 inches (12 cm) and a weight range of 0.1 to 0.2 oz (2.8 to 5.7 g. They have an iridescent bronze-green back, a pale grey chest and belly, and green flanks. Their bills are long, straight, and slender. The adult male has an iridescent crimson-red, derived from magenta, to a reddish-pink crown and gorget, which can look dull brown or gray without direct sunlight, and a dark, slightly forked tail. Females also have iridescent red gorgets, although they are usually smaller and less brilliant than the male.
A male bird displaying its iridescent head feathers
The male Anna's hummingbird is the only North American hummingbird species with a red crown. Females and juvenile males have a dull green crown, a grey throat with or without some red iridescence, a grey chest and belly, and a dark, rounded tail with white tips on the outer feathers.
The male has a striking reddish-pink crown and gorget, which are strongly iridescent and dependent on the angle of illumination and observation by female or male competitor birds. The iridescence results from large stacks of melanosomes in the feather barbules, occurring as layers separated by keratin. The barbules reflect incident light in the manner of partially-opened Venetian blinds, enabling the iridescence – which varies the head and gorget coloration with the changing angle of light – as a coloration advantage for courtship attraction and territory defense.
Male birds with elevated levels of protein in their diet have more colorful crowns and higher iridescence in their head feathers compared with male birds with low protein intake.
The male's call – scratchy and metallic – is typically used as the bird perches in trees and shrubs. Anna's hummingbirds have adapted to urban environments and are commonly seen in backyards and parks, and at feeders and flowering plants. Anna's hummingbirds eat flying insects.
Bi-colored Iridescence
Some people dislike brown headed cowbirds because of their method of breeding, but their iridescent black and bronze plumage is beautiful.
Taken at Exton Park
2018_04_14_EOS 7D_3063_V1
An Anna's Hummingbird at our feeding station. Caught the light right for a change which brought out the iridescence to come through.
Seen in North Morro Bay, ca.
All photos are of the same bird, only difference is the angle at which the photos were taken. The last two photos on the right are two from a sequence of shots I took. As the bird approached the flower of Beebalm plant its angle with respect to the sun changed slightly and that was enough to change the color of its throat (gorget) from dark to slightly red. The last to the left was when the bird briefly faced me, showing its ruby red throat.
The physics behind this change of color is very comprehensive. In simplest terms, Hummingbird feathers have stacks of hollow melanin granules (air bubbles) that reflect and refract light differently depending on the angle they enter and it changes between ruby red to almost black as seen in these photos. The color reflected is determined by the size and shape of the granules, for this hummingbird it just happens to be red. Riverwood Conservancy, Mississauga, Ontario.
These days I often disable the comment when there's not much of a story about a photo. People's time is precious as is, so coming to see the photo is more than enough.
While I am not a fan of these birds, this is my one Grackle for the season. The iridescence in these birds is amazing. Hey, every bird has to eat!
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Good Stewards of Nature
© 2016 Curt Hart - All Rights Reserved
Cloud iridescence, that happened over Florence at the Michelangelo Square. The phenomenon only lasted for about 15 Minutes under a baking hot sun, but was amazing to watch.
~ Up close is always a different World. Aliens are here, not in space. ~
Canon 40D
Tamron 90mm + whatever Xtra glass I had with me
Light 430EX with home made light tube.
It's been awhile since I posted a few things from the small world, and I hope you enjoy this one for the facial detail.
Thanks you to everyone that visited Spring Dreams and I am honestly humbled with the volume of people that stopped in for a look.
Thank you all, and I wish a super Saturday to everyone around the World.
Big HELLO from Canada (hello from Ottawa for local Canadians)
:-)
(1 bump and grouped 8:00am Saturday)
One of the goals of the Alan Murphy Bird Flight Photo Workshop was to capture Yellow-billed Magpies so the angle of light would show their iridescence. They have an undulating flight pattern with quick dives that made it challenging. They roost in groups so it was also challenging to find an isolated one. I took probably a thousand or more shots (not exaggerating), over the 4 days, before fortunately getting this one. and a few other keepers. Sony a9; Sony 200-600 mm lens at 379mm; 1/4000 sec; f/7.1; ISO 500; Topaz DeNoise and Sharpen .
There may be snow on the ground, but this is a fall photo, taken last October. Some years, snow comes early. This stuff all melted; it was just a taste of things to come.
The Black-billed Magpie is one smart, wily, shy, elusive bird, resident here all year, wise in the ways of us human creatures and not very trusting. As I said, smart bird.
I have countless shots of tail feathers, generally from a rear view, although occasionally via sheer persistence I have gotten lucky. Last fall, I finally managed a decent shot of one in flight with its tail fully in view, showing the iridescence. A more difficult shot than you might imagine!
Made from the rolling red Toyota blind; upscaled slightly using ON1 Resize.
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.