Talk about a perfect pen/ink combination:

wow, so coooollll

OOOOhhhhhh NNnnnooooo!
I can see another new pen & new ink purchase in my future....

Great combo! Thanks, Mocksy, for sharing!

This is DEFINITELY one of the coolest fountain pen picture ideas I've ever seen!! Who'd have thought that a demonstrator pen and a blacklight would go so well together!

Thanks for the photo (and new pen/ink combo) idea!

Mike

That is such an awesome picture! I have a Lamy Vista as well, and now I'm horribly tempted to get some Blue Ghost, although I still don't know when I'd use it... Perhaps when writing my most private thoughts in my journal?

Out of curiosity, did you have to use special settings to take this photograph?

Very nice. Now that's a picture I'd like to see in a fountain pen calendar! Pesky nib creep....

Don M.

oh nooooo! now i have to buy that exact pen and noodler's!!!

Great, great photo. In fact, the photo of the year, no matter it's only January... bravo...


cheers,
Nenad

Way cool! Could you post the original high-res picture as well?

Well done...that's a cool photo.

Thanks.

I didn't have to do anything weird with the camera, the only trick was getting the lighting all balanced. I hate the spots on the nib but Blue Ghost seems especially hard to clean off. There's a whole bunch of things I could do better so I'm probably going to shoot it again.

What really looked cool was drawing the ink up into the pen, which I did under a black light. It's really easy to get Blue Ghost all over your hands without realizing it. I managed to make a glowing mess out of my fingers.

* boings about happily chanting a new inky-mantra * I got me some! I got me some!

Was the photo shot with a UV light and a regular camera?

Or a UV camera with normal illumination?

Or Uv camera UV light?

Thanks

Wow! That's a really incredible photo!

Doug

Looks like an awesome wallpaper photo to me. Can you please post the high resolution original? I don't care how big it is.

Best regards,
Phil

Actually, it works fine as wallpaper just as it is.

Now if I just had less junk on my desktop ...

Nice shot!

For a different perspective, here's a before and after with Blue Ghost that I posted in FPN a year ago.

Bill

And I just received what was to be the last bottle of Noodlers I would buy for a long time!

Seriously - excellent idea, execution, and really fine photo.

Congratulations!

That is just too cool!!!!

Hint: The wallpaper goes under your junk.

Yes, the pic looks great as wallpaper, and I'm using it right now. it's just kind of small on a 1280x960 monitor.

I saw the Blue Ghost at Art Brown in NYC and considered buying some. Can you see the ink on the paper, or is it like invisible ink until a blacklight shines on it? Thanks!

Evan

OK, here's the shot done with some thought to the setup. Larger by popular request.

And yes, the ink is invisible under normal light.

And another shot while I'm at it

That's WICKED COOL.


Thank you!

You can not see the ink on the paper at all without the black light. I love this ink!

Ack. I suppose technically a Vista is a Safari. Oh well, perfection is meant to be approached but never achieved.

At least I don't have an art director giving me the gears.

ACK!!! Noodler's better not stop making this color... because I WANT THIS PEN/INK COMBO!!!!!! And now i have no money to spend on pens!

While I don't have a Vista, (I'll seriously be on the lookout for one when I get some cash now that I see these awesome photos), I do have ghost and use it quite frequently. It's wonderful ink, and I get a chuckle every time I use it.

It's fantastic for labelling books from others you've borrowed from... Dad and my brother for instance... I just write down who's it is, and they're none the wiser. So, when the inevitable question about whether this Terry Pratchet is Dad's or Bro's, I just fire up the black light and the problem is solved.

Now, I just need to replace the LED on my keychain to UV...


-Allen

Okay, there will be a run on the market for Ghost, the Vista, and... any recommendations for a UV lamp for writing and reading?

Doug

Working on many more light specific inks. There are many inks that are "works in progress" that have been held back because of a requirement that the return rate must be below 1.5% Plastic feeds that are poorly made and are unable to draw up simple tap water to their rear fins when held at a perpendicular angle to the drop of water...are becoming an industry problem. I wish they all used ebonite - it would expand the range of inks four fold. Plastic feeds often need detergents to enhance their capillary and cohesive abilities - but they never have reached the abilities of ebonite feeds. A nib adjusted to the flow desired by the user for a given grade of ink and a generous ebonite feed design...can do just about anything with ink!

These images of the Blue Ghost are stunning. If I can't figure out how to get them on film with my collection of demonstrators (a few are shown here) I'll either need help in exchange for ink or a different camera and technique. It is not as easy as it looks to show the natural perception of a color - especially Blue Ghost and Firefly - within this medium of monitors and digital images! Quite a challenge!

These images have too much green in them, several black lights were tried...when I get this right - I will post again.

Back to the ink - for the love of the hobby and its expansion and prosperity, may fountain pen collecting always be a source of pleasure for an ever growing number of people who not so long ago would not even have shown interest in our addiction!!!!! That includes southpaws...Swisher Ink...and any other group previously without complete utility and satisfaction in the realm of the almighty fountain pen!

Click to view attachmentAnother black light...but I fear I simply need a new camera with a variable aperture setting...low light settings..etc...

The prior poster's images are true to the naked eye's perception. Amazing. My congratulations.

Technically, we're viewing these pictures in the visible spectrum... so, really, we're still in the visible spectrum... except that we are exciting the fluorescence with non-visible spectrum light.

He he he.

Nathan- I totally love Blue Ghost. It's a fantastic ink!! BTW, is that a different colored ink I see in the works?

My hat's off to the photographers and of course, to the creator of this wonderful ink.

I wish I had a demonstrator to try this out on.

Cheers, guys!!
-Allen

If one uses an incandescent black light, it works for reading and writing "Blue Ghost" using a desk lamp...yet for photographic effect and to increase the number of paper grades the ink is functional upon...nothing beats the fluorescent sourced black lights. A camera with low light settings also helps a great deal. The following photos show the difference.

I have a question... If research has developed a number of radical inks - but they are dependent upon certain specific light sources for their maximum performance...do you believe the public would truly utilize such inks (not just 3 bottles a year because it is unusual/rare ink??)? Blue Ghost is an extremely durable ink. Once you have found a paper grade (non-coated cellulose, of course) that exhibits good contrast with the ink - experimentation with cleaning products and bleaches will show the ink to be bulletproof - in fact one of the most durable of them all. Firefly is not bulletproof (though we have one in a couple overseas stores for limited testing) as many suggested it should enable a classic text to revert to its original state after a year or two have passed. That quality has not been reached, but nobody wanted firefly to be permanent. If you think it should be - or there should be a version of firefly that is permanent....let us know.

Demo pens included...

Last one for now...

Love the photos and ink, Nathan! Excellent stuff!!

I have to admit, in regards to your question about other light spectra ink... I have to admit it took me a bit of time before I could utilize Blue Ghost because I had to go and find a nice fluorescent (I strongly suggest avoiding the incandescents- they waste most of their light spectra as heat, and output a very small portion of UV). It might be fun to have an ink which can only be viewed with a very specific spectrum of light that is rare- but I might suggest that you also offer a product, or links to where one can buy a product, that can view the ink. I guess I'd start by asking how well Blue-Ghost is doing, and approximate a percentage of those sales as users. So, if it's a really esoteric ink, perhaps only 50% of blue-ghost users will bite?

Difficult to say, really. I for one am very thankful you're making your inks, Nathan. I think they're bringing new advancements to fountain-pen users.

Love the images!!
-Allen

There will be a demo Kaweco Sport eyedropper in future with a clear feed/section sleeve...just need the right clear feed for the image. For those of you that asked, these demo pens are: a Waterman capillary filling x-pen demonstrator, a Lamy piston filler demonstrator (early), a Japanese areometric bulb filling demonstrator with Sheaffer nib (1950s), a Kohinoor "Roll-Ku-Li" ruby tipped piston filling roller pen (like a stylo with greater control of ink flow), and a more modern piston filling roller fountain pen with radial section feed. Most are 1950s and rare...but I did not have anything modern to photograph (at least I did not go all the way into the celluloid, lucite and bakelite demos!).

...the x-pen close up.

Note the aerometric bulb filler...a very simple mechanism - yet it holds so much ink vrs. piston fillers! Only the eyedropper and Dunn designs hold more per barrel volume. The Postal bulb fillers could hold incredible volumes of ink for their size.

A little extra photography and art can't hurt the group...I hope nobody objects.

Here are some more photos involving Firefly, the Blue Ghost, and the updated artwork on Noodler's "Devil Red" (Swisher Pens). This was thought to be the company's highest risk artwork since Iraqi Indigo (one of only three labels that have caused death threats...hopefully this one won't be that bad). Who thought the ink business could generate things like that?! It's just ink and paper.... :ph34r:

Using Blue Ghost...

How to keep a secret.

That's the name of the Noodler's catfish...

Firefly and Blue Ghost...to show the flames possible within the "other" spectrum.

That's it for now -

Next photo...fingers crossed...will be a radio-reactive ink. NOT radio-active...

It turns from black to bright green in swirls when using a wireless device near it (such as a mouse or phone)....but turns all green when subjected to radar. The originator of this thread asked me if an ink was possible that would tell him when somebody was checking up on his speed in his car (I think he was joking? yes?). I don't think he knew what that question set off in my mind (I could not sleep as a result). Many experiments and some $ later...and now I just need the camera to behave and capture strange reflections again!

3 out of 4 inks never make it to the fountain pen - but many failures are very interesting to a fountain pen nut such as yours truly...

Radio-reactive ink sounds fascinating! I look forward to seeing all your future concoctions!

Actually, I asked for paint that I could change the color of if I noticed I'd been noticed.

Of course I was joking, that is, unless you can do it.

Has anyone here attempted to illuminate/excite Blue Ghost ink using a UV LED?

What were the results?

Phil

Working on that... haven't purchased the led's yet- will let you know if I get it done! BTW, you want to look for the super-luminescent LED's, the ones that caution you about using it directly against your eyes- would be my guess... those tend to be the higher power, and have a better wavelength for fluorescence... but I could be wrong...

One thing to keep in mind, is that a fluorescent light-bulb with the UV filter is going to emit at a much broader wavelength than a semiconductor p-n junction LED. They will tend to have fairly specific wavelengths. So, it's quite possible to be close, or to slightly illuminate, and waste a good portion of the LED power outside the region of excitation for the fluorophore.

Nathan- if you're still reading the thread- can you let us know the range of excitation wavelengths for blue-ghost? That way we can be sure to snag an LED with the best wavelength? [Of course it's quite possible the fluorophore has a range of wavelengths that excite it... so perhaps all UV excites it...] I may have asked you this over e-mail as well... I'm sorry for the repeat question.

BTW, love the images, Nathan!!
-Allen

ps- I really like the ability to jot down notes in texts and books without adversely marking up the pages... excellent stuff.
pps- I have no idea if I could swing this, but I might be able to do some PL on blue-ghost... that would tell us the wavelengths for sure... [if I have some spare time, I'll ask the laser-lab fellow whether he thinks it might be fun to try it- should be easy at room-T.]

Yes, I am an engineer and quite familiar with the broad spectrum of a UV fluorescent versus the almost monochromatic output of an LED but I didn't want to put people off by getting too technical.

That's really why I was asking the question because the ink might only be excited by a particular wavelength that the LED might miss. Hence, an empirical observation from someone would lay the question to rest.

ha ha ha.

Yes, this is exactly the trick. I did find a nice source for about 3 different wavelength UV LED's, and my plan has been to buy some... but I just never got around to it.

I just fired of an e-mail message to the laser-lab manager and we'll see if we can't run a simple experiment to check for the wavelengths. I'm hoping that he has a tunable UV source... I can't see him not having one. But, he might not want to use it for something this silly. ha ha ha.

Perhaps I should entice him with a cheap FP fillled with Blue-Ghost for his own use? I'll let you know if I hear from him, and what he thinks.

Cheers!
-Allen

ps- it's Fluorophore, not Chromophore in this situation- silly me... [wiki: fluorophore ]