A Novel Use For Noodler's Blue Upon The Plains Of Abraham - Thin Film Interference

[Chrissy]

Okay, so I was sitting here refilling my pen with one of my favourite blue inks (a Canadian exclusive from Noodler's), and I noticed that there was a bubble of ink that formed on the surface of the bottle when I opened it.

 

At the right angle, the light from my computer monitor directly reflected off the surface of the bubble and revealed vibrant colours caused by "thin film interference", the same phenomenon that puts rainbows in soap bubbles. Why not try and take a photograph of these beautiful swirling colours?

 

http://donkom.ca/fpn/DKP_6719-800x.jpg

 

I lit this with a flash held over the bottle at the opposite angle of the camera, keeping the camera as vertical as I can get it to enhance my depth of field. There's a point where you can't get the reflection to show if you shoot too far vertically, so it seems there is a compromise in depth vs. colour. The only way around that would be to shoot at a greater distance crop in, letting the depth of field become naturally wider at the same aperture.

 

How many people can say that they've made art with ink while it was still in the bottle?

 

That's fabulous. It would make a good Avatar.

[inkyelbows]

Oh, wow. This is amazing! Also exciting, since I just recently bought the same ink. I'll hope the same thing happens to me sometime. :-)

 

Thanks for sharing that photo,

 

Debbie

[JuInd]

Thanks for the continued positive feedback, everyone!

 

I've also noticed similar interference patterns on my Noodler's Raven Black, and I think the plastic container is more conducive to creating a nice solid bubble on top. Both of my Canadian-exclusive inks came in the plastic bottles. I was able to see it slightly (very slightly) in my bottle of Whiteness of the Whale, but I think that darker inks work better to see this. The darker the ink, or at least the more opaque it is, the more the interference pattern is allowed to show through. More experimentation is required, and I have some fun photo ideas brewing.

 

+1 for Whiteness of the Whale.