Hi There. I'm a Helluvabore! - a photo on Flickriver

Along with the Snowdrops, the appearance of the first Hellebore flowers signify that we are rounding the corner between winter and spring. This variety is rather shy and keeps its head bowed so you have to get down and gently lift it’s chin to see the beautifully delicate speckled pattern. Hence this photo is taken with my best make-up mirror on the ground and explains why you see ghosting on the margins as it’s not a front surface mirror.

I’m sure you’re aware but just in case you’re not familiar with front surface mirrors then here’s the nerdy bit......
Feel free to leave here and watch some paint dry or clean the budgie cage or some other more interesting pastime.

Most mirrors for everyday use have the silvering reflective surface covered with a protective layer of glass so the light must pass through this to reach the reflective surface. This causes distortion by refraction and loss of energy and generates a fainter ‘ghost’ image in addition to the true reflected image.
Mirrors for high precision uses such as astronomy, telescopes or 3D printing have the reflective surface on the front of the glass to provide a clear reflection without ghosting. I use these type of mirrors every working day for intricate procedures that you’d probably prefer not to read about.

Has everyone left yet? It’s gone rather quiet.
Oh well.

The front surface coating is generally aluminium, but other metals such as titanium, molybdenum, gold or silver may be used depending on the use. The James Webb Space Telescope is the most powerful space telescope ever made and has a golden mirror made up from 18 smaller hexagonal units and is 6.5m in diameter. Each segment is constructed from beryllium and coated in gold and has 6 motors which allow precise focusing of the telescope. In order to capture the infrared light, the mirror must be maintained at minus 220 degrees Celsius, that's pretty cold!
The telescope is so powerful that it would be able to detect even the slight heat of a bumblebee at the distance of the moon.

So, we’ve gone from a what is basically a buttercup to a Big Time telescope in just a small leap. Who would have thought.

youtu.be/PBAl9cchQac

Taken on: February 5, 2023

Tags:

flower

plant

Helleborus niger

spring

awakening

macro

Buttercup family

mirrors

Ranunculaceae

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Sets appears in: • Macro

Groups appears in: • Nikon Digital • Macro Photography more » • Macros Group • Macro Photography Unlimited • The Great British Outdoors • Flowers all kinds • North West England Photographers • Spring Awakening • Wirral Photographers • Macro Unlimited • From Wirral • BBC Springwatch (Official) • macro flowers insects • Digital SLR Photography Magazine • Flickr Amateurs • Flower Flower Flower • Macro & Close up Photography • Macro Addicts, That is all. • Macro in nature • Amateur Photographer Magazine • Flickr Social • Floral Friday « less

Camera: Nikon D7500, f/22.0, 1/200 sec, 90mm (=135mm), ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D7500
Lens:	90.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/22.0
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	90mm (35mm equivalent: 135mm)
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	On, Return detected
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Cloudy
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop 24.1 (Windows)
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