Peacock Feather Macro

Per Wikipedia: Structural coloration is the production of color by microscopically structured surfaces, sometimes also called schemochromes, fine... more

by Sarah Loft

Title

Peacock Feather Macro

Artist

Sarah Loft

Medium

Photograph

Description

Per Wikipedia: Structural coloration is the production of color by microscopically structured surfaces, sometimes also called schemochromes, fine enough to interfere with visible light, sometimes in combination with pigments: for example, peacock tail feathers are pigmented brown, but their structure makes them appear blue, turquoise, and green, and often they appear iridescent.

Structural coloration was first observed by English scientists Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton, and its principle (wave interference) explained by Thomas Young a century later. Young correctly described iridescence as the result of interference between reflections from two (or more) surfaces of thin films, combined with refraction as light enters and leaves such films. The geometry then determines that at certain angles, the light reflected from both surfaces adds (interferes constructively), while at other angles, the light subtracts. Different colors therefore appear at different angles.

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Featured in the Total Abstract Photography group, September 2013.

Featured in the Macro Photography group, March 2014.

Featured in the Best of Minimalism group, February 2019.

Featured in the 1000 Views group, July 2020.

Uploaded

July 15th, 2013