Fabiana's Adventures Photographing Neon and Glow in the Dark Nail Art

Hi, everyone.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have a lot more to say about neons and glow in the dark polish. More specifically, I have a lot to say on photographing them. I have seen some glorious glow in the dark nail art photography out there. And also some that are less than successful. I am not impressed with the blurry ones. I am not impressed with the ones that don't look like they are glowing at all. I spent a lot of time in trial and error, so I am going to share with you what I have learned so far.

First, I had to understand the distinction between neon polishes and glow in the dark polishes. They are not the same. Neon polishes are exceptionally bright and glow beautifully under an LED or UV light. Glow in the dark polish, if you hold it under the LED or UV light for 30 seconds, will reflect the light and glow on its own for a little while! Keep in mind I have very little experience with this, but my first few experiments were so exciting I HAVE to share.

So my first attempt at photographing neon is below: I just used an LED light (Sensational LED Lamp) and photographed in darkness. I wanted to see it glow and I was completely blown away by the fact that it DID! It was so bright it was ridiculous.

The problem with this was that you have to photograph under the LED lamp. It will not glow away from the lamp. And I am really not a fan of the blue fingers... But oh well, something for me to think about.

That photo started it all! I was on a mission now to find bigger better neons and the pinnacle for me... glow in the dark.

So two ridiculously big orders of Serum No. 5 later, some of them arrived!

(I had also order a small UV light)

This is how they looked after charging them with the UV light. Not terribly impressive.

And here is the first mani I did with them. It was charged under the UV lamp. Not terribly impressive.

Attempt three. Starting to fast forward a bit. Not great, but pretty. Still too dark. Disconnected floating blobs charged by the UV light.

Fast foward to my favorite neon/glow in the dark mani so far.

This is the original mani.

Now. Let's make it glow! And glow it does. :)

So now, I start to experiment with an LED Lamp that came with the Sensationail Gel Kit.

I set it up in my bathroom and turned off the lights. Not bad... A significant improvement. This mani was a combination of neon and glow in the dark.

Next, charged the glow in the dark with the LED Lamp. Oh that glow!!! MAGICAL.

But I still wasn't getting the hair raising, bow you away glow. So further experimentation was in order. The final combination and the one that made me a fan of neon and glow in the darks for life.

The UV Light casting a glow around nail art not in complete darkness but shade.

It is a bit bizarre what I had to do since I don't have a UV light stand. I had to hold the light at a contorted angle next to my iPhone as I took the picture. Painful, but oh so worth it. Much like strappy high-heels.

One misstep. Shining the UV light directly on the nails. It has it's own charm, but it doesn't really bring out all the wonderful colors.

The first of the great success holding Serum No. 5 "Orange You Sunny". Talk about sunny!

My favorite was holding Serum No. 5 "Guiding Light". The softer glow lit up the mani just right!

 

 Woof, that was a long post, but I hope you enjoyed it! I am learning and as I go along, I will share more. :)

-Fabiana