See Things In a Different Light
How to make stunning Infrared photographs
If you have never seen Infrared Photography before then come and feast your senses. Capturing light that is invisible to human eyes opens up a world of creative possibilities.
The characteristics of infrared light differ from that of the ‘normal’ white light spectrum we experience everyday. For example, green foliage such as grass and trees reflect a large amount of infrared light meaning they will be very bright in the image. This is known as the ‘Wood Effect’ named after Robert W. Wood who pioneered Infrared photography. It is caused by the transparency of chlorophyll to infrared light allowing the light to pass through into the cells of the plants and be reflected back again.
Viewed normally, chlorophyll will reflect all the green light back giving leaves and grass it’s green appearance. However filter this out, or simply capture the infrared alone, and a world hiding in plain sight is revealed.
New Frontiers
This area of photography is new to many but is starting to make a very big impact. Last year, Richard Mosse won the prestigious Deutsche Börse photography prize with his moving and unsettling series of infrared images of war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mosse’s Infrared photographs intend to capture the audiences attention and ask them to consider, even just notice, a conflict that has raged for decades and claimed the lives of 5.4 million people.
There are various technical challenges when shooting infrared photography meaning it is still out of reach of your average iPhone shooter. For those determined enough there are two methods available to capture the images.
New Vision, New Equipment
Most digital cameras can be specially converted to capture infrared light. Once this change is complete however, there is no going back, your camera will no longer capture ‘normal’ light!
It can also be costly. For those looking for a little more flexibility, another option is to use an infrared filter which removes all the colours of the spectrum apart from the wavelengths at the extreme red end which includes infrared.
The only drawback with a filter is it lets only a small amount of light through so to properly expose an image it requires a long exposure. Whilst this makes portraits tricky there are still endless possibilities in the realms of landscapes and cityscapes and there are not many photographers out there doing it.
Whether you are shooting your own images or simply appreciating the art, infrared is an exciting area of photography. It is demanding attention, punching hard and forcing people to see things literally in a different light.
New Skills
If you are interested in trying this for yourself I now have a two part video tutorial online, covering the shooting of the images in the field and then back to the studio for the post-processing.
Adam Karnacz is a photographer in London, England. He publishes at First Man Photography. Follow Adam on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Flickr.
