Visual Arts Magazine – showcasing art and photography

The Beauty of Infrared

8 September 2023 Julian Jackson Photography, Art

A little-known area of photographic art can reveal, strange, alien visions and make familiar places into wondrous images.

What is IR photography?

The camera can record visual spectra that the human eye cannot see. We use wavelengths from about 400nanometres–700nm (from purple to red). Infrared, as the name suggests is light from below the red spectrum which we cannot see, although we can sometimes perceive it as heat.

Infrared photography is about capturing images in the infrared spectrum, revealing unique and often ethereal details that are invisible to the naked eye.

IR photography can be done with either infrared film or a digital camera and typically involves near-infrared light in the 700nm-1200nm range. This is different than thermal infrared, which images far into the infrared spectrum.

Infrared photography produces some very distinct effects, which make it aesthetically pleasing. The most striking difference is the “Wood Effect,” where leaves reflect infrared light, giving them a light, almost silvery colour in IR photos. This effect is named after photographer Robert W. Wood, who is considered the father of infrared photography.

This effect is utilized in landscape photography to produce surreal colour landscapes or high-contrast black and white photographs.

What are the uses of infrared photography?

Infrared has a strong appeal for fine art photography. It looks surreal and otherworldly, with trees taking on a bright white or yellow hue and skies a red or blue hue. Leaves appear frozen over, and skies take on dramatic colours in both black and white and colour photography. By using different IR filters and then manipulating the image in applications like Photoshop or Lightroom, powerful results can be obtained.

See some examples above.

IR photography is also a handy tool for wedding or portrait photographers. Skin looks much softer, and most blemishes disappear.

Besides the appeal to fine art photography, infrared and full spectrum photography are used in other fields. Many materials and dyes do not look the same in visible and infrared light. As a result, it can be used to spot camouflage, counterfeit money, and see through spills for document recovery.

Full spectrum photography is also popular in physics for taking pictures of stars because some are only visible when viewed in the IR or UV spectrum.

There are also countless other applications for full spectrum photography, including agricultural or ecological plant analysis, medical applications, forensics, greater light sensitivity for low-light shooting, look for elusive nocturnal animals, and many other imaginative and scientific uses.