December 21, 2004
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Infrared Dreams
Last night I got to chat with an old friend, who told me he is taking pictures again. (He stopped for a while as he was finishing up his degree in Minnesota.)
He’s back on his infrared kick, only this time he’s going digital. I knew there were digital cameras out there that could do infrared. I just didn’t think they were made available (and affordable!) to the public.
I love infrared photography (when it’s done well).
A lot of people are under some kind of misconception that infrared photography means one is capturing images of body heat. While some electromagnetic waves in the infrared range *are* given off as body heat, most “infrared photography” as it is generally known only captures near-infrared in the wavelengths of approximately 700 to 1200 nm. That doesn’t mean though that you don’t get some pretty cool effects from portraits with infrared. Skin tends to be a little more translucent and blemishes often disappear entirely. However, veins are also more easily visible, especially in limbs, making some women look like they have varicose veins, when they don’t really.
Trees and grass turn white. Skies become darker while clouds stand out sharply. Pictures of water have varying results, depending on the cloud cover, which means that sailing pictures can turn out pretty awesome, or really muddy.
Dreams of a Future Season
by Chris Maher
http://www.infrareddreams.com
Bovine Nirvana
by Lindsay Garrett
http://www.onedoor.com/lindsay/images/index.htmlA reference for infrared photography:
