Infrared Photography

The world of infrared photography is like a journey to a parallel universe--a place where everything you know still exists, but in a surreal and unearthly way. Perhaps this is what it looks like on the other side of the looking glass.

I recently bought a Canon Digital Rebel XTi and had it converted to infrared by Life Pixel. While infrared photography was, and still is, possible with film, it has always been a bit difficult. And since the results are a bit of a 'trial and error' procedure, you never knew what you would get until you got your film processed. With the advent of digital photography and its instant feedback, however, infrared photography becomes a breeze once you are set up. Converting a digital SLR to infrared involves removing the infrared blocking filter that is in front of the sensor in all digital cameras, and replacing it with a filter that blocks visible light but allows infrared light to pass. (Note that we are talking about reflected infrared light here, which is different from an infrared heat signature.)

One of the most obvious differences between infrared and visible light photography is the appearance of green foliage, which appears bright white in an infrared image. A clear blue sky appears almost black in infrared, giving a dramatic look to parly cloudy skies, particularly in a black and white rendition. Color infrared images often have an 'Alice in Wonderland' look, with ordinary scenes rendered in bizarre colors. One of the most interesting aspects of this medium is that you never really know what you will get until you take the picture, so it is all a grand experiment!