infrared – |ˌinfrəˈred|  (adj): having a wavelength just greater than that of the red end of the visible light spectrum but less than that of microwaves. Infrared radiation has a wavelength from about 800 nm to 1 mm, and is emitted particularly by heated objects.

Infrared (IR) photography is not a new photography technique, however the advent of the digital camera has made it a much easier technique to get into.  All the imaging sensors in digital cameras are capable of collecting light from well beyond the visible spectrum which includes the infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths.  Because normally we don’t want to capture the non-visible light, digital cameras come with a “hot-mirror” installed over the imaging sensor.  This mirror has a dichroic coating that allows only visible light to pass through and reflects all of the non-visible light.

Relatively recently people have started to modify digital cameras by replacing or even removing the hot-mirror so that they can capture images outside the range of visible light.  The most common modification is to place a new dichroic filter over the sensor that only allows infrared light to pass through and maybe a little bit of visible light at that end of the spectrum.  If you are comfortable taking apart your camera you can buy a kit, but for not that much more money there are companies that will do the modification for you.

Why would we want to photograph light that we normally can’t see?  Well, it is just another way to look at the world and it can produce some very striking images.  With that, I gave you my photo of the week:

Captured using a modified Nikon D70 on the banks of the Saco River in Maine.

As you can see, the colors are very different than what you normally see.  The most odd is probably the sky, which comes out orange.  IR images also make beautiful black and white images which you can do right in your favorite photo editor.  It certainly gives you quite a different perspective on the world.

This photo was taken lat summer with a Nikon D70 that had been modified for IR.  I borrowed the camera for a few days from the staff photographer at camp to play around with it.  Hopefully I will get the chance to do more this coming summer.  I would love to have one of my old cameras converted, but right now I could use the money for other things.

As always, comments and critiques are welcome and encouraged.

I can’t believe it is Friday again.  Another week that has gone by incredibly fast.  So fast that I piled another post onto today by virtue of writing it so late in the evening (or morning).  We have our meting where they will actually announce next year’s season for the theatre today.  That should be interesting.  Anyway, here is the photo that I have picked for this week:

Fin Climbing at Arches

This is my brother.  He is always hanging off something.  He is pretty safe about it… Except for the time that he broke his arm swinging from the rafters in our room.  It happens.  This is at Arches National Park in Moab, UT.

So, I missed posting a photo last week, I was pretty busy that I totally forgot what day of the week was.  I won’t forget this week though.  So, here is my photo for the week:

Sunset at Arches

Every year since I moved to Utah I have managed to get in a trip to visit at least one of the national parks here in Utah and the surrounding region.  The year before last I was invited on a trip with my cousins to tour a bunch of parks.  We started in Moab, UT at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  We pulled into Moab late in the day and after we checked into the hotel the light was beautiful so we raced out to Arches to shoot some photos.  This is probably the best of the lot from that night.

I totally forget what the name of this feature is, but it is right off the park road and not too far into the park.  I am looking forward to going back this summer for a photo workshop.  I find these places to be so beautiful and amazing and I love visiting them.

As always, comments and critiques are encouraged and welcome!

It is that time of the week again. It is kinda crazy that the week is almost over, I feel like it just started. The days went really slowly, but here we are at Friday, and it is time for another feature photo. The photo below is from the publicity photo call for Our Town at the Pioneer Theatre.

Amelia McClain as Emily in PTC's production of Our Town

As the story takes place around the turn of the twentieth century, it seemed appropriate to “age” the image.  The original image can be seen here.  I also wanted to try out some of the great new features in Aperture 3 which made achieving this look really easy.  Personally, I love the sepia look along with the softened skin textures.  I also added a vignette to the image but it is pretty subtle.

I would love to hear any comments or critiques that anyone has on this image or any of the images in the galleries that I have linked to.

As the week draws to a close and i am about to go into a crazy busy week, it is time to post up another photo.  Here is one that anyone who has been visiting my blog has been looking at, but may have never seen the full image.  This one is the header image that I use.

Sunset over the Atlantic from the yard of house that we rented while my uncle's house was under construction.

I hope that everyone has a great weekend and as always, comments and critiques on the photography is always welcome!