Summer Infrared Season

Lower Pasture Chesterfield, NH

I have been sitting on this article since last summer.  Now, the earth has turned and it is again a great time to talk about exploring our landscape beyond our own vision into the infra-red.   

I hate to generalize, but for photography in New England, summer is not my favorite season.  Perhaps I expressed it best in a previous article from the summer of 2017:

“It’s summer!  Great! The days are balmy, which is just a nicer way of saying hot and humid.  The Black Flies have been replaced by voracious Mosquitoes, and, if you want to see the sunrise, you must drag yourself out of bed at 4:30 AM.  It is wonderful to see all the green, but the foliage has largely matured to the same monotonous shade for maximal photosynthesis.  BAH HUMBUG?”

To be sure, I enjoy the rich fragrant air with its sweet scents of fresh growth, and I will admit that New England’s warm summer months hold their own visual attractions.  Summer sunsets and sunrises can be dramatic, as can the light during the changeable weather, from morning fog to afternoon thunderstorms.  I have always insisted that, if we are prepared to accept what nature provides, all seasons and times of day can provide photographic opportunities, but I get bored with the persistent monochrome of green.

Happily, summer offers another photographic attraction.  All that green creates the perfect conditions for infrared photography. 

Bradley Hill Vision

Pasture Gate, Chesterfield NH

 Everything that we see comes from our retina’s ability to respond to a narrow spectrum of reflected light.  Beyond the reds, in slightly longer wavelengths, which are just beyond what we can see, lies infrared. Reflected infrared light changes the appearance of the world.  Most notably, plant matter reflects light strongly in the infrared, making the summer greens appear like a winter landscape and the blue sky turns a deep black as it absorbs the infrared light. Infrared penetrates haze, causing even the dullest landscapes to snap to attention.  It may all seem unreal, but what an infrared sensor "sees" is actually no less true than what our retinas record in blues to reds.  

Electromagnetic Spectrum
https://www.miniphysics.com/electromagnetic-spectrum_25.html

Infrared photography follows most of the rules of Black and White.  Void of color, the visual impact depends on pattern and contrast. 

Spofford Home

In previous articles, I have discussed the effects of infrared light and how I modified my old Canon 20D to become an infrared camera. What I wanted to do in this post was to share some of my infrared images from this summer.  Hopefully I can inspire you to convert one of your old dust-collecting doorstops into an infrared camera.  LifePixel specializes in such conversions, and I was happy with their service.   It is not expensive and you will learn that there is much more to our world than can be seen through the illusion created by our narrow visual spectrum.

• Infrared Photography : A Different Light on Photography
• Infrared Season
• Infrared Season 2018
• Infrared Gallery

Jeff Newcomer, NEPG
www.partridgebrookreflections.com