Many photographers are intrigued by the haunting images from InraRed photography, yet when they mount an IR filter on their DSLR they simply get black images. As part of our virtual members evening, Andrew Sanders explained how to take InfraRed photographs, and why the first attempts didn’t work without very long exposures.

Most modern cameras feature very effective InfraRed protection, allowing only visible light in. These internal filters will need removing (a relatively expensive process) to be able to take IR pictures. Further an IR filter then needs to be added to control the spectrum used in the image. Filters range from 530nm (which block blue/green light and hence give coloured images), through 720nm (which allow only a little red light) through to 830nm which produce monochrome IR images.

Andrew talked about his equipment (images 1-2), the raw output from the setup without filters (images 3-5), the impact of the types of filters (images 6-7), and the adjustments to white balance and colours that he makes to get a more “natural” image(images 8-10).

With thanks to Andrew for his guidance, and I hope we see more such images in our club competitions.