Infrared image of the Mississippi River crossed by a bridge and a dam, between red foliage on left, and blue parking lots and buildings on right.

In infrared photography, the film or CCD sensor used is sensitized to infrared light. This part of the infrared spectrum is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Usually an "infrared filter" is used: this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera but blocks all or virtually all of the visible light spectrum (and thus looks black). Image File history File links Download high resolution version (929x921, 246 KB)1994 infrared photo of the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (929x921, 246 KB)1994 infrared photo of the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. ... The Mississippi River, derived from the old Ojibwe word misi-ziibi meaning great river (gichi-ziibi big river at its headwaters), is the second-longest river in the United States; the longest is the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi. ... A specially developed CCD used for ultraviolet imaging in a wire bonded package. ... In most modern usages of the word spectrum, there is a unifying theme of between extremes at either end. ... Thermography can refer to a printing process and a imaging process. ... The wavelength is the distance between repeating units of a wave pattern. ... An infrared filter is a filter to remove visible light and only pass infrared light in different wavelenghts. ... Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ... A camera is a device used to capture images, usually photographs, either singly or in sequence such as with video cameras. ...

When these band-pass filter filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, very interesting "in-camera effects" can be obtained: false-color or black and white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance. The frequency axis of this symbolic diagram would be logarithmically scaled. ... Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... A sensor is a technological device or biological organ that detects, or senses, a signal or physical condition. ... An in-camera effect is any special effect in a video or movie that is created solely by using techniques in and on the camera and/or its parts. ... This article or section should include material from false-color image A false color image showing the Chesapeake Bay and the city of Baltimore. ... A black-and-white portrait. ...

The effect is mainly caused by foliage (like tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow. Chlorophyll is transparent at these wavelengths and so does not block this reflectance. There is a small contribution from chlorophyll fluorescence but this is extremely small and is not the real cause of the brightness seen in infrared photographs. The other attributes of infrared photographs include very dark skies and penetration of atmospheric haze, caused by reduced Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering (respectively) in the atmosphere compared to visible light. The dark skies, in turn, result in less infrared light in shadows and dark reflections of those skies from water, and clouds will stand out strongly. These wavelengths also penetrate a few millimetres into skin and give a milky look to portraits, although eyes often look black. The notable halation effect often seen in photographs is an artefact of Kodak High Speed Infrared film and not of infrared light per se. This article is about the leaf, a plant organ. ... Chlorophyll is a green photosynthetic pigment found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. ... Fluorescence induced by exposure to ultraviolet light in vials containing various sized Cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots. ... Rayleigh scattering causing a reddened sky at sunset Rayleigh scattering (named after Lord Rayleigh) is the scattering of light, or other electromagnetic radiation, by particles much smaller than the wavelength of the light. ... The Mie theory also called Lorenz-Mie theory is a complete mathematical-physical theory of the scattering of electromagnetic radiation by spherical particles, developed by Gustav Mie in 1908. ... Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is a large multinational public company producing photographic equipment. ...

History

Infrared-sensitive photographic plates were developed in the United States during World War I for improved aerial photography.^[1] Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul von Hindenburg...

False-color infrared photography became widely practiced with the introduction of Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film, Type 8443, in the 1960s.

Infrared photography was popular with 1960s recording artists, because of the unusual results; Jimi Hendrix, Donovan and the Grateful Dead all issued albums with infrared cover photos. Infrared photography can easily look gimmicky, but photographers such as Elio Ciol have made subtle use of black-and-white infrared-sensitive film. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Donovan Philips Leitch (usually known simply as Donovan) (born May 10, 1946, in Maryhill, Glasgow) is a Scottish musician. ... The Grateful Dead were an American psychedelia-influenced rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco. ... Elio Ciol (born 1929) is an Italian photographer and publisher who was born in Casarsa della Delizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the region where he has principally lived and worked. ...

A near-infrared photograph of a Ringling Brothers' train idling near MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Rudin House: panchromatic film on the left, infrared on the right

Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (750x618, 122 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Infrared photography Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (750x618, 122 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Infrared photography Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to... Image File history File links Rudin-house. ... Image File history File links Rudin-house. ...

Film cameras

Many conventional cameras can be used for infrared photography, where infrared is taken to mean light of a wavelength only slightly longer than that of visible light. (Photography of rather longer wavelengths is normally termed thermography and requires special equipment.) Thermography can refer to a printing process and an imaging process. ...

Some lenses have a dot with a red "R" that can be used to guide focusing when photographing infrared and normal light together. Catadioptric lenses do not require this adjustment because mirrors do not suffer from chromatic aberration. But when the lens of an SLR camera is fitted with a filter that is opaque to visible light, the reflex system becomes useless for both framing and focusing; a tripod may be necessary depending on the effect the photographer is going for. If a sharp infrared picture of an object at rest is wanted, it is absolutely necessary to use a tripod, a narrow aperture (like f/22) and a slow shutter speed. Wider apertures like f/8 might produce fuzzy, if not completely blurry, pictures. Optical systems which involve both lenses and mirrors. ... A mirror is a surface with good specular reflection that is smooth enough to form an image. ... Chromatic aberration is caused by the dispersion of the lens material, the variation of its refractive index n with the wavelength of light. ... The single-lens reflex (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a movable mirror placed between the lens and the film to project the image seen through the lens to a matte focusing screen. ...

Infrared negatives fogged by the frame counter of a Minolta Maxxum 4.

With some patience and ingenuity, most film cameras can be used. However, some cameras of the 1990s that used 35mm film have infrared sprocket-hole sensors that can fog infrared film (their manuals may warn against the use of infrared film for this reason). The effects of the Minolta Maxxum 4 frame counter on infrared film. ... The effects of the Minolta Maxxum 4 frame counter on infrared film. ... 135 Film Size, Kodak Tri-X 400 speed 135 (ISO 1007) is a film format for still photography. ...

Other film cameras are not completely opaque to infrared light. Certain infrared-sensitive films may only be loaded and unloaded in darkness, and they require special development. But arguably the greatest obstacle to infrared film photography is the increasing difficulty of obtaining infrared-sensitive film.

Digital cameras

Bending Cypress: infrared shot by Sigma SD10 with B+W 093 filter, ISO 100, f/8, 1/160 s. Photo by Seng P. Merrill.

Digital camera sensors are sensitive to infrared light, which would interfere with the normal photography by confusing the autofocus calculations or softening the image (because infrared light is focused differently than visible light), or oversaturating the red channel. Also, some clothing is transparent in the infrared, leading to unintended (at least to the manufacturer) uses of video cameras. Thus, to improve image quality and protect privacy, many digital cameras employ infrared blockers. Infrared photography is usually not practical with these cameras because the exposure times become overly long, creating noise and motion blur in the final image. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2268x1512, 1709 KB) Infrared photo of bending Cypress tree, taken with Sigma SD10 and Schneider B+W 093 filter, ISO100 f8 1/160s. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2268x1512, 1709 KB) Infrared photo of bending Cypress tree, taken with Sigma SD10 and Schneider B+W 093 filter, ISO100 f8 1/160s. ... The Sigma SD10 is a digital SLR camera produced by the Sigma Corporation of Japan. ... A SiPix digital camera next to a matchbox to show scale. ... A blocker is the inverse of a filter. ... In science, and especially in physics and telecommunication, noise is fluctuations in and the addition of external factors to the stream of target information (signal) being received at a detector. ... This section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

An alternative method of digital SLR infrared photography is to remove the infrared blocker in front of the CCD and replace it with a filter that removes visible light. This filter is behind the mirror, so the camera can be used normally - handheld, normal shutter speeds, normal composition through the viewfinder, and focus, all work like a normal camera. Metering works but is not always accurate because of the difference between visible and infrared reflection.^[2] The single-lens reflex (SLR) is a type of camera that uses a movable mirror placed between the lens and the film to project the image seen through the lens to a matte focusing screen. ...

Since the Bayer filters in most digital cameras absorb a significant fraction of the infrared light, these cameras are sometimes not very sensitive as infrared cameras. An alternative approach is to use a Foveon X3 sensor, which does not have absorptive filters on it; the Sigma SD10 DSLR has a removable IR blocking filter and dust protector, which can be simply omitted or replaced by a deep red or complete visible filter light blocking filter. The result is a very sensitive digital IR camera (see sample images online). The Bayer arrangement of color filters on the pixel array of an image sensor Front page of Dr. Bryce Bayers 1976 patent on the Bayer pattern filter mosaic, showing his terminology of luminance-sensitive and chrominance-sensitive elements A Bayer filter mosaic is a color filter array (CFA) for... The Foveon X3 sensor is an image sensor for digital cameras produced by Foveon, Inc. ... The Sigma SD10 is a digital SLR camera produced by the Sigma Corporation of Japan. ...

Satellite sensors and thermographic cameras are sensitive to longer wavelengths of infrared, and use a variety of technologies which may not resemble common camera or filter designs. In particular, they often require cooling, since at at these wavelengths, and room temperature, all objects (including the camera body, the optics, and the detector itself) are glowing all the time. (See thermal radiation.) MILSTAR:A communication satellite A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) A thermographic camera, sometimes called a FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed), or an infrared camera less specifically, is a device that forms an image using infrared radiation, similar to a common camera that forms an image using visible... Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation emitted from the surface of an object which is due to the objects temperature. ...

Notes

1. ^ Annual Report of the Director Bureau of Standards to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1919 U. S. Govt. Print. Off., United States National Bureau of Standards, 1919.
2. ^ Digital Infrared at Jim Chen Photography

External links

• All you ever wanted to know about digital UV and IR photography, but could not afford to ask
• Enhance IR photos - Article in EPhotoZine
• Color Infrared Film: Still the real deal Welcome to the wild world of color infrared film.
• Nikon D50 infra-red at KenRockwell.com
• Jeremy McCreary's infrared (IR) basics for digital photographers.
• Gisle Hannemyr's Digital Infrared Resource Page will help you decide if your digital camera is IR-sensitive, and more.
• Digital infrared galleries at Kleptography.com, plus Conversion instructions for the Canon G1
• Nature Photography Central - Digital IR tutorials for Nikon D70
• Digital infrared do it yourself conversion tutorials, services and infrared photo manipulation videos