tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4374807350448054602024-03-07T03:34:25.894+00:00Infrared 1002010 marked the centenary of the first published infrared image. This is the Infrared 100 blog, which celebrates that centenary and discusses all aspects of infrared imaging: near and far.Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-59731595009360707822024-02-08T17:51:00.000+00:002024-02-08T17:51:00.042+00:00Uranus is not as boring as we thought<p>The conventional view of Uranus has been that its apparent surface shows few, if any, distinguishing features. The images from the Voyager 2 probe in the 1980s showed what Nasa describes as a "placid, solid blue ball".</p>
<p>The James Webb telescope, using infrared wavelengths rather than Voyager's visible ones, shows something else. In this light the north polar ice cap becomes visible. (Uranus, bizarrely, rotates almost at right angles to all the other planets so the north pole is, in this configuration, pointing towards us.) Some storm clouds are apparent as well, and the planet's rings show up clearly.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCIjz0zol7oQpsdlphV02PFHFwscZ9qE3HaQyzI_OqZEi_4z9ijzsLJYPhBC5-GbhzyDmoYuwWa95lyPJyH8fVYypdyO9Ku7PQD_U1pni2EIP5C4pFbhgIfHf2-70aPzSmKkaTpwJu9iY3B72lppTw-rcOzd8vH7ypveYynMrEEnP3_vS0ish-FQNB2WC/s1600/uranus_webb.jpg"/></div>
<p>I've not been adding to this blog of late, so I realise I am a bit late with this as a group of photos were released by Nasa back in December 2023. The Nasa web page has <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-rings-in-holidays-with-ringed-planet-uranus/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">copious information about the set</a>, which includes wider field photographs (also larger than the image above).</p>
<p>That Nasa page doesn't give information about the wavelengths used for the image. There's a more detailed report from <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-rings-of-uranus-glow-in-epic-jwst-photo/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Scientific American</a>, which notes that image is built using wavelengths of 1.4, 2.1, 3.0 and 4.6 microns. Since photographically, we're more used to nanometres this means 1400, 2100, 3000 and 4600 nm.</p>
<p>[Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI]</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-59394220574548733212023-08-14T17:50:00.003+01:002023-08-14T17:53:00.816+01:00Thermal images of sun-baked Phoenix Arizona<p>The Guardian recently published a photo set matching far infrared images of Phoenix with ordinary photographs.</p>
<p>The images were taken by Carlos Barria, using a Flir thermal camera, which also shows a point temperature (in Fahrenheit).</p>
<p>It's an interesting set, taken in late July 2023 and which "reveal a Phoenix where concrete on the street registers 150F (66C), outdoor workers’ bodies reach 105F (41C) and homeless people swelter, surrounded by surfaces as hot as 143F (62C)" and it's unusual to see visual and thermal images matched in this way: you can swipe between the two.</p>
<p>The link is here: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/11/thermal-images-of-the-us-heatwave-in-phoenix-arizona" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Thermal images of the US heatwave in Phoenix, Arizona</a> Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-80692008551902838032023-07-10T15:52:00.007+01:002023-07-10T15:56:31.927+01:00Infrared generative AI<p>I've been 'playing around' with a couple of generative artificial intelligence engines that carry out text-to-image. I was interested in how they understood the look of an infrared photograph.</p>
<p>This was partly because I find that at least one of my IR photos has found its way into the models used for generative AI. Without permission of course!</p>
<p>I tried a fairly simple shot; that of a tree. A good test for the basic Wood Effect. The results are quite good and, given how unreal IR photos can look anyway, it would be difficult to tell from the real thing. Sometimes the background detail gives things away but I found I could quickly get good results.</p>
<p>The two I tried are Stable Diffusion and Adobe Firefly (chosen simply because I have access to them) and the text prompt is the same for each: <i>Infrared image of an oak tree in a meadow</i>.</p>
<p>This is the Firefly result ...</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXr8Fs5xPEGOVcuEwbL-VackNuO_eVnqvp23KPtHsLP9V0P4GyROoXeP9QfCyRYZaRICKAyk3Hjbqb2QKBS_s828kBIpFIO_BjCBduyddHfLmoICiKiwbtWje0pQVkqZ740e-5l43MkHrxITnmzhsQFKCym_4S7V04SEhtUaTWl61r3bU7A7Hj0kT2vVwP/s1600/ai-firefly.jpg"/></div>
<p>As you can see, I got a false colour image without specifying, and in this case it's not a bad result. Often the system would put arbitrary colour washes over the image, but here the result is as you'd expect.</p>
<p>This is the Stable Diffusion result ...</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtAVOlHhj-zmMJxJ6b3v3iOFRA8NZ5gYDIJCevVUiHpj7tM-btbNkXe9lgvNJfORTGyOJHDOPudXIXGY670REhxrEO-bKXrae_ijS1mEHEr1yh0vPO-iwV-8dB94UVS9oaKF2vgHvPc5B4GuuBL1B-FenLAF2-xackeCWNE6BjEFrUeOhfVgbpWQU-XuA/s1600/ai-stablediffusion.jpg"/></div>
<p>Here, it's black & white straight away. Again, a pretty good result.</p>
<p>I did also try to generate some thermal images but neither engine could get anywhere near what you'd expect, presumably because there are not many, if any, thermal images in the training set.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-4276116490149827952023-06-11T18:38:00.002+01:002023-06-11T18:39:51.498+01:00James Jarché Infrared<p>I've mentioned in a <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2019/12/james-jarche-and-early-infrared.html">previous post</a> that the famous press photographer, James Jarché, had experimented with infrared photography in the early 1930s. I also noted that he had used IR to document the photographic manufacturing process for Ilford.</p>
<p>I recently managed to buy a copy of his memoir, <i>People I Have Shot</i>, and this includes some plates. One of them was taken by an unknown Ilford employee showing Jarché taking one of the photographs at Ilford's factory.</p>
<p>Here it is, captioned <i>The Author Shot by Infra-red Rays</i>.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="Although in darkness, here you can see Jarché with his camera on a tripod, pointing a little to the right of the viewpoint." border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5VVq7HoM-xYlcVqEAdfCampq0BacojcAUSJGec8tdVPgO97fgTF8RGBJCCcFYPLIEZvsC_hH1Mm2pQFBbIdw1sILwBmgVXs1c744x3HNPTb_6_YXaA-U46bLevjfXg5UUNsxPewnIkVIGsgjx6n-sc-VV2MHCMbSnhoiKZZE0CLecnVVAUBOiCqWNw/s1600/jarche-ir.jpg"/></div>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-9030992507280187552023-03-12T18:17:00.011+00:002023-03-17T10:57:54.816+00:00Barnaby Attwell infrareds in Falmouth exhibition<p>Having recently discovered Barnaby Atwell's faux-colour infrared shots of Cornish landscapes I was delighted to find that he has some included in a new seasonal exhibition in Falmouth.</p>
<p>The exhibition is called <i>Unfamiliar Territory</i> and is on at the Falmouth Art Gallery until June 1st.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4nHPyDeKjQKadlPNAKbCQcCaddEBvOK8rVuT7dC63uV5zp-M1H_zBAe3XRDn6DjO1aI8dAJ2_EgKngxHLkp0SgxoApOLdY6hKXl6pDTnFfSmmRjs4dRXUjc_CWcsZvR3z9yWfaW7W66MOAKyrSqcGpeHpSCSitAZ7-2sxDHgQsXa-5f6QdhiSZxgRKQ/s1600/barnaby.jpg"/></div>
<p>The exhibition press release describes the event ...</p>
<blockquote>Unfamiliar Territory is a stunning new exhibition opening this February at Falmouth Art Gallery that will explore a range of themes linked to the Cornish landscape. It brings together an exciting selection of 20th and 21st century artists who have been inspired by Cornwall’s diverse landscapes to create works that show it in innovative ways and explores how Cornwall’s iconic landscapes have evolved over the years.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The exhibition runs from the 11th February to 1st June 2023 and will feature nationally renowned artists such as: John Tunnard, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Kurt Jackson, Danny Markey, Tom Cross, Patrick Heron, Albert Reuss, Bryan Wynter and more.</blockquote>
<p>... and Barnaby adds that the gallery shop will be selling copies of his excellent book, <i>Welcome to St Decay</i>, as well as prints and postcards.</p>
<p>The web site for the exhibition is at <a href="https://www.falmouthartgallery.com/Exhibitions/2023/1846~Unfamiliar_Territory" target="_blank">www.falmouthartgallery.com/Exhibitions/2023/1846~Unfamiliar_Territory</a> and Barnaby's blog post about it is at <a href="https://www.barnflakes.com/blog/unfamiliar-territory-press-release-and-private-view" target="_blank">www.barnflakes.com/blog/unfamiliar-territory-press-release-and-private-view</a>.</p>
<p>[Photo courtesy of Barnaby Atwell]</p>
Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-10760504432267757282023-02-08T14:45:00.004+00:002023-02-08T14:48:44.152+00:00Second Band volume coming from Elliott Landy<p>Almost exactly nine years ago I wrote about Elliott Landy's Kickstarter project to produce a book of his photographs of The Band, that bunch of Candian musicans who also,famously, backed Bob Dylan for a while. [Read the <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2014/01/elliott-landys-band-photobook-includes.html">original post</a>.]</p>
<p>That volume contained 200 photos chosen from the thousands that Elliott shot while in their company. Choosing a set is a difficult task, and lots of great shots are always left behind. So he has decided that it's time for a Volume Two! And he makes these pages because Elliott Landy included infrared film in his toolkit and, just as there were some IR shots in the first book, there will be some infrared images in the new one; shot using 35mm Infrared Ektachrome.</p>
<p>Here's one of the infrared images from the first book to whet your appetite ...</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsEiA09dFn-6WX1QqkJI5qp9euD9LB-mvdCo6N54WB15Wh6FYX-JLCqNepoczDjFS-ijC-WDGi-O9lMN8xaeqR2RNwpmxmKoTx9QB5kYMuKlg8m5lQZu4tsVOtEnad5EFUXZv4NAwQmPn6rS4551-DpRhZE_o65HakuJAsTnOULiuasHzM0oXfWCtow/s1600/band-landy-2.jpg"/></div>
<p>You should visit the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thebandbook2/elliott-landys-the-band-photographs-book-volume-2" target="_blank">Kickstarter page</a> of course, and decide whether you want to join in.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-9851769303118559702023-02-06T19:05:00.000+00:002023-02-06T19:05:41.848+00:00A few Infrared Photographers<p>It's always nice to come across other photographers who either specialise in infrared or who take the odd very good shot. So here are a few:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.kateballis.com" target="_blank">Kate Ballis</a> is based in Melboutne and has a neat line in faux-colour digital images. As her online biog says "In her <a href="https://www.kateballis.com/infra-realism" target="_blank">Infra Realism</a> series, Kate creates unique, colour-drenched images using infrared technology." She took an IR-converted camera and experimented with filters to produce dramatic images.</p>
<p>Also doing interesting things with digital colour is Barnaby Attwell ... aka <a href="https://www.barnflakes.com" target="_blank">Barnflakes</a>. He's based in Cornwall and published a thin volume of colour infrareds of Conrnish landscapes. His palette is different to Kate's, which demonstrates the variety of results you can get with digital infrared. I also added his book to the Invisible Light Bibliography.</p>
<p>More 'conventional' digital mono infrareds can be found with <a href="https://rookphoto.co.uk" target="_blank">Pauline Rook</a>. I came across her photographs in a craft gallery in Wells and find that her aesthetic is similar to mine (though I think her eye is better). Her web site, includes IR images shot in Africa as well as closer to home.</p>
<p>A final single image from Richard Mosse. Lately he's been shooting with thermal cameras but I was interested to come across a single shot of his in The Guardian newspaper recently. It's called <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/14/amazons-highway-hell-richard-mosses-best-photograph-burned" target="_blank">The Amazon’s highway through hell</a> (I think) and, very unusually, was shot using an 8 by 10 inch sheet of the legendary Kodak HIE film. To quote Oliver Cromwell, you can see the image 'warts and all' on the page but it's a great shot.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-52737640257413494812022-12-07T17:30:00.009+00:002023-01-13T22:39:07.037+00:00More Near-IR cameras from FujiFilm<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3VqunDd1wJ2zJADkiG7CZkWrfbodabb-xj-Atwu1XwtQhCMd2d9tr6xlh1B2HrSZNjNRwr6blNp6dF8KhmoTbJKb-81TIiRO9Tqid0aX1__gUXrqEKpaFXXobQpxvLhQFZBUXzRktl3FMzY4sZceiQkSXk4BQKKz7pMjcJrJv_w8Xic-2EWTCW8EDfA/s1600/cordoba2.jpg"/></div>
<p>For a while I have used a near-infrared camera made by FujiFilm called the FinePix IS Pro. This is based on the FinePix S5 Pro, which is in turn based on the Nikon D200 which, for me was useful as I have some Nikkor lenses that fit. (Recently I have been using a converted compact camera, simply because it is convenient, but the Fuji is more versatile. An example shot from Cordoba is above.) It has no blocking filter so you can use any filter combination you want and in my case that included a yellow filter for false-colour IR tests (not 100% satisfactory) and trying a variety of filtration methods. [See <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2020/01/filtering-full-spectrum-camera.html">this blog post on the subject</a>.]</p>
<p>I had thought that this camera was an experiment that Fuji wouldn't repest but it turns out I was wrong as I came across their X-T1 IR camera. This was first introduced in August 2015, which shows how on the ball I was, or how secretive Fuju are about this device. At 16 megapixels it isn't really up to current specs of course but, based on their web site, it is currently available. Fuji are marketing it carefully to "technical experts, law enforcement, medical research and scientific communities" and I would assume the EULA places restrictions on use as with the IS Pro. In theory the usage can include Fine Art.</p>
<p>So this isn't enough to make me want one, but it does indicate that there is a small market for out-of-the-box IR cameras as well as conversions.</p>
<p>The FujiFIlm web page for this camera is at <a href="https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/consumer/digitalcameras/ir-camera" target="_blank">www.fujifilm.com/us/en/consumer/digitalcameras/ir-camera</a> which is interesting as it's in the 'consumer' web space even if the camera's market isn't.</p>
<p>I wonder what else I'm missing.</p>
<p>Well, the FUJIFILM GFX100 IR (Infrared) Large Format Mirrorless Digital Camera for a start. No complaints about resolution here because this chap weighs in at 100 megapixels (and maybe even 400!) and has up-to-date features such as 5-axis stabilisation. In this case Fuji say that this camera "will not be made available to general photographers or customers for personal use" and was launched at the end of 2020. Unlike their other IR cameras this one doesn't respond to UV as well.</p>
<p>Web page is <a href="https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/news/digital-cameras/fujifilm-introduces-GFX100IR-infrared-camera" target="_blank">www.fujifilm.com/us/en/news/digital-cameras/fujifilm-introduces-GFX100IR-infrared-camera</a> and <a href="https://fujifilm-x.com/global/special/gfx-ir-camera/" target="_blank">fujifilm-x.com/global/special/gfx-ir-camera/</a>.) I found retailers offering this by doing a web search but at a list of over £11 thousand I think I will have to pass.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-66228458869122349232022-11-28T17:21:00.001+00:002022-11-28T17:22:14.971+00:00Professor Wood's House<p>I was delighted to receive an email recently from someone with a personal connection to the house that Professor Wood lived in.</p>
<p>I knew the building was in East Hampton, and I knew the road as it was noted on his letterhead. But try as I might I was unable to pin the building down based on the two photographs I have of it. This one was the one published in the Century Magazine in the Midwinter Number of the Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, published in February 1910 and was (as far as I know) the first infrared photograph to be published.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL3vosmUCZW_Glm-6KE353ZACYY3nXyB573ZOg8DqBnA2T6J65psugjwmgHQGmHiSmw9OnIiHBzER5VDuhDyhkiLoT3n8Sw8uGTQAy1Jfj_slKBcmX8820eeAfFDtRFui8uHr2JPcZTlUNC7YSutzNMq8Vhj_AJc31Q7TyiKak1WYqBnDovTZ8UnFJdg/s1600/wood-hamptons.jpg"/></div>
<p>From my new contact I now know exactly which house it is. I'm told the building has been modified, which you'd expect after a century or more, but essentially what you can see in this photo (and <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2017/04/professor-woods-slides.html">the one in this earlier blog post</a>) remains the same. The driveway from the road has changed, which is why I couldn't track it down with Google's Street View.</p>
<p>I hope to get a photo of the house as it is now so we can compare. I will let you know.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-23112383231017199492022-07-22T16:45:00.001+01:002022-07-22T16:45:05.377+01:00Infrared Artistry: Re-visualizing Your World with Tony SweetOn July 30th 2022, at 4 pm UK time, Photographer Tony Sweet will be giving a Zoom presentation on our favourite subject, infrared photography. To quote the blurb ...
<blockquote>Infrared photography is becoming ever more popular. The inherent surreal properties of black-and-white infrared are always surprising and redefine the visual world. This talk will also touch on the world of faux colour infrared. Through ample illustrations, Tony Sweet will breach the curtain between the world we see and the one we imagine in black-and-white infrared and in colour infrared photography. Example images will illustrate the effects of angle and quality of light, times of day, and weather conditions. Questions are encouraged throughout the presentation.</blockquote>
This event is organised by the Digital Imaging Group of the Royal Photographic Society and is free to group members. Other RPS members, and anyone else, pays £3 to access the talk. It takes place using Zoom and everyone is welcome.
Here's a link for booking: <a href="https://rps.org/DIGONLINE35/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">rps.org/DIGONLINE35/</a>.
See you there!Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-78427167197080973732022-06-15T16:44:00.001+01:002022-06-15T16:44:19.195+01:00The Wood Effect ... on sea<p>The <i>Wood Effect</i>, whereby foliage shows up 'white' in infrared photographs, is a well-known feature of such images, often mistaken for snow.</p>
<p>Leaves are not the only things to exhibit this, as I found once when photographing young pine cones.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiiIGqNDnJCPNRlv-xcAD2oQ5tMMARnHbYHAR3PZMPT061-OR9z2YqxYbXeaQyPji96ReNgQUDDxnuwUkrRoiN0DWS2XM-XztOpm6qKcv238KZ1_L_WNwabv50i5ptOSiF-BOQCLh0ENLrmcHJ54lH1SiD0FQaIS-WQbrMVl9giVcaZ5m38tGEMonhPg/s1600/atsf-cones.jpg"/></div>
<p>I presume that the young pine cones have an outer layer like a leaf with cells that reflect the infrared light, but this was a bit unexpected.</p>
<p>This next photo shows some seaweed (on the coast of Bardsey Island in North Wales) and this also exhibits the effect.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkZgORox1gHF6Hq2ZQS_-wdb3LfkJ0A_lWLUvlsA8m59O3iHjHz-w9TxCfTlaKJkTOoOwfiFXYpiQfQ_z8eZgPPq5MbfZS_CCDRyjVqlDevw4tiB5KF6M_FN8k21wlTJjU_3qlUB2sS0ehj3SkSIWrEn8VwJ_Wci0LYJzvo1uGab4Q6zOMTQE5DgAy7g/s1600/bardsey-seaweed-b&w.jpg"/></div>
<p>The black dots in the water are seals by the way.</p>
<p>A final thing that looks different to what you would expect in infrared photography is red wine, which appears transparent. A photo to demonstrate that is for another post sometime. Cheers.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-86998260592819125442022-05-16T11:42:00.000+01:002022-05-16T11:42:11.251+01:00Hello Again<p>It's been a while since I last posted here. The main reason is that we moved house and then started having 'things' done to the place. Thje good news is that our new location, on the English south coast, has lots of opportunities for infrared shooting ... so more on that as and when.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijuQMVpre34G9XqKhGxamIv1SXVEx6AEHXB8oOmCzzBVvITn9ugaAapRPAQWTBye1og_bBCsy3JOqEkqkNayBFOpLdEmMoO3TfHZVaENRRs_toRiwEzR5pBPOA-jMTdL3uJ-kfVta2eYCxvwUXtSsVo_qzV6aVNzgIHj1Lj4Bs_GQjGVrgxk4fnMRgUA/s1600/ilight-screen.jpg"/></div>
<p>While you're waiting, please check out the revamped <i>Invisible Light</i> web site, which you can find on a couple of URLs but <a href="https://atsf.co.uk/ilight/">atsf.co.uk/ilight</a> is the SOA for them all. A lot of the photos from the old site have gone, although eventually most of them will return. At this point There's a small set of galleries for the different techniques together with a bibliography, a list of interesting web sites and a brief history of infrared photography. The techical section is there as well, with some examples of thermal imaging amongst other things. Please check it out.</p>
<p>Incidentally, I've been told that the subscription facility doesn't work. It's probably better to click the <i>Follow</i> link but I have to admit that the intricacies of Blogger are a bit opaque! </p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-67339408589759199652022-02-09T22:32:00.006+00:002022-05-03T18:45:22.893+01:00Paolo Pettigiani<p><i>Paolo Pettigiani</i> is a photographer based in Turin. Since 2015 he has beeon working on a project called <i>Infraland</i>, using a full-spectrum converted camera and a 590 nm filter to shoot faux-colour infrared images.</p>
<blockquote>Infraland transforms ordinary places into surreal landscapes unbound by human perception ...</blockquote>
<p>A set of his photographs were published in the <i>Observer</i> newspaper last Sunday (Feb 6th) but you can see his whole project on <a href="https://www.paolopettigiani.com/infraland" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">his web site</a>. With photosets on New York, the Dolomites, Dubai, the Maldives, Alps, Bolivia and Peru. It's a nicely-designed site with some lovely images: well worth a visit.</p>
<p>I am of course rather envious that he managed to get his photographs into the <i>Observer</i>.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-60036815708062341332021-12-31T17:34:00.003+00:002021-12-31T17:43:23.701+00:00Simon Marsden film now on DVD<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="Carved stone grotesque on DVD cover" border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgRwAm3EfW96t86oD2HCj53M23wIiQXZwNVgB_C2NOVSxWcejpIs4mbpGasce0eIMuB54HlVMCXZMqHi3rnmVotyYVAzIWxejLPZUPXMrHKMbSzR35Z7fwP6COjeQcO7LhI6sdjYLwa_N3JQ5MOVqhEohpMf_ls5S7aeXEEPSOLrWI9emXcotOkSOFckg"/></div>
<p>Jason Figgis's 70-minute film, <i>Simon Marsden's Haunted Life in Pictures</i>, is now available to buy on DVD as well as through digital outlets. Jason first told me about his project in June 2016 and the film was premiered at the BFI in London in August 2018.</p>
<p>The movie explores Simon's life and his interest in the paranormal ... especially as expressed through his infrared photography. There are contributions from Simon himself, friends and fellow photographers (including myself). The film is full of examples of his work, and ends with a moving poem, read by John Hurt.</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="Simon Marsden" border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjjxtS9Nd9R1423dROfBa7q9e8xsI8dssfVidzUnywQ-w9M6S6-RGT1MQCbDQawavACZwhou8gfqxsgTMOKD76KNy6HKLD2O3accT1qeONtZb49K9eOGb4Qbzv5JXsPkXcCTOGp4oRwh_NnbkIOoqpfo92v1tMcnxdWTXmvwj46vfyCq20APkRvfJz--Q"/></div>
<p>Simon was an great exponent of the classic Kodak High Speed Infrared black and white film (HIE). Its construction, while designed to give an increased speed, coincidentally provided a unique look combining grain and halation. This was his starting point, but Simon was also a skilled printer, since the HIE was notoriously difficult to expose even nearly 'correctly'. His many books are full of infrared images where bright foliage offsets the stone of ruins and statuary.</p>
<p>Simon Marsden died in January 2012. Sad to say that although we corresponded, especially during the centenary celebrations in 2010, Simon and I never met. This film goes some way to rectifying that omission for me.</p>
<p>The DVD is distributed by MVD Entertainment Group/Pop Twist Studios (released December 14th 2021) in the USA and through Wienerworld in Britain from January 10th 2022. Amazon are already <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Simon-Marsdens-Haunted-Life-Pictures/dp/B0999HVBGT" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">selling it and streaming it</a> through Amazon Prime.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-71402632746737500662021-12-11T18:43:00.005+00:002021-12-11T18:46:48.399+00:00Landy Dylan infrared photo for sale via Magnum Editions<p>The legendary photograph of Bob Dylan, taken using Infrared Ektachrome, by Elliott Landy is currently <a href="https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/collections/magnum-editions/magnum-editions-bob-dylan-in-woodstock-ny-1968/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">available to buy</a> as part of the Magnum Editions project.</p>
<p>The price for the 8 by 10 print is £400 and £550 for a framed version. This edition is unique and is limited to 100 copies.</p>
<p>The photo is also <a href="https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/collections/elliott-landy-collection/bob-dylan-outside-his-home-in-woodstock-new-york-1968/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">available in an open edition</a> in several sizes. The open edition images are signed.</p>
<p>The Magnum shop is in the USA, and I wondered about possible import duties into the UK (and Europe) but there is a note on the site that says "If your order is placed in EUR or GBP, taxes and applicable customs fees are included in the listed price." US buyers don't have that problem of course, just dealing with local sales taxes, which are separate.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-81462421155113147322021-12-07T16:54:00.005+00:002021-12-07T16:55:48.115+00:00Infrared Movie: Las Vegas in Infrared<p>I've been a bit quiet lately, as a result of moving house, so I thought I'd put up something really nice I recently found on YouTube (although it was posted in 2016).</p>
<p>The videographer, Philip Bloom, notes that he shot this with a Sony RX100 IV with its IR-blocking filter removed, and in slow motion to add to the fun.</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="200" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C97GTHYGrro" title="YouTube video player" width="400"></iframe>
<p>If you'd prefer the source page, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C97GTHYGrro" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">go to this page</a>.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-6315705211537982892021-07-20T16:09:00.000+01:002021-07-20T16:09:25.376+01:00Quote-unquote<p>When reworking my <i>Invisible Light</i> web site (<a href="https://atsf.co.uk/ilight/" target="_blank" title="Link to Invisible Light">link here</a>) I decided to include a few quotes that seemed relevant for the subject of infrared photography.</p><p>One, I copied from Walter Clark's <i>Photography by Infrared</i> and which comes from William Henry Fox Talbot, in his 1844 book <i>The Pencil of Nature</i>.</p>
<blockquote>... the eye of the camera would see plainly where the human eye would find nothing but darkness.</blockquote>
<p>It's likely that Fox Talbot was aware of Herschel's discovery of infrared about 20 years earlier but whether he's thinking of this, or just of generally being able to see something otherwise invisible, I don't know. The current legal definition of a photograph includes any image using any form of radiation that can be made visible, so does not just include the visible spectrum.</p>
<p>It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine exactly when it was realised that what you see is not all that you get, at least when it comes to the electromagnetic spectrum. Certainly, the remarkable Émilie du Châtelet, in her 1738 paper called <i>Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu</i> suggested that</p>
<blockquote>... there are other colours [emitted by stars] in Nature than those we know in our world.</blockquote>
<p>Although such colours would turn out to be invisible. The simple French belies the significance of the idea.</p>
<blockquote>Il est très-possible que dans d'autres systêmes, il y ait des Soleils qui projectant plus de rayons rouges, verds, &c. que les couleurs primitives des Soleils que nous ne voyons point soient différentes des nòtres, & qu'il y ait enfin dans la Nature d'autres couleurs que cells que nous connissons dans notre monde.</blockquote>
<p>William Herschel in his paper <i>Investigation of the Powers of the Prismatic Colours</i> in 1800 is probably the first to give a name to these new rays ...</p>
<blockquote>... radiant heat will at least partly, if not chiefly, consist, if I may be permitted the expression, of invisible light.</blockquote>
<p>The first use of the term infra-red that I tracked down (via the OED, where else) is from 1881 in <i>Nature</i>; a lecture on solar physics by Captain (later Sir) William de Wiveleslie Abney.</p>
<p>HP Lovecraft, in his 1924 story <i>From Beyond</i>, was somewhat more worried about what might be revealed than Herschel or Fox Talbot ...</p>
<blockquote>With five feeble senses we pretend to comprehend the boundlessly complex cosmos, yet other beings with wider, stronger, or different range of senses might not only see very differently the things we see, but might see and study whole worlds of matter, energy, and life which lie close at hand yet can never be detected with the senses we have.</blockquote>
<p>Roger W Hicks in his 1992 book <i>Successful black-and-white Photography: A practical Handbook</i> was not too fond of the medium.</p>
<blockquote>Apart from its novelty value, I cannot see much reason to use infra-red film other than for scientific purposes. When you have seen a few infra-red pictures, you have seen the lot.</blockquote>
<p>He's not alone: even Ansel Adams was sceptical though he did admit it could work in the right "imaginative" hands.</p>
<p>My favourite, to finish and to contradict HP Lovecraft, comes from a book about early television, by Ronald F Tiltman in 1927. He has a chapter on Logie Baird's infrared television system, <i>Noctovision</i>, and says ...</p>
<blockquote>Infra-red rays…are quite well-known and highly respectable rays, and have no connection with any much-talked-of death ray or other mysterious rays.</blockquote>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-15327792701404116612021-06-28T16:42:00.003+01:002021-06-29T17:27:11.029+01:00Through a glass not-so-darkly ... infrared to visible up-conversion<p>I've been familiar with the phenomenon whereby two waveforms can interact such that a third and fourth, the sum and difference of the two wavelengths, are generated. This has been used in radio transmission and reception for decades, known as heterodyning. [See the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterodyne" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Wikipedia page</a>.]</p>
<p>I now discover that there is a similar phenomenon at light wavelengths which can result in up-conversion allowing near infrared (AKA short wavelength infrared - SWIR) to become visible. The earliest reference would appear to be in a 1967 paper by JE Midwinter and J Warner [<i>Up‐Conversion of Near Infrared to Visible Radiation in Lithium‐meta‐Niobate</i> Journal of Applied Physics 38, 519].</p><p>The abstract is as follows ...</p>
<blockquote>Single‐crystal lithium niobate pumped with pulsed ruby‐laser radiation has been used to convert 1.7‐μ radiation to green light with more than 1% efficiency. A narrow infrared bandwidth of 17 Å, set by the phase‐matching requirement only, allows the up‐converter and photomultiplier to operate in place of a monochromator and infrared detector, and the emission spectrum of a mercury lamp has been thus examined in the region of 1.7 μ. A close agreement between theory and practice has been found in all respects except noise performance. Further studies of this aspect are required.</blockquote>
<p>Moving on to mid-June 2021 and we can see that 'further studies' have indeed been done. (This is not so say that Midwinter et al have not been hard at work; I am coming into this rather late.) The NanoWerk web site has published an article entitled <i>Let there be light! New tech allows people to see in the dark. </i>[<a href="https://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology-news2/newsid=58246.php" target="_blank">Link to the article here</a>.] It outlines how a team at the Australian National University (ANU), working with an international team, have prototyped a device, based on nano-technology and metamaterials, which up-converts near infrared to visible wavelengths.</p>
<p>The lead researcher Dr Rocio Camacho Morales, is quoted in the article saying</p>
<blockquote>We’ve made a very thin film, consisting of nanoscale crystals, hundreds of times thinner than a human hair, that can be directly applied to glasses and acts as a filter, allowing you to see in the darkness of the night.</blockquote>
<p>Fortunately, their paper describing the work is openly available online. The title is <i>Infrared upconversion imaging in nonlinear metasurfaces</i> and describes the technique as follows:</p>
<blockquote>In this approach, the IR image is not directly detected; instead, a parametric nonlinear optical process is employed to convert the image to higher frequencies and detect it using regular cameras in a process known as upconversion IR imaging.</blockquote>
<p>So basically what we have here, albeit in rudimentary form, is a piece of 'glass' that shifts the wavelength of radiation passing through from near infrared to visible light without needing cooling or even imaging technology. There are nanoscale antennas on a gallium arsenide wafer, tuned to the relevant wavelengths and what is described as a pump laser beam to interact with the incoming signal (both near infrared). The frequency of the derived waveform is the sum of the target image frequency and the pump laser beam. This process is also very fast, described as having 'femtosecond temporal resolution' which could enable 'ultrafast imaging of chemical reactions in a conventional microscope device', never mind the opportunities for inexpensive imaging of near infrared. I assume it would work at thermal wavelengths with the right wavelength of pump laser.</p>
<p>Check out the paper and see what you think. I'm fairly excited by the possibilities, even if it will presumably take the team a while to get it to photographic resolutions.</p><p>I will finish with their abstract, followed by the citation and link.</p>
<blockquote>Infrared imaging is a crucial technique in a multitude of applications, including night vision, autonomous vehicle navigation, optical tomography, and food quality control. Conventional infrared imaging technologies, however, require the use of materials such as narrow bandgap semiconductors, which are sensitive to thermal noise and often require cryogenic cooling. We demonstrate a compact all-optical alternative to perform infrared imaging in a metasurface composed of GaAs semiconductor nanoantennas, using a nonlinear wave-mixing process. We experimentally show the upconversion of short-wave infrared wavelengths via the coherent parametric process of sum-frequency generation. In this process, an infrared image of a target is mixed inside the metasurface with a strong pump beam, translating the image from the infrared to the visible in a nanoscale ultrathin imaging device. Our results open up new opportunities for the development of compact infrared imaging devices with applications in infrared vision and life sciences.</blockquote>
<p>[Rocio Camacho-Morales, Davide Rocco, Lei Xu, Valerio Flavio Gili, Nikolay Dimitrov, Lyubomir Stoyanov, Zhonghua Ma, Andrei Komar, Mykhaylo Lysevych, Fouad Karouta, Alexander A. Dreischuh, Hark Hoe H. Tan, Giuseppe Leo, Costantino De Angelis, Chennupati Jagadish, Andrey E. Miroshnichenko, Mohsen Rahmani, Dragomir N. Neshev, "Infrared upconversion imaging in nonlinear metasurfaces," Adv. Photon. 3(3) 036002 (14 June 2021) ]</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1117/1.AP.3.3.036002" target="_blank">doi.org/10.1117/1.AP.3.3.036002</a>.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-51050458061121699722021-02-23T16:31:00.002+00:002021-02-23T16:31:39.157+00:00RPS On-location infrared workshop in May<p>The Landscape Group of the Royal Photographic Society have organised a workshop in the south of Suffolk to explore and expand your skills in infrared photography with photographer Justin Minns. The locations include Freston Tower and the banks of the River Stour. It's for up to six people and as of today there are still places available.</p><p>Prices are £69 for non-members, £52 for members of the RPS and £42 for members of the RPS Landscape Group.</p><p>More info on the RPS web site at <a href="https://rps.org/landscape-magicofinfrared">rps.org/landscape-magicofinfrared</a>.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-29651426014042132502021-01-23T15:23:00.011+00:002021-01-28T13:08:40.070+00:00Elliott Landy colour infrareds on sale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="210" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXVj07clwurhdZs3MpHlCQUuSuFMR7N3Itm-80aWpEGt2_EIleN0eQsnXIAuPBqsHrmHcof7LZHLW_0V7pkPZJue9ddToRfzSA98_nW_E2lbZt2DektBPq8-IoQ2LMQQRVBUoKq_TeMx0/s0/153_OC+01_Landy.jpg" /></div>
<p>Elliott Landy, the American photographer, is famous for his images shot at the Woodstock festival and of Bob Dylan and of the Band. He includes infrared photography in his work, and his photo of Dylan was the highlight of my Infrared 100 exhibition in Bath in 2010.</p>
<p>Elliott is holding a sale of some of his colour infrared photographs, running until February 15th. He says:</p>
<blockquote>I consider this body of Infrared Photos to be among my best work from the Sixties. Except for the one of Bob Dylan, people have overlooked these when collecting my work. The prints on sale were shot on Infrared Color Film in the late Sixties except for the ones of Janis Joplin and Richard Manuel in performance which I am including in this group because they share the same visual vibration, or feeling, of the infrareds.</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMveGuRdRXHl9H7VmVPVFskre0zPm7NomxjusuL63rRAlylmK2dVHs9bDBvUcCAJ6vyU55DzuKe8Ls_MRA-tcVKmj1r3hMBC5JOLchd0snVFXQF5xCu0-3rm687c4WfzqyqtrvW41cpdb/s0/154_OC+32_Landy.jpg" /></div>
<p>You can find out more on his web site here: <a href="https://www.elliottlandy.com/valentines-day-infrared-print-sale/">www.elliottlandy.com/valentines-day-infrared-print-sale</a>. </p><p>You'll see that two of the shots, of Janis Joplin and Richard Manuel in performance, are not infrared but have the same vibe. He refers to the film he used as Aero slide film, which is basically the same as the Ektachrome. At the time of these shots I think it was an older formulation which needed a very obscure development process known as E4. I used this version on occasion and had to mail it off to a medical photographers in Harley Street, London, for development. The later E6 version was a lot easier to use and develop.</p>
<p>The photographs on this page are of jazz musician Ornette Coleman and his son, shot in New York in 1969. Though they use the same film, the filter used is different, producing the varied colour effects. To some extent these are unpredictable when you shoot, part of the 'fun' of using that kind of film stock. They are included in the sale. <i>[Photographs are copyright © Elliott Landy used with permission]</i></p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-38456304453894948942021-01-20T13:33:00.002+00:002021-01-20T13:37:29.507+00:00Life in Another Light<p> I have mentioned Kolari Vision before. I used their Chrome infrared colour filter during my test shoot of <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2020/01/filtering-full-spectrum-camera.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">various ways of filtering a digital camera</a> for infrared photography. Yesterday I saw a photo piece in the Guardian about Kolari's competition called <i>Life in Another Light</i>, which includes various infrared categories and has resulted in some really amazing images. The Guardian shows some of the best ones but the Kolari page (although it loads somewhat slowly for me) also gives information about how they were shot ... and has lots more photos.</p><p>You should note that not all the photographs use infrared techniques. That isn't really clear in the Guardian but it is clear in the Kolari page.</p><p>One thing I think is proved here is that an infrared image should also work artistically as a photograph as many of these would be great even without the otherworldliness of IR.</p><p>Links:</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/jan/18/life-in-another-light-unearthly-infrared-photography" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Guardian</a></p><p><a href="https://kolarivision.com/2nd-annual-life-in-another-light-photo-contest-winners/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kolari Vision</a></p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-48111948700914845482020-08-18T16:14:00.001+01:002020-08-18T16:14:43.891+01:00Laurie Klein: New book and Infrared Photography Course<p> The first edition of Laurie and Kyle Klein's book, <i>Infrared Photography: Artistic Techniques for Brilliant Images</i>, came out in 2016 (and <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2016/04/laurie-klein-artistic-techniques-book.html" target="_blank">was featured here</a>). Now there's a new edition from Amherst Media with extra input from technologist Shelley Vandegrift. I haven't as yet seen the new edition but I like the earlier books so this should be worth consideration.</p>
<p>Info on the book is on <a href="https://www.laurieklein.com/product/infrared-photography-digital-techniques-for-brilliant-images/" target="_blank" title="Book information: Artistic Techniques for Brilliant Images">this web page</a>.</p>
<p>Laurie and Shelley are also giving a three day "Intensive" course towards the end of September. This will be held using the ubiquitous Zoom running from noon to 1700 (I assume east-coast USA time) and with a course fee of $695. It's aimed at photographers across a range of infrared experience. The middle day will be a practical, where you shoot around your own area with the opportunity for discussion. <a href="https://www.laurieklein.com/events/infrared-a-to-z/" target="_blank">More info on Laurie's web site</a>.</p>Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-25769963535733965102020-07-27T13:24:00.000+01:002020-07-27T13:24:02.687+01:00Weegee and Kubrick: The infrared connection<p>I have recently been reading Christopher Bonanos' biography of the famous New York photographer Weegee. Weegee's reputation grew in the 1930s as a news photographer covering mostly crime and fires at night. He soon developed a style that transcended standard news pics partly due to his innate sense of a good image, but also his shots of the reaction to events, as much as the events themselves.</p>
<p>One item in Weegee's armoury, besides his police radio and pocketfuls of flashbulbs, was infrared. He picked up on it in the early 1940s, a few years after it become available from companies like Kodak through regular retail channels. Before the mid 1930s, if you wanted to take infrared photographs you had to sensitise the plates (for it was plates) yourself. Now there were plates with a sensitivity beyond 700nm which could survive being retailed and being carried around by a busy photographer.</p>
<p>Bonanos places Weege's first use of IR for publication in April 1942, shooting during a wartime blackout drill. He returned to the medium "again and again" using the phrase "Made with invisible light" and many of his most recognisable shots were made this way. He shot audiences in cinemas, the opera and even a circus. Sometimes by rigging IR flood lights or more often by using flash with special IR-pass coated flash bulbs.</p>
<p>My favourite, entitled <i>Opening Night at the Met</i> was taken on December 3rd 1944 and shows a small group in the audience, including a priest and a lady with opera glasses. Behind them stand two women and a man. He is displaying classic IR 'five o'clock shadow' (caused by IR penetrating the skin slightly ... he was probably clean shaven) and one woman shows another feature of the infrared look, which makes eyes look like dark pools. This may well be Kodak film but it shows little of the usual IR film look with halation. This is simply because it would have been a half-plate negative: the effects are there but more subtle than we got with 35mm film.</p>
<p>I can't directly show you the image but I can link you to it on the Getty site. It's a gem: <a href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/the-audience-at-the-opening-night-of-faust-at-the-met-new-news-photo/72270604" target="_blank">Opening Night at the Met</a>. They're watching <i>Faust</i> by the way.</p>
<p>Getty have 84 more examples of Weegee's infrared photography. <a href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/photos/weegee-infrared?phrase=weegee%20infrared&sort=best#license" target="_blank" title="Getty Weegee infrared search">This search</a> will get you there. Alternatively, there are 43 shots online at the <a href="https://www.icp.org/search-results/Weegee%20AND%20infrared/all/all/relevant/1" target="_blank">International Centre for Photography</a>, where Weegee's archive is held. These include some of him with his infrared kit, ready to shoot, and even disguised as an ice cream seller.</p>
<p>Via the Bonanos book I discovered that not only was Stanley Kubrick an admirer of Weegee (his "last great set of photographs" was shot during the filming of <i>Dr Strangelove</i>) but Kubrick used infrared several time during his earlier career as a photographer. Some examples of his work for Look magazine can be found online, although it's unclear how many were actually published. One striking shot, very reminiscent of Weegee's work, is from a set Kubrick shot for Look in a set titled "Park Benches-Love is Everywhere," from 1946. In it, a young couple are seen disturbed in mid-kiss on a fire escape, looking up at the camera. It has the classic characteristics of an infrared portrait, with dark-pool eyes, and the light pattern tells us it was shot with flash.</p>
<p>You can find the fire-escape photo, along with other Kubrick stills work, in <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/html/stanley-kubricks-early-photojournalism-16008.html" target="_blank" title="Review of Kubrisk retrospective">this review</a> of a retrospective exhibition in 2018 called <i>Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick’s Photographs</i>.</p>
<p>There's some interesting information on infrared flash in a <a href="https://danielteolijr.wordpress.com/2016/01/08/a-little-history-on-infrared-flash-photography/" target="_blank" title="Infrared flash">blog post by social documentary photographer Daniel D. Teoli Jr,</a> including the kind of bulbs used by Weegee. In case you're wondering, electronic flash guns do give off infrared, so you can filter them for candid photography. Usually, no-one will see the flash unless they are looking at the gun, in which case they'd maybe see a brief dull red light. This would be partly due to the very low sensitivity of our eyes to very deep red going on infrared (0.01% of our green sensitivity at 750 nm according to <i>Allen's astrophysical quantities</i>) and to the tiny amount of deep red that the filter lets through.</p>
<p>Christopher Bonanos' biography of Weegee is called <i>Flash: the Making of Weegee the Famous</i> and is published by Henry Holt. It's a very readable account not only of the man's eccentric life but also, in passing, builds a picture of what it was like as a jobbing news photographer on a crime beat in New York between the 1930s and 1940s in New York. And I am cited twice in the notes.</p> Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-15865585655298202922020-05-10T14:56:00.000+01:002020-05-10T14:56:01.365+01:00Lucky Infrared Images of JupiterBack in 2011 I noted some <a href="https://www.infrared100.org/2011/09/outer-planets-ablaze-at-15-microns.html">IR shots of outer planets</a> by Mike Brown at Caltech, at a wavelength of 1.5 µm.<br />
<br />
Last week another fascinating set of images, this time of Jupiter, emerged. These were at 4.7 µm and rather than a demonic cricket ball this time the infrared image resembled a jack-o'lantern.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpipvktG2WuZJnnA_TBA6ELaYXu5vbo0fYjWZrTuIV_uKdqfMEOyMZz5UsdZrg4ZvRX-_nQFmKnkXEknq12zqcp9b-SDFEqhirrKpTEJnsM_a9L13AZHAcMx_9l8iiDBB9SRVqdItdox7X/s1600/noirlab2011b.jpg" data-original-width="400" data-original-height="371" /></div><br />
This wavelength reveals a glow from relatively warm deeper layers of the atmosphere breaking through upper cloud layers. In visible light this is obscured by even higher haze in the atmosphere. The image here is a composite built from a number of so-called 'lucky' images, captured from earth during brief pauses in our atmospheric turbulence. The instrument was the Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea volcano, at an altitude a little over 4,200 metres.<br />
<br />
To find out more, I'll point you at the <a href="https://www.gemini.edu/pr/gemini-gets-lucky-and-takes-deep-dive-jupiter-s-clouds">paper available on the Gemini Observatory web site</a>.<br />
<br />
[Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley) and team Acknowledgments: Mahdi Zamani.]Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-437480735044805460.post-60675743990670956172020-03-04T10:41:00.000+00:002020-03-04T10:41:37.254+00:00Flying high ... for infraredOne of Nasa's longer-running infrared astronomy projects is the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). It uses a pre-loved 747 with a suitable new aperture to fly high and catch infrared radiation from above 99% of atmospheric water vapour.<br />
<br />
Not quite flying your Lear Jet to Nova Scotia for a total eclipse of the sun but still pretty cool.<br />
<br />
Read about it on the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/riding-along-with-a-stratospheric-telescope/">Scientific American blog</a>.Andy Finneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02157562400316004250noreply@blogger.com