i was watching a special on Gettysburg PA, and there was a guy on there that said he created a way to manipulate his regular digital camera to take infa-red photographs during the daytime, and that he has caught some crazy things, i can not remember the name of the group, nor can i remember what he did to the camera, i assume some filters and such... anyone know anything about daytime IR photography? tell me your thoughts? better yet does anyone have examples?
Full Version: Infa Red Daytime Photography
Unexplained Mysteries Discussion Forums > Unexplained Mysteries > Ghosts, Hauntings & The Paranormal
check out Patrick Burns Photography.. he's awesome.
QUOTE (LIGhostChick @ Jun 11 2008, 07:35 PM) 
check out Patrick Burns Photography.. he's awesome.
is your avatar mark ryden? its pretty awesome... i am more of a marion peck fan, but i like ryden too.
sorry so off the topic.
his website won't work, i cant find anything from him!
I'm not sure who my avatar is from, I just really loved the picture lol. It seems Patrick's website is down but his work is really awesome.
Traditionally it was done with IR sensitive film, but there are digital cameras that can do it too. This varies by model, some digital sensors are just not very sensitive to IR, and some have IR filtering materials installed in front of them. There are so many new cameras out all the time I can't recommend one.
In addition to a suitable camera you'll need an IR cutoff filter of the appropriate size. This is a piece of glass which blocks light at short wavelengths. The weakest you would use would be about 720nm, which will still pass some visible light in the deep deep red range. They go up over 1000nm, which would block all visible light and even some near IR. Which you would use depends on what kind of effect you wish to achieve.
Alternately, http://www.irdigital.net/ will modify a camera for use in IR photography. They will remove the IR filter from the sensor, and install an IR cuttoff filter for you. This renders it unusable for normal photography. I am not affiliated with them, and have never used them before, I mention them only because they provide a unique service.
A couple other things to keep in mind are that if you're using a SLR for this, some lenses have what are called an IR hotspot. This is a thin spot in the lens coatings which will make a brighter spot in the center of the image. Also, IR is focused at a different point than visible light, so you can't just look through the eyepiece to focus, and you'll need a special formula to calculate focal distance. Some lenses have a moving focus scale on them, and some high quality ones will have markings for IR on them which will get you close.
IR photography is useful for many applications, and can produce some dramatic images, but I've never seen any demonstration of its merits in ghost hunting.
In addition to a suitable camera you'll need an IR cutoff filter of the appropriate size. This is a piece of glass which blocks light at short wavelengths. The weakest you would use would be about 720nm, which will still pass some visible light in the deep deep red range. They go up over 1000nm, which would block all visible light and even some near IR. Which you would use depends on what kind of effect you wish to achieve.
Alternately, http://www.irdigital.net/ will modify a camera for use in IR photography. They will remove the IR filter from the sensor, and install an IR cuttoff filter for you. This renders it unusable for normal photography. I am not affiliated with them, and have never used them before, I mention them only because they provide a unique service.
A couple other things to keep in mind are that if you're using a SLR for this, some lenses have what are called an IR hotspot. This is a thin spot in the lens coatings which will make a brighter spot in the center of the image. Also, IR is focused at a different point than visible light, so you can't just look through the eyepiece to focus, and you'll need a special formula to calculate focal distance. Some lenses have a moving focus scale on them, and some high quality ones will have markings for IR on them which will get you close.
IR photography is useful for many applications, and can produce some dramatic images, but I've never seen any demonstration of its merits in ghost hunting.
There are ways of modifying a digital camera to take IR pics. Fact is most digital cameras are extremely sensetive to IR light. So much so they put a special IR light filter in them. Problem is the modifications will void your warranty. But the images are awesome!
Like LIGhostchick said, check out Patrick Burns' pictures.
ps - Here's a link to an article about alternate light spectrums for paranormal investigation.
Like LIGhostchick said, check out Patrick Burns' pictures.
ps - Here's a link to an article about alternate light spectrums for paranormal investigation.
Don't forget to keep you Infer film cool in a chill pack if you going outdoors, or you will ruin the film if it gets to warm... and upon buying if store in within the fridge...
Pavot
Pavot
QUOTE (Pavot @ Jun 11 2008, 07:39 PM)
Don't forget to keep you Infer film cool in a chill pack if you going outdoors, or you will ruin the film if it gets to warm... and upon buying if store in within the fridge...
Pavot
Pavot
That's one of the drawbacks to IR film photograph. Plus the film is expensive, you need a special camera (many 35mm cameras use an IR source inside to auto load/rewind the film), and you have to take it a real photo place for development (no 1-hour photo!).
QUOTE (Wallydraigle @ Jun 11 2008, 11:28 PM)
Traditionally it was done with IR sensitive film, but there are digital cameras that can do it too. This varies by model, some digital sensors are just not very sensitive to IR, and some have IR filtering materials installed in front of them. There are so many new cameras out all the time I can't recommend one.
In addition to a suitable camera you'll need an IR cutoff filter of the appropriate size. This is a piece of glass which blocks light at short wavelengths. The weakest you would use would be about 720nm, which will still pass some visible light in the deep deep red range. They go up over 1000nm, which would block all visible light and even some near IR. Which you would use depends on what kind of effect you wish to achieve.
Alternately, http://www.irdigital.net/ will modify a camera for use in IR photography. They will remove the IR filter from the sensor, and install an IR cuttoff filter for you. This renders it unusable for normal photography. I am not affiliated with them, and have never used them before, I mention them only because they provide a unique service.
A couple other things to keep in mind are that if you're using a SLR for this, some lenses have what are called an IR hotspot. This is a thin spot in the lens coatings which will make a brighter spot in the center of the image. Also, IR is focused at a different point than visible light, so you can't just look through the eyepiece to focus, and you'll need a special formula to calculate focal distance. Some lenses have a moving focus scale on them, and some high quality ones will have markings for IR on them which will get you close.
IR photography is useful for many applications, and can produce some dramatic images, but I've never seen any demonstration of its merits in ghost hunting.
In addition to a suitable camera you'll need an IR cutoff filter of the appropriate size. This is a piece of glass which blocks light at short wavelengths. The weakest you would use would be about 720nm, which will still pass some visible light in the deep deep red range. They go up over 1000nm, which would block all visible light and even some near IR. Which you would use depends on what kind of effect you wish to achieve.
Alternately, http://www.irdigital.net/ will modify a camera for use in IR photography. They will remove the IR filter from the sensor, and install an IR cuttoff filter for you. This renders it unusable for normal photography. I am not affiliated with them, and have never used them before, I mention them only because they provide a unique service.
A couple other things to keep in mind are that if you're using a SLR for this, some lenses have what are called an IR hotspot. This is a thin spot in the lens coatings which will make a brighter spot in the center of the image. Also, IR is focused at a different point than visible light, so you can't just look through the eyepiece to focus, and you'll need a special formula to calculate focal distance. Some lenses have a moving focus scale on them, and some high quality ones will have markings for IR on them which will get you close.
IR photography is useful for many applications, and can produce some dramatic images, but I've never seen any demonstration of its merits in ghost hunting.
Again Wally, amazing information. I am just going to take a shot in the dark and say you are a photographer?
i should just PM you if i ever have a photography question.
QUOTE (myghostnetwork @ Jun 11 2008, 08:42 PM)
Again Wally, amazing information. I am just going to take a shot in the dark and say you are a photographer?
i should just PM you if i ever have a photography question.
i should just PM you if i ever have a photography question.
yea wally always has the picture thing down pat...ir during the day... would the images just be light reflections and other stuff? Isn't IR designed to be used in the dark? i guess thats what the filter's for right kinda like looking at the sun... i would imagine it would inhance light, even possibly reflect of concrete or something else like that... Couldn't a lot of the images be matrixing or that random pattern recognition stuff??
QUOTE (bankai26 @ Jun 12 2008, 05:33 AM)
yea wally always has the picture thing down pat...ir during the day... would the images just be light reflections and other stuff? Isn't IR designed to be used in the dark? i guess thats what the filter's for right kinda like looking at the sun... i would imagine it would inhance light, even possibly reflect of concrete or something else like that... Couldn't a lot of the images be matrixing or that random pattern recognition stuff??
yeah i am sure there are going to be different things to take into consideration, but from what i saw, this guy from Gettysburg made some manipulations to his digital camera, and turned it into an IR camera, he went out to the battlefield, and was taking photos in broad daylight. There are 2 photos that are just INSANE (if they are real) where you literally see 2 full bodied apparitions dressed in civil war era clothing, looking over the battlefield. (2 seperate Photos) one is just a man standing there, and the other photo is a man on a horse! totally insane if it was genuine. i am having a heck of a time locating the photo's if i find them i will post them here for you to see.
i guess this man's theory is if you can see ghost's with IR at night, why wouldnt you be able to see them with IR during the day...
QUOTE (myghostnetwork @ Jun 12 2008, 08:35 AM)
yeah i am sure there are going to be different things to take into consideration, but from what i saw, this guy from Gettysburg made some manipulations to his digital camera, and turned it into an IR camera, he went out to the battlefield, and was taking photos in broad daylight. There are 2 photos that are just INSANE (if they are real) where you literally see 2 full bodied apparitions dressed in civil war era clothing, looking over the battlefield. (2 seperate Photos) one is just a man standing there, and the other photo is a man on a horse! totally insane if it was genuine. i am having a heck of a time locating the photo's if i find them i will post them here for you to see.
i guess this man's theory is if you can see ghost's with IR at night, why wouldnt you be able to see them with IR during the day...
i guess this man's theory is if you can see ghost's with IR at night, why wouldnt you be able to see them with IR during the day...
IR cameras very seldom pick up anything at all....the main reason we use IR is because they are 0 light cameras right?................ the fact that it was experimental at the time leads me to believe there is something thats not right... your experimenting and run and out and find something right away..theoretically possible but we need others to use the technology and get something that cannot be recreated ya know...(daytime ir)
QUOTE (bankai26 @ Jun 12 2008, 04:55 PM)
IR cameras very seldom pick up anything at all....the main reason we use IR is because they are 0 light cameras right?................ the fact that it was experimental at the time leads me to believe there is something thats not right... your experimenting and run and out and find something right away..theoretically possible but we need others to use the technology and get something that cannot be recreated ya know...(daytime ir)
the thought process that these guys had was, if i am catching things on IR at night, why can't i catch things on the IR spectrum in the day, they apparently did a ton of testing and experimenting with this, it wasn't right away that they caught these images, it was only 2 out of about a thousand images. Not that i am saying that its proof or anything, but i want to do experimenting of my own with one of my old digital cameras. and i cant find this darn investigation team anywhere (apparently they are based out of gettysburg and are well respected) this was a special i think called America's Most Haunted Locations or something like that, probably on A&E or Discovery or Travel... who knows
QUOTE (bankai26 @ Jun 11 2008, 11:33 PM)
yea wally always has the picture thing down pat...ir during the day... would the images just be light reflections and other stuff? Isn't IR designed to be used in the dark? i guess thats what the filter's for right kinda like looking at the sun... i would imagine it would inhance light, even possibly reflect of concrete or something else like that... Couldn't a lot of the images be matrixing or that random pattern recognition stuff??
The IR cameras that work in total darkness, like the FLIR cameras and stuff that they use on Ghost Hunters, use a different part of the spectrum than traditional IR photography. These pick up black body IR given off by all objects with heat. The IR light they pick up is sometimes up over 10,000nm.
I haven't really kept up with night vision camcorders, so I don't know what all is out now, but the 0 lux ones work the same way IR still photography does, except they use on camera IR illumination. There's still 0 lux of visible light, but they make their own light that they can pick up.
In the kind of IR still photography that the guys the OP talked about were doing, the film is capturing reflected IR light in the 720-1000nm range. That's near IR, just beyond the visible range. Sunlight has loads of it. The IR filter you use blocks out visible light under 720nm because otherwise it would overwhelm your IR image. Matrixing can absolutely occur with IR photography just like any other kind of imaging. However, the finished IR images are not usually extrordinarily outlandish, to the point where you can't tell what you're looking at. Mostly they just look like regular monochrome or false color images, but the luminace is off. Things that shouldn't be bright are, and other things that should be bright are really dark. For instance, leaves are generally dark in photos, because they absorb a large part of the spectrum, but they reflect a lot of IR, so in an IR image they'll appear white. Water absorbs IR, so it appears very dark. There's a good example here: http://www.scantech7.com/images/Infrared%2...0800%20wide.jpg The leaves and the bricks reflect IR so they're white. The wood trim absorbs IR so it's darker. The sky seems dark because air doesn't scatter long wavelengths very well.
Anyway, you absolutely can do IR still photography at night, if you don't mind long shutter speeds or else you can use your own IR light source.
IR photography is fascinating, and I'd urge anyone inclined to give it a try for themselves. I'm just not sure how it would be especially helpful in ghost hunting. There's nothing extrordinary about IR light, besides the fact that it's just outside our range of vision.
QUOTE (Wallydraigle @ Jun 12 2008, 07:28 PM)
The IR cameras that work in total darkness, like the FLIR cameras and stuff that they use on Ghost Hunters, use a different part of the spectrum than traditional IR photography. These pick up black body IR given off by all objects with heat. The IR light they pick up is sometimes up over 10,000nm.
I haven't really kept up with night vision camcorders, so I don't know what all is out now, but the 0 lux ones work the same way IR still photography does, except they use on camera IR illumination. There's still 0 lux of visible light, but they make their own light that they can pick up.
In the kind of IR still photography that the guys the OP talked about were doing, the film is capturing reflected IR light in the 720-1000nm range. That's near IR, just beyond the visible range. Sunlight has loads of it. The IR filter you use blocks out visible light under 720nm because otherwise it would overwhelm your IR image. Matrixing can absolutely occur with IR photography just like any other kind of imaging. However, the finished IR images are not usually extrordinarily outlandish, to the point where you can't tell what you're looking at. Mostly they just look like regular monochrome or false color images, but the luminace is off. Things that shouldn't be bright are, and other things that should be bright are really dark. For instance, leaves are generally dark in photos, because they absorb a large part of the spectrum, but they reflect a lot of IR, so in an IR image they'll appear white. Water absorbs IR, so it appears very dark. There's a good example here: http://www.scantech7.com/images/Infrared%2...0800%20wide.jpg The leaves and the bricks reflect IR so they're white. The wood trim absorbs IR so it's darker. The sky seems dark because air doesn't scatter long wavelengths very well.
Anyway, you absolutely can do IR still photography at night, if you don't mind long shutter speeds or else you can use your own IR light source.
IR photography is fascinating, and I'd urge anyone inclined to give it a try for themselves. I'm just not sure how it would be especially helpful in ghost hunting. There's nothing extrordinary about IR light, besides the fact that it's just outside our range of vision.
I haven't really kept up with night vision camcorders, so I don't know what all is out now, but the 0 lux ones work the same way IR still photography does, except they use on camera IR illumination. There's still 0 lux of visible light, but they make their own light that they can pick up.
In the kind of IR still photography that the guys the OP talked about were doing, the film is capturing reflected IR light in the 720-1000nm range. That's near IR, just beyond the visible range. Sunlight has loads of it. The IR filter you use blocks out visible light under 720nm because otherwise it would overwhelm your IR image. Matrixing can absolutely occur with IR photography just like any other kind of imaging. However, the finished IR images are not usually extrordinarily outlandish, to the point where you can't tell what you're looking at. Mostly they just look like regular monochrome or false color images, but the luminace is off. Things that shouldn't be bright are, and other things that should be bright are really dark. For instance, leaves are generally dark in photos, because they absorb a large part of the spectrum, but they reflect a lot of IR, so in an IR image they'll appear white. Water absorbs IR, so it appears very dark. There's a good example here: http://www.scantech7.com/images/Infrared%2...0800%20wide.jpg The leaves and the bricks reflect IR so they're white. The wood trim absorbs IR so it's darker. The sky seems dark because air doesn't scatter long wavelengths very well.
Anyway, you absolutely can do IR still photography at night, if you don't mind long shutter speeds or else you can use your own IR light source.
IR photography is fascinating, and I'd urge anyone inclined to give it a try for themselves. I'm just not sure how it would be especially helpful in ghost hunting. There's nothing extrordinary about IR light, besides the fact that it's just outside our range of vision.
that photo is sick (in an amazing way) i totally want to shoot portraits with this effect.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.