Oshkosh, WI — The EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh always provides a full spectrum full of colors for the eye to behold and this year’s event was no exception. It is a photographer’s dream with aircraft painted in all sorts of colors, hues and even textures not to mention highly polished aluminium to reflect the surrounding kaleidoscope of colors.
But the Air Museum Network’s Russ Landes set out to photograph the unseen, at least unseen by the human eye. He chose instead to capture the much of show in infrared.
Infrared is part of the light spectrum that is not visible to the human eye. Infrared technology is commonly used for wireless communication in devices such as TV remotes and even some radio controlled toys. Police and military also use IR to detect “hot” targets illuminated by the heat signature that they give off. Because infrared is not part of the visible spectrum it even is the blackness of a moonless night.
Many camera types and makes can be converted including almost any DSLR or mirrorless camera but mirrorless cameras do have an advantage in that their auto focus comes right off the sensor whereas a DSLR’s focus system can be thrown off by the different wavelength of IR. Russ chose to have his Sony NEX-7 mirrorless camera converted for a cost of about $275.
Several companies offer the service of converting your camera’s visible light sensor into one that captures images in infrared. In addition, several options are available as to what part of the spectrum you wish to capture. Keep in mind that once converted it might not be possible to convert your camera back to the “normal” sensor.
While IR photography might not be for everyone, it does paint the scene in a different and fascinating light.
