I am a graphic designer living in Cape Town, South Africa. I love illustrating in graphite thus the slightly surreal B&W imagery obtained from infrared photography is something that appeals to me. I have always been aware that our perception of the world is limited due to the fact that we can only see a small part of the light spectrum. The idea of seeing the world in a different way, seeing beyond the limitations of human sight, is almost childishly exciting.

All pictures on this site are taken in near infrared. That means that the camera only sees a small percentage of the infrared spectrum (the part just beyond visible light). It does not pick up 'heat', so it can't be used for night photography. It only sees reflected infrared light that bounces off objects. The biggest source of infrared light is the sun; thus bright sunny days produce brighter images. Photography under artificial light does not work as well because they don't produce a lot of infrared light. If you want a camera that can 'see' heat you'll need specialised equipment and deeper pockets.

In order to take photos in infrared, you have to 'convert' a normal camera, a process that involves removing or replacing the internal filters of the camera. Unfortunately the camera can then never take 'normal' pictures again, it is changed forever. The cheapest option is to find a good second hand camera and get it converted. Try getting a DSLR with a viewfinder, which lets you see what the camera sees, otherwise you won't be able to see anything while you are taking pictures. All pictures on this site was taken with a Canon EOS 1200D camera (full spectrum conversion). It means that the internal filters have been removed and not replaced with anything else. Without the use of external filters the camera sees all light, from UV through to IR. To see only infrared, I use the Hoya RM90 external filter which blocks all visible light - everything below 860nm gets blocked out.

Contact: info@infraredphotography.co.za
Prints are available on request.