Infrared Images of West Wales Lanndscapes

The Light We Cannot See

Experiments photographing at infrared wavelengths

We see but a fraction of the world around us...The human eye captures light of wavelengths from about 400nm to 750nm - being less sensitive at the extremes of this range.I recently acquired an old Nikon 3200 DSLR that has been converted to only ‘see’ wavelengths above 720nm - so, near infrared and beyond rather than the visible spectrum that is usually captured by the sensor.Armed with this conversion, I have been experimenting with infrared photography for some of my monochrome landscapes. Some very early results (taken in the latter part of 2025) are shown in the gallery below.

The Geeky Bits

The CMOS sensor on a modern digital camera has a filter that blocks UV and infrared wavelengths from reaching the sensor. This to helps improve image quality and results in more accurate colour rendition of captured images.Simply placing an infrared filter at the front of the camera lens - for example, using a filter that passes wavelengths above 720nm - then requires the use of long exposure times to capture enough (infrared-only) light to produce a workable image. This can be a challenging process when working on landscapes and can produce some stunning results - especially how long exposures render movement in clouds and water. But you are limited to that 'long-exposure style' if photographic any movement - water or clouds - and cannot get sharp 'normal' images without a lot of patience.

I initially acquired a 'full-spectrum, bare sensor modified camera that has an internal infrared filter placed in front of the sensor.

The full-spectrum conversion of my 'new' D3200 involved removing both Lpf1 and Lpf2 filters and replacing these with a high quality (720nm) IR filter - since I am only interested generating B&W results of the captured images.

In summary, converting a camera in this way eliminates the need for external filters, saves the stress of long-exposure times, and enables easier composition and lens switching.

The D3200 that I acquired was converted by someone who specialises in astrophotography and was experienced in 'deconstructing' DSLRs to better capture night-sky images. Contact me if you want to be put in-touch with this person.

Click on any image to enter the Lightbox function and view as a slideshow.