The Skeptic's Guide to Infrared Photography

This course is for photographers of all skill levels who think they can't also enjoy this exciting branch of creative photography called digital infrared photography. The course offers over two hours of digital infrared photography discussion while displaying a hundred high quality infrared images to illustrate the possibilities with an exciting branch of creative photography that enables the making of interesting and memorable images.

Hi. I’m Patrick Cook, your instructor. I have over seven years of experience with digital infrared photography and am delighted to share with you what I’ve learn over those years and the fun I've had. During our discussion of infrared photography I explain how a consumer digital camera can record radiation that humans can’t see. I set the record straight by explaining why infrared photography is really the “mapping” of radiation intensity that humans can’t perceive, to tones that humans can perceive.

I describe the benefits of infrared photography that waits for those who pursue it. We delve into the science behind infrared radiation, and even go into a variety of filters used to control what portion of the radiation spectrum we allow to reach the camera’s sensor. Understanding filtering is the foundation of success with infrared photography.

To help you visualize scenes in the amazing radiation of the near infrared spectrum, I display many of my own photographs in the infrared spectrum to illustrate how infrared radiation behaves in various settings. I've invested hundreds of hours authoring this course and have used professional video tools to keep the presentation quality as high as possible to deliver an informative and visually interesting learning experience. I think you'll agree.

Later in the course I share the keys to success learned from my own experience in all phases of infrared photography, from field capture to image processing. Based on my actual experience in infrared photography, this lecture may be the single most important lecture of the course! Some of the keys to success are:

• Visualize infrared radiation
• Understand filtering
• Exploit high contrast
• Master White Balance
• Leverage your camera settings
• And more….

Learning infrared photography is a process – you get better-and-better at it as you practice it. That’s why we want to know where we can get extra help along the way. In the course I point you to a variety of additional learning resources such as websites, practitioners, and books for learning more about infrared photography. Your learning of infrared photography starts with this course - but I want you to have the best possible start.

This course may be just what you need to revitalize your photography with an exciting branch of creative photography. Use it to become a better color photographer. Use it to enhance and differentiate your photo portfolio. Use it to put some spark in your photography and have some fun with your photography. All photography skill levels welcome. All digital camera brand preferences welcome. No camera needed to take the course. Just listen, learn and decide for yourself.

Welcome to the course!

I’ll see you there!