Between the spectrum of visible light and microwaves, there is a light spectrum referred to as infrared. The wavelength of infrared light falls somewhere between 700 nanometers and 1 millimeter.
Infrared photography has always been a genre of photography going back to the days of film photography. One would use infrared film and then likely a yellow filter on the camera lens. Older lenses usually had a red mark on the lens to show where the shift in focus should be when shooting infrared particularly, when shooting under f8. Infrared light focuses slightly different than visible light.
Today using a digital camera, manufacturers will assemble the camera that includes an infrared filter to block out most infrared light. If you are drawn to infrared photography in a serious way, after market camera companies will convert your digital camera to infrared by removing the infrared filter and optimizing it for infrared light. After conversion, the camera can be used to take infrared photographs much like taking photographs with any other camera.
There is also another way to take infrared photographs with your digital camera. The two images above were taken in a park setting as you can see. The first was taken using an infrared filter on the camera. The second was taken like a normal photograph with no filter.
Note that previously I stated that camera manufacturers assemble the camera with an infrared filter that blocks out MOST infrared light. Using an infrared filter and then treating that filter like a 16 stop neutral density filter and using the appropriate shutter speed, one can capture an infrared photograph with most any digital camera. The filter I used for the above photograph was a 720nm filter and the shutter stayed open for 262 seconds. If you're looking for more drama in your landscape images, think about experimenting with an infrared filter for your camera.
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