SKIN DEEP

One of my favourite aspects of infrared is that it goes deep beneath certain surfaces. With a really strong source, i.e the sun, some rays can go a centimetre into the skin before being reflected. The result is truly eerie.

Mosquito vision :)

Something I also noticed is that the effect is really strong on caucasian skin but almost non

existent with Asian skin under the same conditions.

FULL SPECTRUM LUMIX

I recently had a Lumix Lx7 converted to full spectrum by Spencer's Cameras*. With full spectrum cameras all internal light filters and hot mirrors have been removed leaving the camera sensitive to lightwaves between 340 and 1050 nm (approx). Technical filters are added to the front of the camera for each different type of shot and here is the camera's full range:

Visible Light (420-640nm)

Visible & Hydrogen Alpha (420nm to 660nm)

Full spectrum (330nm to 900nm)

Extended Infrared (650nm to 900nm)

Standard Infrared (720nm to 900nm)

Deep InfraRed (850nm to 900nm+)

UltraViolet (340nm to 400nm)

The ultraviolet photo requires the most amount of filtering. For this I used sunlight as the UV source, a Hoya 330u, a Tiffen Hot Mirror and a Blue Color Filter. Even then the UV part of the raw image is only a small portion that needs to be separated out.

With the UV exception all other photos were taken with a single filter with no adjustments other than the white balance on the camera.

*It's worth noting that Spencer's Cameras have converted cameras for use by astronauts on the International Space Station! Their service is second to none and is very highly recommended,