A Photography forum. PhotoBanter.com

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » PhotoBanter.com forum » Photo Equipment » Other Photographic Equipment
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Reflector for infrared photography?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 8th 08, 07:56 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.equipment.misc,alt.photography
jbk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Reflector for infrared photography?

We have a digital camera that takes IR photos of animals at night when
they come by and trigger a sensor. The camera is IR sensitive and we
have a separate IR light that lights up the scene. We'd like to
improve the lighting by bouncing the IR light off a reflector, instead
of directly lighting the subject. Do visible-light reflectors sold in
camera shops reflect IR light? If not, what does?

Thanks.
  #2  
Old April 9th 08, 10:57 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.equipment.misc,alt.photography
ZenDiver
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14
Default Reflector for infrared photography?

jbk wrote:
We have a digital camera that takes IR photos of animals at night when
they come by and trigger a sensor. The camera is IR sensitive and we
have a separate IR light that lights up the scene. We'd like to
improve the lighting by bouncing the IR light off a reflector, instead
of directly lighting the subject. Do visible-light reflectors sold in
camera shops reflect IR light? If not, what does?

Thanks.


You could try baking foil. That should pretty effectively reflect IR.
If you crumple it up and spread it out you should also get a pretty
evenly diffused 'light' off it. You might even be able to paint the
surface dark so as not to spook the animals with a big shiny thing.
Cheap to try out, so give it a go.

I am just speculating about how effective this will be but it should work.

jon
  #3  
Old April 9th 08, 11:09 AM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.equipment.misc,alt.photography
Chris Malcolm[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3,142
Default Reflector for infrared photography?

In rec.photo.digital ZenDiver wrote:
jbk wrote:


We have a digital camera that takes IR photos of animals at night when
they come by and trigger a sensor. The camera is IR sensitive and we
have a separate IR light that lights up the scene. We'd like to
improve the lighting by bouncing the IR light off a reflector, instead
of directly lighting the subject. Do visible-light reflectors sold in
camera shops reflect IR light? If not, what does?

Thanks.


You could try baking foil. That should pretty effectively reflect IR.
If you crumple it up and spread it out you should also get a pretty
evenly diffused 'light' off it. You might even be able to paint the
surface dark so as not to spook the animals with a big shiny thing.
Cheap to try out, so give it a go.


I am just speculating about how effective this will be but it should work.


Look at the various materials through the live view of the IR camera,
or if it doesn't have live view, snap and chimp. That will tell you
how reflective they are.

--
Chris Malcolm DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[
http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]

  #4  
Old April 9th 08, 03:50 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.equipment.misc,alt.photography
Marvin[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 171
Default Reflector for infrared photography?

Joseph Meehan wrote:
I have not tried it, but the silver ones should.


What is called infrared in photography is known as near
infrared in spectroscopy. The radiation in the near infrared
range is much more penetrating than visible light or
infrared of longer wavelengths. A thin coating of silver on
fabric may not work well.


"jbk" wrote in message
...
We have a digital camera that takes IR photos of animals at night when
they come by and trigger a sensor. The camera is IR sensitive and we
have a separate IR light that lights up the scene. We'd like to
improve the lighting by bouncing the IR light off a reflector, instead
of directly lighting the subject. Do visible-light reflectors sold in
camera shops reflect IR light? If not, what does?

Thanks.



  #5  
Old April 9th 08, 04:59 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.equipment.misc,alt.photography
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 464
Default Reflector for infrared photography?

On Apr 8, 1:56 pm, jbk wrote:
We have a digital camera that takes IR photos of animals at night when
they come by and trigger a sensor. The camera is IR sensitive and we
have a separate IR light that lights up the scene. We'd like to
improve the lighting by bouncing the IR light off a reflector, instead
of directly lighting the subject. Do visible-light reflectors sold in
camera shops reflect IR light? If not, what does?

Thanks.


Some do, some don't. Most metals oxidize rapidly with a clear/
transparent oxide coating. If that gets thick enough it can reduce
the reflectivity of the metal a bit in even the near IR where the
cameras work. Usually, however, the tarnish needs to get quite thick
to reduce near IR reflectivity so if it looks untarnished and shiny,
it will probably be okay. To be absolutely okay, professional IR
folks use gold plated reflectors, but this is overkill for the
occasional IR photographer. Gold is the "gold standard" for IR
reflectivity.
  #6  
Old April 12th 08, 07:47 PM posted to rec.photo.digital,rec.photo.equipment.misc,alt.photography
Ursus Californicus
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 5
Default Reflector for infrared photography?


"ZenDiver" wrote in message
...
jbk wrote:
You could try baking foil. That should pretty effectively reflect IR. If
you crumple it up and spread it out you should also get a pretty evenly
diffused 'light' off it.


I must admit that I was intrigued by your question, and even though I shoot
almost entirely digital IR, I've never experimented with reflectors, since
most of my stuff is shot during the daylight hours. So last night I made
two reflectors, one with smooth aluminum foil, and one with crumpled foil.
The smooth foil reflector worked great. The crumpled foil appeared to
diffuse the light slightly, but did not reflect as much of the light onto my
subject. So yes, aluminum foil works great. Hope this helps.

-- Theo Benson, Grizzly Glen Photography




 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Reflector for infrared photography? jbk Digital Photography 5 April 12th 08 07:47 PM
Night Infrared photography Wayne J. Cosshall Digital Photography 3 January 10th 07 01:06 PM
Some more infrared photography Wayne J. Cosshall Photographing Nature 0 December 7th 06 10:29 AM
Cokin Infrared P filter for digital infrared photography Matt Clara Digital SLR Cameras 0 March 20th 05 07:36 PM
Digital Infrared Photography Suz Digital Photography 33 November 8th 04 12:44 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:40 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 PhotoBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.