Digital Ultraviolet and Infrared Photography

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) photography both go back to the early years of the twentieth century. They are some of the most useful photographic techniques used to make the invisible world visible to the human eye. Various techniques utilising UV and IR have and continue to be used extensively in the technical fields of medicine, geology, forensics, security, cultural heritage and botany, for example, whilst landscape, portrait, wedding and other areas of fine art photography also use the techniques extensively. UV reflectance photography has been used recently, for example, in an advertising campaign for sunscreen to illustrate its effectiveness, whilst an IR image of lions in the Serengeti won ...