Exhibit highlights invisible light

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This article was published 31/07/2013 (4634 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some of Ralph Croning’s photographs make summer landscapes look like winter wonderlands, thanks to infrared photography.

In A Different Light: A Surreal Look at Our World Infrared Photography is the name of Croning’s exhibit and new book, which he launched at Cre8ery Gallery and Studio (125 Adelaide St.) on July 18.

Croning received his first camera for his fifth birthday, which he believed was meant a distraction to keep him from constantly toying with his father’s camera. Since then, photography has been Croning’s passion. Eight years ago, he began taking pictures with infrared light.

“We use a filter on the front of the lens and we eliminate the visible light and only let in invisible infrared light,” the Westwood photographer explained. “It’s all around us, it’s reflected by grass and leaves and absorbed by things like water.”

Infrared light is an invisible band of light that lies just beyond the red part of the visible spectrum. In the visible spectrum, colours range from blue to red. The human eye can’t see infrared light, but cameras can with the help of the infrared filter, R72, which is 720 nanometres.

“Each of the colours has what they call a frequency or a wavelength. At the blue end, you’ve got 400 nanometres, and it goes to red which is 700. What the 720 filter does is it cuts off all the light from 720 and below and it allows from 720 onwards, maybe to 1,000,” Croning said.

The result is white, frosted leaves in winter next to a once-blue river that now resembles golden lava.

“The first time I saw an infrared image, it took my breath away literally. It was something I wanted to do,” Croning said.

Another thing on Croning’s bucket list was writing a book.

“My dream has been to write a book about photography,” Croning said.

“I would put pen to paper, write a few chapters, and then put pen to paper years later as the story goes on,” he laughed.

Eventually, Croning did complete his book three months before the launch. His debut book is made up of two sections. One half consists of a collection of his images, with descriptions of the scenes, while the other half features a tutorial on how to take infrared photographs.

“It’s a coffee table book and a tutorial kind of thing,” Croning said.

Croning is currently working on another book, but this time it is about a completely different subject.

“It’s my other hobby, which is astronomy, and the part of astronomy that I enjoy is meteorites,” Croning said.

“We can actually hold them in our hands. I love looking through a telescope. I love taking pictures of the night sky. My next book will be about meteor hunting.”

To see Croning’s work, visit inadifferentlight.info

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