Capturing the Invisible: AP Photographers Use Infrared for Surveillance Tech

Unveiling the Unseen with Infrared

• 💡 Infrared technology is used in everyday devices like phones for facial recognition, emitting invisible light beams to map faces.
• 📸 AP photographers have adapted their techniques to capture these invisible light spectrums, including infrared and ultraviolet light.

Adapting Camera Technology

• 🛠️ Regular digital cameras were converted by removing the built-in filter and replacing it with clear glass to capture a full spectrum of light.
• ⚠️ Capturing these invisible beams presented challenges, requiring trial and error, especially for portraits.

The Photography Process

• 🌃 Portraits had to be shot in low light conditions because daylight obscured the infrared beams.
• ⚡ Sometimes, the phone's light emission would only last for a fraction of a second, making it akin to capturing lightning.
• 👻 The resulting images are described as