For years, one of my cameras just sat on a shelf. A long time ago, I converted a Nikon Z7 to shoot infrared. Then I barely touched it. I even put it up for sale once. Something always stopped me from using it, and something always stopped me from letting it go.
This time in Italy, I finally gave it a proper chance.
I led two photography workshops there. The first, with Natural Exposures, started in Venice, moved into the Dolomites, and finished in Tuscany. The second, with Muench Workshops, was all about the Dolomites, where we stayed in mountain huts with the best shooting locations right outside the door. On both trips, I made one simple decision: I would shoot mostly in infrared.
It changed the way I see.
Infrared shows you a world your eyes cannot. Green leaves turn bright white, blue skies go almost black, and familiar places suddenly look like a dream. There is even a name for that glowing-foliage effect: the “Wood effect,” after the American physicist Robert W. Wood, who first described it back in 1919. Sunlight is more than half infrared, so this light is all around us. We simply never see it.
In this article, I want to share the images I brought home from Italy, a few honest tips on infrared photography, and some thoughts on how this strange, invisible light has changed the way I look at photography. Read on.
Infrared Photography in Venice
Venice in June means one thing: crowds. Add the summer heat and the thick humidity, and it is far from the easy, quiet city I usually prefer. I like Venice best in the colder months, when the streets have more room to breathe, and both photography and daily life feel simpler.
But summer does have one gift — it is great for street photography. So that is what I focused on, and I did it entirely with the infrared camera.
All the photos above were taken in a single afternoon. No plan and no shot list. I just walked, drifting between the busy squares and the quieter back streets and canals. Shooting a familiar city in infrared makes it feel new again. You stop chasing the postcard view and start noticing shapes, light, and small human moments you would usually walk straight past.
Infrared Photos of Venice
Infrared Photography in the Dolomites: Trip I
After Venice, we traveled up to Cortina d’Ampezzo. I had been really looking forward to this part: a chance to escape the crowds and finally test the infrared camera on real, natural foliage. This is where infrared usually shines.
We spent four days in this wonderful area, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. The weather could not have been better for infrared — bright sunny days, puffy white clouds, and warm temperatures. Strong sunlight means plenty of infrared light, which is exactly what the camera feeds on, so the green forests and meadows glowed while the skies turned deep and dark.
Then one day, we got lucky. A snowstorm rolled over Mt Sass Pordoi. In normal color, it would have been moody enough, but through the converted camera, the whole scene became even more dramatic, heavy, quiet, and a little unreal.
Infrared Photos of the Dolomites
And by the way, one of the images above was not taken with the infrared camera. It was shot with my regular camera. Can you guess which one?
Infrared Photography in Tuscany
After the Dolomites, we traveled to Tuscany, and for infrared, this was an even better place. Rolling hills, green fields, and those picturesque cypress trees — all of it made the already beautiful scenery even stronger through the converted camera.
Part of me still wanted color here. It was spring, with so many flowers and that vivid, fresh green everywhere. On a few occasions, the color really did work best, and I shot it. But most of the time I kept coming back to infrared. And I have to admit — these are my favorite images of the whole trip!
Infrared Photos of Tuscany
Dolomites Mountain Huts: Infrared Landscape Photography
While my first trip mixed three wonderful places in Italy, the second was dedicated fully to landscape photography in the Dolomites, this time with Muench Workshops.
We stayed in mountain huts throughout. This gave us exclusive access to the best locations at sunrise and sunset, and it let us spend far more time in nature. It was later in June now, too, so the fields were full of wildflowers.
By this point I had also spent a good amount of time shooting infrared. I finally understood the camera — how it sees and how it behaves. That changed how I worked: my photography became more deliberate, and my editing bolder.
Infrared Landscape Photos: the Dolomites
What is infrared photography, and what I’ve learned shooting it
Quick version, in case you are not into cameras. Our eyes see only a small part of the light. Just past red lies more light we cannot see — infrared. It is all around us, but invisible. A normal camera blocks this light. An infrared camera lets it in. The result is a strange, beautiful world — leaves turn white, skies go dark, and the familiar suddenly looks like a dream.
Here are the main things I have learned along the way. Some are general to infrared, some are specific to my Nikon.
- My camera is a 720nm conversion — and yes, it bands a little. I already bought the Z7, converted to 720nm. It wasn’t my choice, but it works fine for me. The one quirk I found is faint banding in smooth areas, like a clear sky. I guessed it came from the autofocus, and that turns out to be right. Mirrorless cameras focus using the sensor itself, which has tiny autofocus pixels arranged in rows. Normally, you never notice them. But infrared — especially once you increase contrast or convert to black and white — can make those rows appear as soft stripes, most visible against a clean sky. It is a known issue with converted mirrorless cameras, including Nikon Z models, and it can be cleaned up in editing.
- I shoot only black and white. I have no interest in color infrared, so I set the camera to its black-and-white mode. That way, the preview already looks close to my final image, and I can “see” in infrared while I shoot.
- Infrared loves strong sun. It works best when the sunlight is strongest — the opposite of the usual advice. It even feels like I get more dynamic range, though I can’t prove that. Maybe it is just that bold contrast works so well in infrared.
- Not every lens likes infrared. If you can, pick a converted camera that takes the lenses you already own. But be warned: some lenses show an ugly, bright “hot spot” right in the middle of the frame. I simply tested the ones I had. Some are perfect, some are useless, and some I use anyway and remove the hot spot later. To check a lens before you shoot, ask AI — or look it up in Kolari’s lens hot-spot database, the most complete list out there.
- Expect to brighten your shots. My camera tends to underexpose, so I usually push the exposure up a little.
- A small editing trick. In post, I often switch the file to color mode, try different white balance values, then convert back to black and white. Sometimes this gives whiter foliage and darker skies. Not always — but it is worth a try.
- Carry a normal camera too. Infrared is weakest at sunrise and sunset, when the sun is low and soft, and color matters more. So I shoot both. Together, they stretch my shooting hours and open up far more creative options.
- Watch what it does to people. In direct sun, skin seems to glow softly, and eyes can turn strange — almost like a vampire film. Sometimes it looks beautiful, sometimes a little scary. Either way, worth trying.
How infrared changed how I see photography
When these trips began, this camera was almost gone. I had nearly sold it, sure, I would never really use it. I am so glad I didn’t.
Shooting infrared across these two trips in Italy slowly changed the way I see. With infrared — and with black and white in general — I notice the details less and the shapes more. Light, shadow, contrast, and tone become the story, not the small stuff. In a way, the image becomes more abstract: more about feeling than about technical perfection. It is a quieter, simpler way of looking, and I have grown to love it.
So the old camera stays. In fact, I am hooked. I can see myself shooting far more black-and-white from here on, with both cameras — infrared and regular — side by side.
If you have a converted camera gathering dust like mine once was, take it out and give it a proper go. You might start to see the world a little differently, too.
And I am curious: which of these images is your favorite?
