Kapiti Island - Polarizing Infrared Light
Kapiti Island from Waitārere Beach
(120 secs, F8, ISO 100 Canon R7, TTArtisan 10mm, Zomei 720nm filter)
As the southern hemisphere gradually warms up, there are increasingly more opportunities to capture stunning landscapes in infrared light. A chance to explore possibilities and experiment with creative ideas and techniques. There's something almost magical about shooting infrared in warmer weather and how it transforms the world around you.
What really gets interesting is when you start combining filters. A lot of photographers shoot infrared with just a 720nm filter, which gives you that classic look—the white trees, the dark skies, the surreal tonal inversions. But add a polarizing filter into the mix, and you're working with a whole different set of possibilities. The polarizer does what it always does—it cuts glare and reflections, saturates the sky, manages those shiny surfaces—but in infrared, these effects can be even more pronounced. That already-dark sky can go almost black, creating this incredible contrast against glowing white clouds. Water becomes less reflective, more transparent, revealing detail beneath the surface that you'd never see in visible light.
The trick is understanding how these two filters interact. Infrared light behaves differently than visible light when it hits reflective surfaces, and the polarizer affects infrared wavelengths in ways that aren't always predictable. You might find that rotating your polarizer has more subtle effects than you're used to, or that it works best at different angles than it would for normal photography. Water, in particular, becomes fascinating—the polarizer can cut through surface reflections to reveal the infrared signature of what's beneath, while still maintaining those ethereal, milky qualities that long exposures in infrared create. It's a bit of trial and error, honestly, but that's part of the fun.
This is the perfect time to experiment because you've got the heat working in your favor and the landscape is coming alive. Think about coastal scenes where you can play with both the sky and the water, using the polarizer to control each independently. Consider forests and parks where that bright foliage will really pop against a polarized sky. Even urban landscapes take on a different character—concrete and glass behave strangely in infrared, and the polarizer can help you manage all those reflective surfaces while still keeping that surreal quality. The key is to get out there and shoot, to see what happens when you stack these tools together and let the season's warmth amplify everything. Each location will respond differently, and that's where the creative discoveries happen.
