Exploring infrared photography with the iPhone
By Rachael Sokolowski

Photography begins with light. But the light we see is only a small part of what surrounds us.

Infrared photography allows me to work with wavelengths of light just beyond human vision. The result isn’t simply a different way of photographing a familiar landscape. For me, it is a different way of seeing and interpreting it.

Recently, I co-taught Crafting Infrared Images with photographer Mark Kesling. The workshop explored infrared photography using the iPhone—from filters, mounts and exposure techniques to photographing in the field and creatively processing the resulting images.

But the technology was only part of the workshop.

What happens when we photograph a world we cannot see?

Seeing Beyond the Visible

Our eyes perceive visible light at roughly 400–700 nanometers. Near-infrared light lies just beyond that range.

Camera sensors can detect some of this infrared light, although smartphones and conventional digital cameras are designed to block much of it so that everyday photographs reproduce colors normally.

When we deliberately photograph infrared light, familiar subjects begin behaving in unfamiliar ways. Healthy foliage strongly reflects near-infrared light and can become luminous white or silvery—the phenomenon commonly called the Wood Effect. Blue skies can become dramatically dark because infrared light scatters differently in the atmosphere. Water absorbs infrared and may appear almost black.

Suddenly, a landscape I know well becomes unfamiliar. That transformation is what keeps drawing me back to infrared. I am photographing information that was already present in the scene but invisible to me.

Learning to Look Differently

Infrared changes the way I look for photographs.

In conventional landscape photography, photographers often pursue the beautiful light of early morning and late afternoon. Infrared can turn that assumption upside down. Bright midday sunlight—the kind of light I might ordinarily avoid—can be wonderful for infrared because vegetation strongly reflects infrared light.

I begin looking for relationships rather than simply subjects: glowing foliage against dark water, architecture surrounded by vegetation, clouds against a darkened sky, weathered wood and stone, reflections, fog and rain, and separation between shapes and forms.

Even difficult weather becomes interesting. Rain can darken wood and stone. Wet surfaces become reflective. Clouds create drama. Fog can introduce mystery.

Instead of asking, “Is this good light?” I begin asking: What will infrared do with this light?

The iPhone as an Infrared Camera

Exploring infrared doesn’t necessarily require beginning with a dedicated infrared-converted camera.

Modern smartphone camera sensors retain some sensitivity to near-infrared light. By placing an infrared filter over the camera lens, we can work with the infrared light that still reaches the sensor.

There are limitations. Exposures become longer. Focusing can become more difficult. Different lenses can respond differently. Apple’s computational photography is designed for visible-light photographs and doesn’t necessarily know what to make of the strange information we’re giving it.

But those limitations are also part of the experiment. An iPhone, an infrared filter and a simple mounting system can become a surprisingly capable creative camera.

My Infrared Kit: Filters, Mounts and Cases

One of the practical challenges of infrared photography with an iPhone is surprisingly mechanical: How do I securely put an infrared filter in front of the camera?

With a conventional camera, a filter simply screws onto the lens. An iPhone requires some type of mount, case or adapter. I’ve experimented with several solutions, including Moment filter mounts, magnetic filter mounts and the Reeflex case and magnetic system.

A dedicated iPhone camera case can provide the foundation for a secure filter-mounting system.

Reeflex magnetic filter mount and adapter rings for lenses make it possible to connect standard photographic filters to a phone-based system.

Choosing an Infrared Filter

The filter determines how much visible light is blocked and therefore has a major influence on the resulting image.

I consider 720nm a good starting point. It produces the characteristic infrared look while retaining possibilities for both black-and-white and creative color processing.

An 850nm filter blocks more visible light and is particularly suited to dramatic black-and-white infrared. Because less light reaches the sensor, exposures can become considerably longer.

There are also filters intended for different false-color interpretations, including Super Color, Enhanced Color, Super Blue and Hyper Color. I use filters from LifePixel as well as magnetic infrared filters.

I
nfrared filters and processing choices can produce dramatically different interpretations of the same subject.

Moment Mounts

Moment mounts are useful because they provide a way to use standard photographic filters with an iPhone.

For the iPhone 16, I have used the Moment 67mm Universal Phone Filter Mount. The larger 67mm filter provides good coverage over the camera area and lets me use standard photographic filters rather than filters made specifically for a phone.

I have also experimented with mobile magnetic filter mounts. Being able to quickly remove and replace an infrared filter is particularly useful because I often want to compose and focus before putting the dark filter in front of the camera.

Moment 67mm Universal Phone Filter Mount — a practical way to position a standard 67mm filter over the iPhone camera module.

Reeflex

For the iPhone 17, I have used the Reeflex case and magnetic mounting system.

As iPhones evolve—and their camera modules become larger and more complex—the mounting solution inevitably evolves with them.

There isn’t one mounting system that everyone needs. What matters is that the mount securely holds the filter, completely covers the active camera lens, minimizes stray light and allows me to remove and replace the filter without turning photography into an engineering project.

A case-based magnetic filter holder makes filters faster to attach and remove in the field.

What About LiDAR?

On iPhone Pro models, larger mounts and magnetic plates can sometimes cover the LiDAR sensor.

LiDAR—Light Detection and Ranging—uses infrared light to measure distance and assists the iPhone with functions such as focusing in low light.

For my infrared photography, having the filter positioned correctly over the camera lens is more important. One solution is simple: compose, choose the lens, focus and lock exposure before attaching the infrared filter. This is especially useful with a darker 850nm filter.

A Tripod Helps—but Isn’t Always Necessary

Infrared exposures can be much longer than ordinary iPhone photographs because the phone’s internal IR-blocking filter is doing exactly what it was designed to do: preventing most infrared light from reaching the sensor.

Sometimes the iPhone’s stabilization and Night Mode allow me to photograph handheld. Other times, particularly with an 850nm filter, a tripod makes a substantial difference.

I’ve used everything from a small Manfrotto PIXI tabletop tripod to a lightweight Gitzo tripod with a Really Right Stuff micro ball head. But sophisticated support isn’t essential. A railing, wall, table or other stable surface can work surprisingly well.

Native Camera or Camera+?

I use both the native iPhone Camera and Camera+.

The native camera is often the simplest approach. Putting the infrared filter over the lens reduces the amount of light reaching the sensor, which can cause Night Mode to activate.

Camera+ gives me more manual control. I can work with RAW files, adjust white balance and Kelvin temperature, control ISO and use longer shutter speeds. Experiment with setting the white balance around 1400K and adjusting shutter speed and ISO while watching how the infrared image changes.

When my iPhone app supports it, I prefer ProRAW because it gives me considerably more information to work with during processing.

Keep the Kit Simple

Despite all the choices, my basic infrared kit can be very small:

• iPhone
• Infrared filter
• Moment, magnetic or compatible case/filter mount
• Small tripod or other support when necessary
• Native Camera or Camera+
• Lens/filter cloth

That last item is particularly important when photographing on Cape Cod. Moisture, fingerprints, salt spray and sand have a remarkable ability to find their way onto a filter.

Once the filter is attached, though, I want to stop thinking about equipment. The equipment makes the photograph possible. It isn’t the reason for making the photograph.

What Comes Out of the Camera

One of the first surprises in infrared photography is that the image straight out of the camera may look nothing like the finished photograph.

With an infrared filter attached, my iPhone images often begin with a strong red or magenta cast. This is normal. The camera and its processing system are designed to produce photographs from visible light, not to interpret the infrared information we are deliberately asking it to record.

For the classic infrared look, my next step is usually to convert the image to black and white. Once the color is removed, the qualities I was looking for when I made the photograph begin to emerge: luminous foliage, dark skies and water, bright clouds, and the unusual tonal relationships that make infrared so distinctive.

Photograph First. Interpret Second.

For me, making the exposure is only the beginning.

The initial infrared file isn’t necessarily the finished photograph. Processing becomes part of the act of interpretation.

I may adjust exposure and contrast, alter color relationships, experiment with channel swapping, selectively desaturate parts of the image, invert colors or abandon color entirely and create a black-and-white photograph.

There isn’t one correct destination. Sometimes the photograph wants to become quiet and monochromatic. Sometimes false color creates something strange and almost dreamlike. Sometimes I deliberately push the photograph much farther from conventional photography.

My question isn’t: Does this accurately reproduce what I saw? I couldn’t see the infrared light in the first place.

The more interesting question is: What can I make from what the camera discovered?

Imperfection Is Part of the Process

Infrared photography also has its own imperfections. Hotspots and halos can appear. Skies
can become uneven. Exposure can be unpredictable.

I use local adjustments in Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed when a bright halo or hotspot pulls attention away from the photograph. Less can be more!

But I don’t necessarily want to eliminate every irregularity. My goal isn’t technical perfection. My goal is to decide what belongs in the image.

Processing isn’t simply correction. It is another stage of making the photograph.

Infrared in My Artist’s Toolbox

Infrared has become one of the tools I use when I want to move beyond a literal photographic description of a place.

In that sense, it occupies a space in my practice alongside iColorama, intentional camera movement, multiple exposure and other forms of digital experimentation.

Each gives me another way of asking: What else could this image become?

Infrared is particularly interesting because the transformation begins before I process anything. The camera is already showing me something my eyes cannot see. I then decide how far I want to take it.

That is ultimately what interests me about infrared photography. It reminds me that a photograph isn’t simply a copy of reality. Every camera records a particular interpretation of light. Every lens, sensor, exposure and processing decision affects what ultimately becomes the photograph.

Infrared simply makes that transformation impossible to ignore.

It asks us to look at the familiar and consider that another version has been there all along—just beyond what we can see.

Crafting Infrared Images was taught by Rachael Sokolowski and Mark Kesling on August 4, 2026 at the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill