DakotaChrome: A Walk Through Yellowstone National Park - Hardcover

by Christian Kirsch (Author)

What is DakotaChrome?

What you are looking at is not a trick, or manipulation through software. As someone who began their photography pursuit in the general field of journalism, it is important that I can get images without having to drastically edit them. What you see is what I get, true to what comes directly out of my camera as I can.

The light that we see exists on a spectrum. Most of our perceived colors lay in the middle of that spectrum, with the ends being imperceivable to us. To get my desired image, I have modified my camera to remove certain wavelengths of infrared light, leaving the reds and pinks that are reflected by the plants, paint and objects within the scene and still maintaining the 'normal' colors you are accustomed to. There are some things you would not expect to reflect this infrared light, but do, like the wood used for buildings and clothing.

The images held within this book were taken with a digital infrared camera. This is achieved by changing sensor glass and utilizing a series of carefully selected color filters. It is modeled after Kodak's Aerochrome film, which had been developed for military applications but found its way into the civilian space. Similar to my digital version, they used filters to alter the colors that the film would show. Richard Mosse, whose work in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is another great example of infrared photography with similar color results and is part of the inspiration for my pursuit in this field.