Something different and, I hope, fun

Description: This longwave thermal image shows two ice cubes (black) in warm water with patterns of convective cooling (green).

Specific Feedback Requested: Whatever! Not intended as a fine art photograph but just another fun way to see the world.

Pertinent technical details or techniques: For 30 years I taught people to use thermal imaging cameras and understand what they were seeing. Simple examples, like this, were some of the most educational. As you can see from the date stamp, this image was made in 2009 but still portrays the scene well. Cameras have come a long way since, smaller, cheaper and more detail.

Is this a composite? (focus stacks or exposure blends are not considered composites) A single image

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IR Ice

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Very cool image, John. Thanks for sharing.

Literally cool! We coined the term “Thinking Thermally” to describe much of what we did.

Initially, I was a bit cool about it but did warm up to it Thanks for the description. It really is something different and very interesting. Thanks for posting it.

Thanks, Jim. It is amazing to consider all the light we do NOT see with our eyes. Certainly “game cameras” or cameras we alter to see shortwave infrared show us part of that spectrum, but there is much more. This camera sees light between 8-15 microns, heat if you will, that is emitted by everything on Earth. Very sophisticated cameras have been developed, mainly for use in the military, that we now have access to in civilian life as well. Some can detect temperature differences as small as 1/100th of an F degree, literally you can see people breathing. And by “thinking thermally” it is also possible to see such things as differences in thickness, moisture content, even detection of subsurface ojects (graves!) or flaws (aircraft wings), nearly endless applications all related to something that is invisible to the human eye.

@JohnSnell - This is very interesting and unique. Thanks for sharing an entirely different perspective! The color definitely caught my eye, and i thought it was odd that the black shape looked like an ice cube until I read your description.

Many thanks, Karla. Yes it. is great fun to look for situations that are interesting thermally and yet would also present themselves aesthetically. The thermal world never ceased to amaze me even after a 30-year career that took me around the world looking at pretty much everything I could imagine. I’ll try to slip in a few more in the future.