IR Photography or Infrared Photography as it is called has existed since before World War I, when the film capable of capturing this invisible spectrum of light was invented. Even from its first development it has been used in both commercial and military photography alike. Granted though the early images that were captured bear little resemblance to what is produced today.

Extech Thermal Imaging Camera

Flir i50 Thermal Imaging InfraRed Camera with Laser

Flir i7 Compact InfraRed Camera

Fluke Ti10 Ti 10 Infrared IR Thermal Imager

Infrared/Thermal Imaging actually works by filtering out all of the visible light we take for granted and leaving behind what was once the invisible. This lower end of the light spectrum shows through as an orange or red with the coolest temperatures moving from blue to black. The oranges and reds are cause by heat generation, be it from body heat, fire or warm water. When this information is separated out it can be presented as a digital photo, paper photo or saved as a real time moving image.

Most of us have seen these cameras in action during the evening news as a suspect on the run is tracked by a police helicopter overhead. Any of the people within camera shot generally show up as orange or red figures. Application of thermal imaging is by no means limited to law enforcement. Other areas such as industrial plant operation, fire inspection, moisture infiltration, heat loss mitigation and final inspection of new homes are all areas where thermal properties of an object can be used and identified

The greatest area for commercial growth in my opinion is in insuring thermal compliance in new and resale buildings. Fuel prices are not going lower anytime soon and seem to have stabilized at permanently high levels, so anything that can be done to reduce heat loss will only help your situation. IR can be used to image both the interior and exterior of a building to determine where cold is entering and heat leaving or where moisture is infiltrating as well. Local thermal code requirements are only going to become stricter in the future, with the green movement working to insure this outcome you can almost bet on more regulation.

I see a bright future for these cameras, since it is possible for anyone to own and operate them and with a little training, interpretation of the images is also quite easy. Thermal auditing of homes  might be a great new buisiness for someone to start right now, seeing as the growth potential as I see it is above normal.

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