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Hokitika Guardian, 7 March 1933, Page 4

Recent developments in infra-red photography were reviewed by Mr Olaf F. Bloch, in an address to the Royal Society of Arts, . He said the shorter wave-lengths comprising the blue and violet constituents of light were more readily scattered by small particles in the atmosphere than the longer wave-lengths constituting red light, and infra-red light was scattered even less. The use of infra-red photographic material thus enabled one to employ a greater proportion of the direct image-bearing light, and it became possible to take distance photographs in haze ov mist. One of the earliest of these photographs, taken in 1924, was due,to - Dr. Wright, of tho Lick Observatory, and showed the Siorro Nevada mountains at a distance of I£o miles. More recently Stevens had taken an aerial photograph 'from a height of 24,010 ft. in what must have been an extremely clear atmosphere, showing Mount Shasta at a d l -,tanc-e of no less than 831 miles, while’another photograph taken from the air,. also by Stevons, showed the haze of the pampas against the Andes Mountains at a distance of 310 miles in such a way as to demonstrate the earth’s curvature. Much beautiful work had been done. The method had found sane application in press photography, a notable instance being the photograph of the -Cenotaph taken on Armistice Day. The weather was

foggy, but the infra-red -photographs wu.o remarkably clear, giving a view up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square with an aimost complete absence of mist. Though the photographic material at present available was somewhat tilo-w, interesting results had been obtained under favourable conditions. The combined study of photographs taken on ordinary or panchromatic- plates and those token on infra-red pla'es promised to he serviceable, sin-ce each photograph revealed details which were lacking on tlie other.