Infrared photography captures light that is outside the range of human sight. It is then represented on film using false colours so that the image can be viewed and analysed. Infrared light has special qualities that can be interpreted to provide valuable information. One example is that healthy plants (represented in the imagery as red) become progressively darker as they become 'stressed' from lack of water (obstructed irrigation) or from insect infestation.

Flight Images was involved with BBC Horizon in Greece during the making of 'The Lost City of Helike'. In order to try to establish the location of buried archaeological features, we used infrared photography to record the entire Helike Delta from a helicopter at 6000' above the ground. The photography was then analysed for dark man-made shapes within the vegetation, the theory being that these buried features may interfere with the irrigation and leave a clue only visible using infrared.