The laminar separation bubble (LSB) that forms on the suction side of a modified NACA \(64_3-618\) airfoil at a chord-based Reynolds number of \(Re = 200,000\) is studied using wind tunnel experiments. First, the LSB is characterized over a range of static angles of attack, - in terms of the locations of separation, transition and reattachment - using surface pressure measurements, particle image velocimetry (PIV) and infrared thermography (IT). For the conditions tested, excellent agreement between the techniques is obtained, showing an upstream shift of the bubble with increasing angle of attack. For the study of steady LSBs, the infrared approach is found to be superior, in view of its higher spatial resolution and experimental simplicity. Subsequently, a pitching motion is imposed on the wind tunnel model, with reduced frequencies up to \(k = 0.25\). While surface pressure measurements and PIV are not affected by the change in experimental conditions, the infrared approach is seriously limited by the thermal response of the surface. To overcome this limitation, an extension of the recently proposed differential infrared thermography (DIT) method is considered. With this method, the unsteady behaviour of the LSB can be partially detected. All three experimental techniques indicate a hysteresis in bubble location between the pitch up and pitch down phases of the motion, caused by the effect of the aerodynamic unsteadiness on the adverse pressure gradient. However, the DIT measurements suggest a larger hysteresis, which is again attributed to the thermal response time of the model surface. The experimental results further reveal that the hysteresis in bubble location is larger than that of the circulation of the wing, indicating that the observed bubble hysteresis is not purely due to instantaneous flow conditions, but has an inherent component as well.