Infrared?

[leuallen]

I posted some infrared images a while back and not met with much enthusiasm. I hope this is better.

Yesterday was sunny with blue sky and clouds. Perfect for infrared. This is a great time of the year for infrared because the greenery is still subdued so that you don't get that overly white effect from the trees and grasses. So I grabbed my converted Pana G1 and headed out.

This image struck me because it is so alien looking. It is actually the river bottom after a flood of a week ago. The waters receded and left grasses stuck to everything like hair on a comb.

Larry

[Jason DiMichele]

Hi Larry,

I do like this image. I also find it very other worldly. For me personally, I don't have much attraction to digital infrared. When I played around with infrared when I was still shooting film, there was an ethereal look to the prints because of the halation that happens to the highlights (which is also why I avoided the emulsions with the anti-halation backing). From what I've seen, this "highlight glow" doesn't seem to be convincingly reproduced with post processing from a digital original.

Cheers,
Jay

[leuallen]

Thanks Jay,

I am somewhat unfamiliar with the halation aspect as I only shot a couple of 4x5 infrared images in the film era. But that aside I do like shooting IR as a break from conventional photos. It is an entirely different way of seeing. For example, with conventional photos I tend to be a tele user with not too much wide angle. With IR, it's wide all the way.

I tend to shoot IR mostly in the spring when it is just starting to get green. I live in farmland and particularly like the crop row patterns created by young, newly planted crops. Attached is a favorite example of what I mean.

Larry

[Wayland]

I like the second image more than the first but I think I would crop it just above the small cumulus clouds.

I used to use Konica NM750 back in film days in my Bronica and particularly liked the effect I got by over exposing it and working the print like mad.

I haven't quite managed to get the same kind of results digitally yet.

[leuallen]

Wayland,

I like the second one better also. But I like the first for its alienish, surreal nature, different from what I usually do.

I find that the digital files from the G1 are able to respond quite well to post processing, although noise can sometimes be a problem. My work flow is basic BW processing in LR, keeping the highlights low as they will be raised in further processing. Then to Nik Silver Effects Pro. Finally tweaking local adjustments in PS.

I really liked your 24 hour series. I had a similar 6 hour series today. Everything just fell into place: new, interesting subjects with good light, old subjects seen in a new way, and a feeling of being in the zone. Not up to your level but I still will go to bed tonight happy.

I disagree with the crop. It will put the horizon at the center and, too me, the looming sky is an important part of the composition.

Larry

[Jeremy Roussak]

I much prefer the second but I certainly wouldn't crop out any of the sky. The wispy, swirling cloud patterns, and the contrast with the neatly regimented lines in the field, make the shot.

Jeremy

[sdwilsonsct]

I much prefer the second but I certainly wouldn't crop out any of the sky. The wispy, swirling cloud patterns, and the contrast with the neatly regimented lines in the field, make the shot.

+1.

The first image has the usual challenges posed by grass and trees: too much of them without strong organization.

[Chris Calohan]

+1.

The first image has the usual challenges posed by grass and trees: too much of them without strong organization.

+1

Second image is superior.

[Jason DiMichele]

Thanks Jay,

I am somewhat unfamiliar with the halation aspect as I only shot a couple of 4x5 infrared images in the film era. But that aside I do like shooting IR as a break from conventional photos. It is an entirely different way of seeing. For example, with conventional photos I tend to be a tele user with not too much wide angle. With IR, it's wide all the way.

Hi Larry,

Your second image is nice, although I personally prefer the first one. 

I can relate to what you say with regard to shooting wide with IR. I myself am also a intimate/detail shooter. Thinking back when I did shoot IR film it was also wide angle (or wider at least). Having more contrasting elements in a scene with a wider variety of subject matter definitely helps with the IR impact. Did you have a lens custom calibrated for IR focusing? Did you have your camera converted by LifePixel?

Cheers,
Jay

[leuallen]

Jay,

I had the camera converted by Spencers. I sent in the lens with camera so it was calibrated. I am thinking of getting my GH2 converted as I have an OMD and GH3 and don't use it anymore.

Larry

[Jason DiMichele]

Jay,

I had the camera converted by Spencers. I sent in the lens with camera so it was calibrated. I am thinking of getting my GH2 converted as I have an OMD and GH3 and don't use it anymore.

Larry

Nice! I hadn't heard about Spencers before. I took a look at their site and am contemplating having a dust collecting Canon 20D converted to full spectrum. Although it costs more to have additional filters for the different uses, I like the added flexibility without, it seems anyway, to have any disadvantages. Pretty neat stuff.

Cheers,
Jay

[Wayland]

Glad you liked the 24 hours in Angelsey thread, I was very lucky with the conditions.

I'm toying with the idea of getting my old 5D converted for full spectrum use on maybe just infrared.

At the moment I still find it useful as a second body though.

[leuallen]

I had mine converted to 720. Very happy with it. In good light, sunny, I get high shutter speeds at moderate apertures. I did not want to cock around with filters. I generally use the Panasonic 14-45 kit lens which is very sharp. The other conversions give you the strange false colors of which I am not interested. I only wanted BW. The conversion came with a custom color balance which helps. I keep the camera in a small bag in the car so it is always available.

It took some experimentation to get the processing nailed down. First LR to get a rather flat full toned image and set the noise reduction to about 60 (further processing increases noise drastically, best to nip in bud). Then to PS and the Silver Effects Pro 2 plug in. I have a couple of pretty good presets that I developed which speed things up. This adds the contrast, pop, and toning. Back to PS where I play around: maybe mask the sky in Topaz Remask 3 to darken the sky, use luminosity masks to tone down the highlights, maybe some local noise reduction using Noiseware, and general tonal manipulations.

I have had a recent revelation, an eye opener. I have gone to the Ansel Adams exhibit in Peoria, Il a couple of times now.  I noticed how Ansel handled the highlights. They were generally not as bright as I thought they would be. They were more muted and had much more tone in this zone than I had been using, due to the roll of the film curve at the top. I was pushing the highlights trying to get more 'pop', a mistake as I could now see. So I have adjusted my processing in an attempt to get more meat in the highlights.

Since I have backups of backups it was no problem for me to do the conversion. I still have another G1 and GH2 that I could convert.

Larry

[Wayland]

This is the best result I've had using the 5D and a 720nm filter.

It's a long exposure because it's still got the blocking filter in place on the sensor but it gives me the sort of tonality that I used to aim for with film.

[leuallen]

Wayland,

Very interesting image. What are those rocks and where?

With a converted camera the exposures are much shorter, in hand held territory. But then, I generally shoot IR when it is sunny with blue skies and lots of IR rays.

Larry

[Alan Klein]

I like the 2nd one just the way it is.  Nice shot.

[Wayland]

Wayland,

Very interesting image. What are those rocks and where?

With a converted camera the exposures are much shorter, in hand held territory. But then, I generally shoot IR when it is sunny with blue skies and lots of IR rays.

Larry

They are the sea defences on the coast in Colwyn Bay.

I've had my eye on them for a while for another shot but tried them in infrared and liked the result.

I normally work from a tripod anyway but this exposure was about ten minutes or so which is long even for me.

[leuallen]

Wayland,

Ah! So they are man made. I was wondering if this was some sort of unusual natural phenomena.

I used to use the tripod all the time. Now not so much. I am less interested in technical perfection and more interested in just having fun. I guess that comes with getting old and having few years left.

Larry

[Wayland]

I work a bit more off the hoof with my Fuji X10 (Which seems a pretty reasonable IR performer as it happens.)

That camera has put a lot of fun into my work some how.

[Paulo Bizarro]

I like all three of them. #1 leaves me confused, but in a good way!