A short exploration of the discrepancy between the view through the camera and the resulting image, showcasing an infrared image of a tree and sky that reveals unexpected colors.
I’m certainly looking for further opportunities to continue my exploration of the possibilities of infrared photography. It’s almost like learning to see again after years of being underground, exposed to a limited set of vistas. One of the challenges is that what I am looking at through the viewfinder is drastically different from the resulting image. I’m seeing the scene as it is processed through the rods and cones connected to my visual cortex.
Here’s another image from last weekend…
Irradiant Sky
As I had just parked my car, I looked up at the verdant tree with sunlight playing through its foliage. That inspired me to create something a little different from that view. And, yes, this is not the beautifully bright green that I witnessed in the leaves, but rather a step or two away from it, something that my mind’s eye created.
And, yes, that is very different from what my camera’s sensor recorded…
720nm Tree and Sky
With wavelengths of 720nm and longer captured by the sensor, deep shades of red are dominant.
More steps in the infrared creative process, as I’m trying to get to a workflow that fits with what I like in infrared photography.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s Monday’s Spectrum Exploration post, I was less than fully gruntled with the result of the initial edits. Part of my problem was that I was cobbling together various pieces of process and probably taking aim at my foot. So, as I was waiting for my new tires for my car (nail in tire during Sunday’s adventures), I did 5 minutes of digging.
Here’s the first stab after I got home…
Exoplanetary Falls
This color palette is more along the lines of what I was trying to achieve. It’s not 100% to my taste yet, but a serious step in the right direction. Interesting is that one of the hot spots in the waterfall appears to reflect foliage.
Also, I took one more step…
Bear’s Den of the Ancients
This B&W result is much closer to what I like and I’m reasonably pleased with this experiment. It has given me some good feedback on what to look for when shooting with the 720nm converted 5D.
This Sunday, I followed the magnificent amounts of water that have been added to New England over the past couple of weeks. Rivers are swollen, as they thunder downstream, spillways are filled with spray and there’s just an abundance of water everywhere. No need to send out the doves yet, as we’re keeping our heads above water!
So I went exploring…
alt.Bear’s Den
First of I will admit that I’m not 100% satisfied with this edit yet and I will be doing some additional work on this. I don’t quite have the 720nm editing process nailed down yet. However, this does intrigue me, as the sky is a deep blue and the white of the leaves now has some amount of red in it… It’s almost as if we’re on an exo-planet.
My first foray with my Canon EOS 5D MkIII camera after its conversion with a 720nm infrared filter.
It’s been a while since the last post on this topic, so I’m making a gentle re-entry… This time I had my Canon EOS 5D MkIII converted to use a 720nm infrared filter, expanding the range of options that I have in my spectrum exploration. Trees have been pretty bare thus far, so I only took my first shots with this camera during the past weekend. I kept it pretty simple, as I just took a snap of some of the trees in our yard.
Here’s a view with this approach…
Springtime Returns
When I started processing this image, I came to the realization that I didn’t have a set of presets for the Canon EOS 5D MkIII. A quick check on Tonee Gee’s CLiR website confirmed that the presets are available with the current course. No panic, as the course comes with free updates! Tonee directed me to Kolari , as they provide the updates. A message to Kolari confirmed that they were in the process of updating to the most recent version.
Of course, being impatient I sent a note on Saturday asking when the new version might be available. Within 60 seconds I received a response that the new course is available for download! I rejoiced and started the (rather large) download.
That enabled me to use the really straightforward process of using a preset with Adobe Camera Raw, and the above image is the first one! I went for the black & white, as I do really like the look that it produced.
Time for more exploration during next weekend (hoping for nicer weather).
In closing, a great big thank you to Tonee Gee and Kolari for being incredibly responsive to my emails. Also, a second thank you to Kolari for the amazing job they did converting my Canon EOS 5D MkIII. They took the extra step of taking the camera through a full set of tests before doing the conversion and found an issue with the sensor. Kolari reached out to me with a detailed image and explanation of what they found and their suggestion to replace the sensor. As, they took care of the replacement, I can say that I’m really pleased with the results!
An episode to talk about the creation of the “Extraterrestrial Totem” image. This includes a step by step post-processing overview.
After last week’s “Monday’s Spectrum Exploration” very much experimental approach, we’re going to more refinement in this episode. Also, I will write a bit more about the process used to create this image.
Let’s take a look first…
Extraterrestrial Totem
I expect that the first thing you notice is a more natural, blue sky tone in this image. Also, I brought a bit of color into the foliage as part of the process.
Let’s go over the process in a bit more detail:
The first step is to import the RAW image file into the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) utility. As part of the CLiR Mastery Course, I have a number of profiles installed that are specific for my camera. In this case I chose the Canon EOS 5D MkII CLiR Swap 3 profile, which takes care of the Red/Blue channel swap and produces a nice blue sky.
Now I let ACR open the file in PhotoShop, copied the layer and did a little bit of cleanup. There was a pesky little branch that went into the clouds and annoyed me.
Next step I took the cleaned up layer back into ACR; as I use Tony Kuyper’s TK9 plugins, this is really straightforward. In ACR, I look for a profile that gets me close to the look that I want, which was Artistic 03 in this case. There are plenty of great choices and, if you haven’t yet, I encourage you to explore ACR.
Then I create another copy of the layer and apply a bit of sharpening using Unsharp Mask. Another copy is made of that layer, which I blend using the Soft Light mode. This is a regular part of my processing technique; I always keep the opacity fairly low (< 10%); in this case I went a bit higher, as it looked great.
I add a bit of contrast and some brightness to get the correct feel.
Recently I started adding a Black & White layer with very low opacity. You may think this a rather odd choice, but I find that it’s a great way to control saturation in the image.
That’s all there is to it! I hope some of you might find this process overview useful. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Another episode in the ‘spectrum’ series. Taken at the NECCC Conference with a spirit of experimentation.
After skipping last week, I want to continue this series, especially as I am looking forward to my second camera conversion! Whereas the previous post in the “Monday’s Spectrum Exploration” series was a bit more polished, this one is more in the discovery vein. As I was attending the New England Camera Club Council (NECCC) Conference, this weekend was all about trying something different.
You can see some of the experimentation in this image…
Juxtaposition
First a bit about the view in this image. I wanted to play with contrasting styles of the buildings in the context of otherworldly foliage. The stark lines of the high-rise behind the stonework of the church struck me as being both different and similar. Framing this with the softness, yet eeriness of the tree creates an intriguing composition.
In processing this image, I uncovered some of my naïveté at that time about what makes a good infrared image. There are still some redeeming aspects that I could find, so I went ahead any way with the processing.
This week, in our 720nm world, I present you with “Arch to Infinity.”
As I take the next step in the exploration of the infrared photography world, there is more fun to discover! In last week’s post in the “Monday’s Spectrum Exploration” series, I shared some of the experimentation with materials and their response. Those images provided me with a sense of the responsiveness of the 720nm filter. With a bit of that knowledge on board, I pushed the envelope a bit more.
You can see in this week’s attempt what the result might be…
Arch to Infinity
For this shot I put myself flat on the ground underneath this stone arch, positioning for the sunburst capture. Using the wide focal length of 24mm enabled me to use the trees for framing the image.
Using the ‘standard’ approach of a red/blue channel swap, I highlighted the bright, rich blue of the sky, seeming almost alien in its hue. There is a definite sense of this stone arch reaching out towards a faraway point, that is out of our view. Who knows, this could be a leftover impression of a wormhole from antiquity…
Further experiments in infrared photography with an eye toward how different materials appear.
As I continue working through some of my infrared photography images, I am really enjoying this ‘alternate’ part of the spectrum. As I mentioned in last week’s post on ‘Creative Light Experiments‘, I am still learning (which will never stop).
Here’s this week’s image in the longer end of the spectrum…
Quinapoxet Crossing
This shot is part of my set of experimental images that I shot to get a better understanding of how different materials will appear with a 720nm camera conversion. The stone of the bridge and the guard rail look fairly unaffected. As I processed the sky with a red/blue channel swap, it appears normal to our eyes. The green leaves are most affected in this treatment.
Some of the other experiments to try include playing with the White Balance in ACR. That will definitely happen during this week!
In other news, I am sending in a second camera to be converted. As I use mirrorless for all my ‘regular light’ shooting, my Canon 5D MkIII will be converted. I’ve selected 590nm for the filter for this conversion, so that I have two different parts of the spectrum. I’m looking forward to the next set of explorations!
Further explorations in infrared photography techniques and processing methods. A step along my creative journey.
A couple of weeks back (What’s in Color?), I mentioned my explorations in infrared photography techniques. As part of this exploration, I’m expanding some of my processing approaches. To this end, I am working my way through a course by the folks of Creative Light & IR (link). With this course, they also provide a large number of profiles for lots of different cameras; these profiles enable the processing of the RAW files in a more standard workflow.
Let’s take a look at an image that has gone through part of the process…
Tower Hill Pond
This image is a view of the lovely pond at Tower Hill Botanic Garden (link). I photographed the pond with my Canon EOS 5D Mk II, which has been converted for infrared photography. For this camera, I chose to have the filter let through light of wavelengths longer than 720nm. This still allows some of the color to come through in the captured image.
I still have several modules to complete in the course, as those will cover more details on color replacement and creative techniques to enhance images. Stay tuned!
Exploring infrared techniques, as seen in the striking image titled “Ethereal Beacon” taken at Tower Hill Botanic Garden.
In some of my past posts I have written about my enjoyment of experimenting with my photography, among which Infrared photography has played and will continue to play a role. In ‘A Thursday Throwback‘ from a couple of weeks ago, I shared an image that I still enjoy in its ethereal black & white looks, which has many greens turn to bright white.
In today’s image, I took a different approach in treating the image…
Ethereal Beacon
This shot came about during an infrared photography walk at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. There were a lot of interesting images that came about that day (and I will share more of them in upcoming posts), and this one really stood out among them.
I have a fondness for capturing sunbursts, as they can sometimes produce a striking image. To achieve the desired angle, I positioned myself rather flat on the ground and wiggled into just the right angle to get the Sun placed behind the allium flower. I also had a bit of luck, as it appears that a small element detached itself from the flower to float up into the air a bit.
I’ll put together a series of posts on my infrared experimentation at a later time, as it is a lot of fun to work through the process of visualizing what might be and then post-processing to get the desired and hoped-for results.
