This Infrared series post includes an earlier image from my 720nm EOS 5D MkII, processed for an appealing blue sky.
As the autumnal season approaches, I will do some additional photography with my IR-converted cameras. Part of what I will do is capturing the same image with both cameras, which will provide some material for comparison. This will be a key part of the source material for a presentation that I will be doing next Spring on Infrared Photography. More on that later!
Here’s an image from my 720nm EOS 5D MkII…
Wachusett Reservoir
This is one of the earlier captures with this camera, as it was the first one to be converted. In terms of processing, I used one of the camera raw profiles that includes a channel swap. In the channel swap, I was looking for a pleasantly blue sky, so that minimal editing was needed afterwards.
I’ll look to add some comparison images in future posts. Have a wonderful Monday!
This week’s image highlights the New Salem Academy Museum, established in 1795.
It’s great to have a sense of revival in this week’s posts, as I feel energized by it. In that vein, I’ll change my self-imposed constraints a little for the iPhone Friday series. From this post on, I will be posting only images that were recorded within the past week. This has the added benefit of reminding me to get out of the house and look around a bit more for something interesting. Simply because, all work and no play dull my senses!
Here’s a take from this past week…
New Salem Academy Museum
New Salem Academy was brought into existence on February 25, 1795, when Massachusetts governor Samuel Adams signed the legislation that created the academy. The Trustees of New Salem Academy have continuously managed the affairs of the Academy since then, which today focuses on the provision of scholarship opportunities for residents of New Salem and descendants of Academy attendees and staff.
Note that the museum is open by appointment only, so please reach out to plan your visit!
A return after a bit of a hiatus and a visit to a nearby historical Meetinghouse. Explorations in light and color feature.
Greetings and welcome to the revival blog post! I’ll post about what’s been keeping me rather busy in a separate post, so as not to bore those of you who’d rather see something new in Infrared fun!
As I’m enjoying a long weekend and the weather has been gorgeous, I opted for some exploration. In particular, there’s a well-hidden, old bridge that I was looking for and found. As this bridge is in an area where I captured a Meetinghouse (see post), I took a slight detour to visit that location as well.
Here’s a first look at the Meetinghouse in natural light…
1794 Meetinghouse
This was captured with my Fuji GFX 100s II medium format camera, and I treated it with an Adobe Camera Raw filter to bring an early sense of autumn into the image.
I also photographed the Meetinghouse in a rather different color…
1794 Meetinghouse in Blue/Pink
A rather different capture and processing, as I took this photo with my 720nm converted Canon EOS 5D MkII, and then gave it a quick channel swap and some adjustments to highlight pink trees!
The same image with a rather different treatment…
1794 Meetinghouse in Blue/Yellow
For this treatment, I went to a yellowish tone for the trees, which also allowed me to create a slightly more sinister feel to the overall image. I’ll admit that I enjoy this approach a bit!
A couple of quick news items. First of all, I have the privilege of having an invitation to present to the Assabet Valley Camera Club next May on the topic of Infrared photography. This will be a lot of fun, and a great impetus for me to add to my portfolio over the next months, as I prepare the detailed presentation. Secondly, I’m finally working on my new web-site, as I feel I have enough images processed over this past year to present a start of a portfolio. More announcements soon!
Our focus is on the Infrared light spectrum, featuring an image from a May post-torrential rain event in the Northeastern US.
Welcome back to another episode, as we focus on the Infrared part of the light spectrum once again. As I was going through a couple of images over the weekend, I figured I’d take another look at some of the shots that I had captured during post-torrential rain time in May of this year. You may remember that there was an incredible amount of water in both rivers and waterfalls for that time of year in the Northeastern US.
Here’s another bit of raging water…
The Connecticut
The normally rather tranquil Connecticut river rages in this view in Turner’s Falls, Massachusetts. As a matter of fact, I have walked about a hundred yards into the river without getting my feet wet to a spot that is somewhere in the center of this image.
This photo was captured using my Canon EOS 5D MkIII, converted to cut off at 720nm by Kolari. Adobe Camera Raw was used with a CLiR White Balance profile for the camera. In Photoshop, I used my Pink-Blue channel mixer and hue/saturation presets that I have developed over time. Vibrance was used to create a bit of extra pop to the pink and blue tones.
A daily commute can be relaxing if it contains some picturesque landscapes. Here we have a stop along one of those commutes.
Over the years I have had numerous opportunities to have my daily commute to work take me through some photogenic locales. Driving through a varied landscape and small towns is something that I find relaxing; it’s much better than having to sit in traffic on some monotonous highway.
Here’s a capture from one of my commutes…
Dunstable Pond
This lovely view is a roadside pond that I passed many times while driving through Dunstable, Massachusetts. This early Spring morning was particularly still, creating this mesmerizing inky reflection in the pond. The undergrowth hasn’t really filled in yet for the year, making the pine trees look a little bare. The warm coloration of the vegetation on the shoreline makes up for that loss.
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.
After the rains I spent this Sunday exploring the effects by visiting local waterfalls and Turner’s Falls.
A late post, as I spent some time on this lovely Sunday to go follow the water! As there had been a tremendous amount of rain over the past week and a half, I thought it might be worthwhile to see the effect. This included a trip to one of my favorite local waterfalls (pictures later), and to Turner’s Falls. The Connecticut river flows through Turner’s Falls and to say it was a spectacle is an understatement.
Here’s an image from today…
Storage Container
Sitting alongside the power canal in Turner’s Falls, it appears that this building was used for some type of storage. I’m not sure what used to be stored in it, but given its proximity to the mill buildings, I expect it may have been fuel. If that’s the case, it would have been for the latter part of the history of the mills along the canal, as water was the main power source originally.
On this day it was a nice scene to capture, especially as the power canal was fully maxed out in terms of water flow.
The recent snowfall inspired a reflection on Doane’s Falls, a series of five waterfalls in Royalston, Massachusetts, along Lawrence Brook.
Getting snow over the past couple of days has reminded me of how wonderful it can look. I went through some of my photos that have snow in them and found an interesting one from 2016.
This was an interesting little waterfall that I found…
Doane’s Falls
Doane’s Falls is a series of five waterfalls along a 0.2 mile section of Lawrence Brook. They are located in Royalston, Massachusetts, and Lawrence Brook feeds into the Millers River.
The falls are named after Amos Doane, who operated a door, sash and blind mill on Lawrence Brook. Only the foundations of the mill remain nowadays.
It is a great place for hiking and exploring. Just be aware that swimming, wading and diving are prohibited, as a result of a series of injuries and deaths.
A nostalgic reflection on a 2009 photo from Riverdale, Massachusetts featuring historic mill buildings and the waterfall next to it.
Yes, folks! It snowed here in springtime New England. Several inches of that heavy, sloppy snow that is so much fun to clear from one’s driveway! Spring is here, but April will surprise us from time to time.
Therefore, I’m going back to another snowy day…
Riverdale Falls
This shot from 2009 was taken in Riverdale, Massachusetts. There are some wonderful old mill buildings in this area and the little waterfall made for a nice scene. Water provided power to a lot of mill buildings, which is why there will be some found near just about every good size stream. In some cases, there are still existing power canals, through which rivers were rerouted to drive the engines in the building.
Hope you’re staying warm and cozy, wherever you may be!
