Still trying some IR....

[jdjd1118]

So, I went out and got some IR shots this morning. Haven't done any work on them in Photoshop, not really sure exactly what they should look like in the end. Here are some examples:

1.

2.

3.

Anyone know of any good websites/books that deals with digital IR photography? Thanks for help. C&C appreciated!

 

[shorty6049]

usually you'd want to convert them to black and white if they're in this state. Also, a cloudy winter day is probably the worst time to do IR because it ends up looking very similar to regular photography. I'll PM you with more info...

 

[ranmyaku]

My general method for producing IR images is to do the following:

Equipment:
Nikon D50, Hoya RM72 IR filter, tripod, IR shutter release
Time:
Nice clear, sunny day, whenever the sun is bright and intense

Method:
Do an Preset white balance on green grass.
Set the tripod up with the camera pointing straight down at green grass. I usually zoom in at 55mm. Focus without the filter on. Then put the filter on. Switch to manual on the lens so that it does not hunt for focus with the filter on when you go to release the shutter.

On the D50 you can either take a photo, then select that picture as the PREset whitebalance. Or you can hit the 'WB' button, then use the toggle switch to rotate it to "Pre" on the little screen on top of the camera. Release the WB button. Then press and hold it in again. A flashing "PRE" will then be in the little screen. You then just take a photo (filter on and in focus) and it will be used as the preset white balance.

Generally i do this at f8 and about 1 or 2 second exposure. Maybe less maybe more. You just have to experiment.

After you have set your white balance on green grass, then you are ready to take your photo. Just compose and snap away. I generally use f8 to f11 @ somewhere around 1 second. You just have to experiment.

I just recently found that I get better results when I don't shoot in raw, although most of my images were done in RAW. You can see some of them here http://ranmyaku81.deviantart.com/

Just go to Browse gallery.



Post processing:
The quick and dirty is to just create a duplicate layer. Do a color channel swap. Red -> blue and Blue -> red. Mess around with Levels. Then desaturate the Red and Magenta.

Generally I will play around with the image for a while before I get what I want.

I have a few IR photos on my deviant page if you are interested.

http://ranmyaku81.deviantart.com/

 

[doenoe]

I dont do the custom wb thing, i just shoot in RAW and set the white balance later on. Also, with Canon 350D and my 50mm i can focus with the filter on. Way easier then focusing without the filter, putting the filter on and adjusting the focus again.
To get the colors right, you use the method mentioned above or you can open the picture. Duplicate the background layer and invert that copy. Then set the blend mode to color. After that the usual levels, contrast etc.
You can see some pics i made on my website (www.daanschouwe.nl) and then click Infrarood. Those were all made with the 350D and the 50mm.

 

[jdjd1118]

Here's one of the pictures after having photoshop do auto levels on it. What do you think?

 

[ranmyaku]

I dont do the custom wb thing, i just shoot in RAW and set the white balance later on. Also, with Canon 350D and my 50mm i can focus with the filter on. Way easier then focusing without the filter, putting the filter on and adjusting the focus again.
To get the colors right, you use the method mentioned above or you can open the picture. Duplicate the background layer and invert that copy. Then set the blend mode to color. After that the usual levels, contrast etc.
You can see some pics i made on my website (www.daanschouwe.nl) and then click Infrarood. Those were all made with the 350D and the 50mm.

I tried your method, but I can't seem to get it to work to my liking. maybe I am missing something.

what does your image look like when it comes off the camera and then when you do your own WB adjustment?

I am using photoshop elements.

 

[astrostu]

Literally less than 24 hrs ago, I finally figured out a way to get my IR images to come out (with no custom WB done, just everything in post-processing) ...

(1) In RAW processing, set Temperature to lowest setting (2000) and Tint to lowest setting (-150).

(2) Do a Levels clip at ~±0.05% with the middle option selected (so it does it by channel, not monochromatic).

(3) In the channel mixer, for output channel Red set options to 0%, +20%, +80%. Leave Green alone. In Blue, set to +100%, 0%, 0%.

(4) Add a Hue/Saturation layer and set Hue to +10.

(5) Add another Hue/Saturation layer, select reds and yellows and set Saturation to -50%.

Note - By this point, the sky should be blue and plants should be mostly white.

(6) Add a Curves layer and enhance the contrast. You may need to tweak the individual channels to enhance or suppress colors (e.g., slightly suppress the reds).

 

[Garbz]

astrostu that's awesome thanks

The beauty of IR is that it's up to you there no guidelines on how it is supposed to look. I have been going the opposite approach. Keep the sky amber coloured while making the grass white, or on occasion keep the grass bright blue and have the rest of the scene greayscale

 

[Coldow91]

I think this should help you as well

http://www.lifepixel.com/IR.htm

 

[KristiJo]

jd, the edited version you did looks great!

 

[jdjd1118]

Thanks KristiJo!

 

[jdjd1118]

I found a website to help me a little with IR editing. Here's the fruit of my labor.

 

[kdabbagh]

Hey...I checked out this thread and I found it to be very interesting. What is this IR stuff...? I am a total noob! Is it an option you can set on your DSLR? I have a D40x if that helps...


btw, awesome end product I love it!

 

[jdjd1118]

Infrared is light that is invisible to humans. Look it up on Google. And no, you can't just set an option, you need a filter. Check out the website I posted above.