DIGITAL INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY

DAVID ROBINSON ARPS

Have you ever found yourself in a great location but the sun is high and the light is harsh and contrasty? Definitely not the “Golden Hour”! Well, digital infrared photography could give you the opportunity to shoot great images in just such conditions.

In this article I will cover a little history; explain what infrared photography is; explore how you might get started; consider some options; and look briefly at post processing.

History

Infrared photography was developed for military/ scientific use in the early 1900s, using film of course, and became commercially available in the 1930s when photographers started to use it creatively. The film is now hard to get and is not easy to use and process, so its popularity declined. It has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to digital technology with a many monochrome photographers considering it an essential part of their landscape and architectural work.

SO WHAT IS IT?

Digital infrared photography uses digital technology to record light wavelengths below the visible spectrum. Note, this is by recording reflected infrared light and is not thermal imaging. The results are that skies record near black, foliage and living organisms record near white. With stonework and brickwork the tone depends on the amount of Infrared light reflected. Metalwork will usually record near black unless painted in a bright, reflective colour. Infrared is fantastic for skies and cloudscapes, sometimes revealing clouds invisible to the naked eye.

The characteristics of Infrared film were a very grainy image with a soft “glowing” effect. Digital Infrared produces a low grain (subject to ISO setting!) and very sharp image though some post-processing is required. When digital Infrared first appeared photographers usually used post-processing to recreate the grainy, glowing effect of Infrared film. Though these effects can still be produced, the desire of modern judges and selectors for very sharp, low grain digital images means that most Infrared images you see will take full advantage of the sharpness and low grain of digital images. The traditional look is still a creative option.

Options

The quickest way into digital Infrared is to use oncamera filters either screw-in or system – an R72 filter is the usual choice. The filters are very dark and require long exposures - a tripod will be essential and there may be focusing issues. (The more mature photographers among us may remember pre-digital lens with a guideline for Infrared focusing). Filters in a range of thread sizes are readily available from Amazon and eBay.

The second and best option is to have a digital camera converted for Infrared. This will allow for normal exposures and the camera can be hand-held with no focusing issues. While not cheap, camera conversion is, in my view, very good value. It can give a second life to an older digital camera no longer in use. I use my Infrared cameras nearly as often as my normal cameras.

Cameras can be converted at home, but it is not a trivial process (if you fancy tinkering with an old camera have a look at: www.lifepixel.com/tutorials/infrareddiy-tutorials - that should put off all but the most determined!

Amelia With Heron

DAVID RUTTER LRPS

Being a tormented creative always trying to go one better, I thought that this lovely studio shot of Amelia Mary was really jolly nice but needed something more to lift it – so the creative juices got going!

I started by sampling the standard background, which was appearing like smoke or mist and spread this in front of Amelia’s dress which put her in a low lying fog – great – but then it struck me that this could be mist from a lake scene, so what did I have in my archive from a lake?

Of course, a heron from one of the lake areas in Battersea Park – so this delightful creature was brought in and with a touch of Photoshop puppet warp to get his head looking at Amelia and with his beak mimicking the arm line I spread the mist around him and then worked on the light and shading of the bird to match the main image.

The final image I feel has an element of my humour and an element of decent studio photography which combine to drag a “nice picture” into the “ooh” or “aha” world of hopefully memorable images.