Infrared Portraits

[anthonymagister]

Hello, everyone! This is the first time I have posted anything to the portrait thread. I am usually lurking in Nature and Landscape. I wanted to get better though, so I have read some books and watched a lot of videos. Now I know enough to be dangerous! I really am interested in infrared photography. I think it creates a lot of drama, and I love the fact that high noon is optimal time for shooting. I hate waking up early! My lovely wife was kind enough to stop during our walk yesterday and posed (embarrassed though she was) for a few shots for me when we walked by an old mill. She was a little upset because she was just wearing an old hoodie =) I am a beginner in all types of photography and would love your comments and advice. The one problem that I have had with IR shooting specifically is over exposure. Sometimes it's hard for me to see on my LCD if it is properly exposed and then I open it up on PS and wish I had taken the photo down a stop or two. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

[Geoff F]

For me Anthony, the problem is that your sharpest area of focus is the background, closest to the camera, and not your model.

Possibly, if shooting from that angle, it might have worked better if she had been towards the left side, but looking slightly to the right, and towards the area of reducing focus.

An interesting idea.

[Shadowman]

Was this converted to infrared in post processing or straight from the camera? If the photo is edited it would be good to see the original then compare to your final work.

Thanks

[anthonymagister]

How would you convert to infrared in post processing? No, this was taken with a converted infrared Canon T3i and what you see is what I got, except for the Black/White photoshop layer.

[anthonymagister]

Thanks for the input. Is that typical to have the model look toward the soft focus? Also, do you only use manual focus? These were taken with auto focus and I had it set to her eye/face like I've read, but it doesn't look like that. Maybe it's a bit of infrared focus shift. Ill have to try the same shot with my regular SLR.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Anthony,

Also, do you only use manual focus? These were taken with auto focus and I had it set to her eye/face like I've read, but it doesn't look like that. Maybe it's a bit of infrared focus shift.

I just looked at an old film lens I have and the IR focus dot is 'behind' the optical one (i.e. nearer infinity at any given distance), suggesting this will be the case.

However ...

Is that typical to have the model look toward the soft focus?

I don't think there is as much IR 'texture' to a face as there is in the optical range, either that;
or optical lenses just cannot resolve it,
or the ambient temperature of the intervening air 'hazes' it too much.

Over to someone that isn't guessing?

Cheers,

[Shadowman]

How would you convert to infrared in post processing? No, this was taken with a converted infrared Canon T3i and what you see is what I got, except for the Black/White photoshop layer.

Elements has a filter.