Infrared: Summer at the Park

[anthonymagister]

Hello, all. I appreciate all the input that I have gotten in the past. I have learned a great deal and my pictures are getting better because of it. I know I seem to be the only person who takes infrared photography, but I think it creates great art and it gives me something to shoot at high noon when the light is terrible for traditional photography. Any, here are some shots on a hill at a local park. My wife and I had the day off of work and the kids were with the grandparents, so I convinced her to pose for me while we were out for a walk. The only editing I did on the blue ones were swap the red/blue channels (traditional for IR photos) and clone out some brush along the horizon. The red photo I just did some touch ups.

I am still a beginning photographer and still trying to improve my compositions. In these photos, I knew the pants were dark and the grass would be white, and that her shirts was white and the sky would be dark. I was hoping to have her waist be at the horizon in all the photos so that this contrast would pop out. I am also going to go back in a month or to to retry this shot when those trees have leaves on them to see what that looks like.

I love you comments and suggestions. Please....lay them on me. I look forward to see all of your photos too.

[ShaneS]

Anthony, I can't speak to any technical details regarding infrared photography but I will say that I like the third image quite a lot. In my mind to composition is good with the trees framing your wife as she ponders the sky. I wonder if a slight crop from the bottom and a little off the left (so both trunks are the same distance from the edge of the frame) would enhance this even more. Also, even though I logically know that this is not a straight horizon but a hillside in the park I wonder if a slight rotation down to the right would work?

Thank you for sharing.

Shane

[anthonymagister]

Anthony, I can't speak to any technical details regarding infrared photography but I will say that I like the third image quite a lot. In my mind to composition is good with the trees framing your wife as she ponders the sky. I wonder if a slight crop from the bottom and a little off the left (so both trunks are the same distance from the edge of the frame) would enhance this even more. Also, even though I logically know that this is not a straight horizon but a hillside in the park I wonder if a slight rotation down to the right would work?

Thank you for sharing.

Shane

Great input. Thanks! When I get home tonight, I'm going to recrop it and post it here to see what you think. Check back in 24 hours

[Brownbear]

I know nothing about this type of photography, but my favourite is the 2nd photo... lovely! I am also very fond of the 4th photo.

[anthonymagister]

I know nothing about this type of photography, but my favourite is the 2nd photo... lovely! I am also very fond of the 4th photo.

There is not much to learn. You have to permanently covert your camera (250$) through a company like Lifepixel. Then when you import your photo to photoshop you set the white balance to the grass and then swap all the reds to blues and then the blues to reds. Or you can leave it alone and it will look like the red one above. You can also buy an infrared filter for a regular SLR (50-80$). It works just as we'll but you need shutter speeds of 15+ seconds which basically rules out taking pictures of people or anything that moves (e.g. Clouds, blowing leaves etc)

[anthonymagister]

alright. Here are the two recrops. One I tried to lop a little of the bottom and make the tree more equidistant from the edges. The other I though maybe cutting the entire left tree out might look nice. Let me know what you think.

[ShaneS]

I like both crops but the mot important thing is for you to pick the one that you (and just maybe your wife) think best suits what you were trying to achieve with the image.

BTW, is it normal for IR shots to have the glow that these do? It may be my eyes or my monitor but I feel like they aren't super sharp but they look as if they are in focus???

[anthonymagister]

I like both crops but the mot important thing is for you to pick the one that you (and just maybe your wife) think best suits what you were trying to achieve with the image.

BTW, is it normal for IR shots to have the glow that these do? It may be my eyes or my monitor but I feel like they aren't super sharp but they look as if they are in focus???

It is not your eyes. IR images are usually known for this type if glow. It also typically has more noise than usual. Actually, PS has a filter for an 'IR' look. The filter adds a glow and some noise. I find it kind if frusterating that I can't have it sharper. Maybe more practice will help I think Nik software does a good job of sharpening IR shots but I am such a novice that I have not tried it yet. Plus it's 150$!

[ShaneS]

Interesting - thank you for the explanation.