Lone Bench - Infrared Shot

Crispin

Greetings all.

This image actually started off as a IR pic. I had just got a R72 and was experimenting. The image became a horrid pink colour.

I changed it to B&W and not sure if I like it.

Comments / whips?

zed

I would suggest making it a little brighter and add more contrast. Maybe clone out the bare branch at the top and just to the left of center. It is a really good image to work with though.

DragonMX

I agree with Zed. It need to be a touch brighter and a little more contrast. With it being B&W it's a bit hard to tell if it's snow on the ground or just leafs. Other than that I think it's a great shot.

Art Scott

try playing with you luminosity channels and maybe using find edges or glowing edges on it.......But over all I think it is great how ever I like the dark......Like the Quote..."They only come out at night"...GREAT SHOT.

Crispin

Thanks guys and gals.
Will play around with it.

Incase anyone interested, here's the orignal.
http://crispin.smugmug.com/gallery/996289/1/46180153

No coments on the pink please - was early days

Art Scott

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This is really cool also...sorry I just had to snatch for my reply

Steve Cavigliano

Crispin,

Not bad. You will get that reddish looking image from the camera using an IR filter. That's not only OK, it's preferable. You can do so much with those red IR images that can be difficult to do with the more greenish NightShot type IR shots. You can color them up very nicely. I know Andy is good at this and I may give it a shot when I get home if your don't mind?

As mentioned, it is kind of flat but that's easily remedied during post


Steve

Andy

Basic Infrared Post Processing
OK I moved this out of the WP becuase you're not ready to be whipped yet

Let's cover some basics on Infrared Post Processing...

1) the shots will always be red or pink
2) use channel mixer, to make it BW (50, 50, 0, check the monochrome box)
3) do an Auto Levels for contrast boost.
4) if you are experienced in Curves, you can skip 3 and do some custom curves

That's it for Basics. Yeah - there are a million ways to skin this cat. But let's take small steps first


So, here's your shot, the full scene, after steps 2, 3, and 4. It would be even more dramatic but you underexposed the shot (it's tough!) and IR really loves the bright afternoon sunshine that color hates




And then I cropped it - this of course is to my taste...




And then I applied a luminosity toning layer with the following steps:

in photoshop

ctrl-alt-~
new fill layer (solid color) and choose the color you want
chg layer blend to "color"
ctrl-i to invert (try it either way)

now use opacity, mask, either or both to fine tune. For this image, I used a 22% mocha tone.



Enjoy (Infrared) Photography,

Crispin

You don't think the pink ruins it?
Maybe adds a odd touch. In hind sight, I am uppset I did not take a "normal" pic with a warmup attached. Think that would have been nice.
Nice orange light and orange, autum leaves. Oh well, will have to wait a year now...:uhoh

Crispin

wow, Andy, thanks! Looks way cooler than mine...

I have to admit, my PS skills are limited. :uhoh Slowly (very slowly) getting there.

Andy, I found that if I set the camera's (Nikon D50) WB to PRE and get it to measure, it comes out as I expected. A oddish set of colours.

Must admit though, IR craze wore off after around, ohh, 20 shots

Thanks for the tips...

Nee7x7

Nice editing work, Andy (and a nice shot, Crispin!). Question for Andy...what sharpening did you do here? You managed to get great details out of a rather soft looking image. Your pics always seem to have a sharp, but not oversharpened look to them. What's your secret??? ~Nee

Justiceiro

OK, here comes the nooby question- I'm quite a recent arrival to digital, so go easy. I have used IR film in the past, but how do you get IR shots with a digital camera? Is it a simple matter of using a filter? I was under the impression that you had to strip the sensor in order to get good IR images. Is that not the case? Or can you get the IR in photoshop?

Crispin

Justiceiro wrote:

OK, here comes the nooby question- I'm quite a recent arrival to digital, so go easy. I have used IR film in the past, but how do you get IR shots with a digital camera? Is it a simple matter of using a filter? I was under the impression that you had to strip the sensor in order to get good IR images. Is that not the case? Or can you get the IR in photoshop?

Not true (All the time). I read everywhere you have to take a chain saw, scirros, 3 screwdrivers to remove the filter.

Point a TV remote at the camera and take a pic. If you see the light, be it dim, your camera does not have a filter.

Get a Hoyo R73, or similar, and attach. The worste thing for me was to get the WB right. I eventually got it by setting the WB to preset and getting the camera to measure it. After that, my images were "normal". prior to that, the world was pink. :

Try the remote, may need a long exposure.

Justiceiro

Crispin wrote:

Not true (All the time). I read everywhere you have to take a chain saw, scirros, 3 screwdrivers to remove the filter.

Point a TV remote at the camera and take a pic. If you see the light, be it dim, your camera does not have a filter.

Get a Hoyo R73, or similar, and attach. The worste thing for me was to get the WB right. I eventually got it by setting the WB to preset and getting the camera to measure it. After that, my images were "normal". prior to that, the world was pink. :

Try the remote, may need a long exposure.

I will try the remote when I get home (I'm currently slacking at work). Do you know if the 20D has a filter, or not? I take it you need to be in a dark room to test this, right?

Crispin

Justiceiro wrote:

I will try the remote when I get home (I'm currently slacking at work). Do you know if the 20D has a filter, or not? I take it you need to be in a dark room to test this, right?

Not sure about Canon. I have Nikon and although some claimed it did have a filter, it still works.
Yes, a dark room is easier but not essential.

Have fun - let us know.

Andy

Nee7x7 wrote:

Nice editing work, Andy (and a nice shot, Crispin!). Question for Andy...what sharpening did you do here? You managed to get great details out of a rather soft looking image. Your pics always seem to have a sharp, but not oversharpened look to them. What's your secret??? ~Nee

Hi Nee

In this case, I made a new layer, and used a gentle unsharp mask of 100, .4, 0. That's it

Nee7x7

Andy wrote:

Hi Nee

In this case, I made a new layer, and used a gentle unsharp mask of 100, .4, 0. That's it

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the info! I usually use a .2 setting, 58-100 strength and 0 on threshold, so maybe that's the problem with my pics not looking sharp enough so much of the time (or it's just that I can't hold the camera steady anymore, !).

Thanks again (and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!)
~Nee

Justiceiro

20d IS infrared sensitive
Allright, I got off my ass, stopped procrastinating, and took Crispin's advice.

At f 8, 30 second exposure, in a totally blackened room, I got a very clear purple spot using a TV remote as the only light source.

So, if I use a UV filter, how would I guage how much longer the exposure needs to be than a "normal" exposure would be. Is there a rule of thumb?

Andy

Nee7x7 wrote:

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the info! I usually use a .2 setting, 58-100 strength and 0 on threshold, so maybe that's the problem with my pics not looking sharp enough so much of the time (or it's just that I can't hold the camera steady anymore, !).

Thanks again (and a very Merry Christmas to you and yours!)
~Nee

Well, I should remind you, and everyone, that there's no set "rule" for sharpening - so remember, do it on a dupe layer, use the eyeball to turn the sharpened layer on/off and look round the image for haloes and other deformities that can be caused by too much sharpening....