# Infrared Photography



## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Photography has been one of my earliest hobbies -- at the ripe age of 5, I clicked my first camera handed down from my grandpa: an old 4.5x6 Exakta, basically a black cube with some flip-up square wires on top that were supposed to help framing the shots.

Always accompanied by a light meter, I upgraded to my dads 35mm Exa, worked my way through the 80's with slide film and a trusty Praktika that finally featured TTL metering (a little wiper that needed to be moved to the middle of a circle by rotating various controls).

Spent the 90's with a Canon EOS, still shooting slide film. Around 2000 digital became a serious contender to film. My first foray into P&S cameras with a Canon Axx (2MP, who would ever need more), soon replaced by a more capable Powershot G3 (4MP, that'll really be more than enough).

In 2007 I got bitten by the (now D)SLR bug again, and bought a used 20D. Since then the G3 had been sitting unused. After just a few years, there is just too much technical advance in that area to recover even part of the initial price.










A couple of years ago I stumbled across the first IR photos and this writeup, which outlined a conversion procedure for Canon G series cameras.










I wasn't adventurous enough to replace the hotmirror filter with a piece of glass, so I looked for places that would either do the conversion or provide the filter. There are (among others) two companies who do that: LifePixel and MaxMax. I am sure they do an outstanding job, but it comes at a price that I wasn't willing to pay. Searching around on the famous auction site, I came across a gentleman (leicaleicam6m6) who would do the IR conversion of my G3 for less than a third of what the others were charging. 










He replaced the IR blocking filter with a Hoya R72, adjusted the focus and custom white balance, and I had my renewed G3 back in a couple days. After about 30 seconds of ripping the package apart and popping a battery in I ran out and started to click. After a few levels adjustments in Photoshop my neighborhood looks as alien as the image above.

This is only the start... nowadays there is a lot of great images and instructions/information available via your preferred search engine. What you see are really "false colors", white-balanced and adjusted from the few red hues that the filter let's through. For example, this is a picture of a pink Osteospermum with a dark purple center:










You can't really map colors in infrared, different materials reflect IR differently, no matter what their color is in our visible spectrum. The image above of some nectarines and leaves shows you how most plants turn white in IR photography. Black jackets turn white, black eyes turn translucent with a tiny pupil, waxy skin, and the vampires are here.










Swapping red and blue channels in PS leads to a more pleasing bluish sky and golden leaves. Of course, turning things monochrome is another great option. While my neighbors houses are cool, I am looking forward to get out to the Ocean and mountains.

(And to get it out of the way... IR photos of fish tanks are just boring)


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Nice! IR does make ordinary photos special.

Have you tried HDR?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Yes, a little bit. Most images don't need a range of 10+ stops, and it's easy to make them look really ugly with HDR. :smile:

Actually I posted a tank shot that was HDR'd here.


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## stewardwildcat (Feb 24, 2010)

So where did you send your camera to be changed over? This is awesome!


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

If you search on ebay for Canon IR conversion it should pop up. He is only doing Canon G series at the moment.


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## daclozer (Apr 19, 2009)

Nice shots. I shoot some IR also, but I still have my trusty K1000 and red filter to do it with. I have a spare digital Rebel that just keep as a back up to my back up 30D. I am contemplating having it converted.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Edit: Never mind... :l


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Thanks for the replies! You are welcome to post your IR pics in this thread.

There are really two ways to shoot IR with digital cameras:
*
1) Add an IR filter to an unmodified camera*

If your camera hot mirror filter is less than perfect, it will let some of the IR pass. You can test this simply with a TV remote control: If the IR LED shows up lit on the cameras LCD screen, you are in business. Buy an IR filter, perhaps a lens adapter extension (like the LensMate), and a tripod.

*Advantage:* You can still use your camera to shoot regular color.
*Disadvantage:* Since the filter is basically black, exposure time increases a lot (requiring a tripod and motionless subjects), and framing the shot can be difficult.

*2) Convert your camera to IR*

The internal IR blocking hot mirror filter can be replaced either by a clear piece of glass (allowing for IR, UV, and regular color photos depending on the filter) or by an IR filter.

*Advantage:* Exposure times are similar to regular photography. Autofocus as well as the LCD viewfinder can be used. You can preview your IR shots as you take them.
*Disadvantage:* Irreversible change to your camera, no more regular color photography if hot mirror filter is replaced by IR filter.

daclozer -- Keep in mind that some of the Canon lenses are not suitable for IR photography, they create some weird spot or halo. So depending on what you have you might need to consider the cost of new lenses as well.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I could hardly wait to take my new toy out to the nearby mountains. Over 100 infrared shots, a lot to process... here are a few examples.










This is pretty much the post-apocalyptic quality of images coming coming out of the white-balanced camera. I increased the contrast (they look very flat originally) and removed a bit of the noise in the blue, uh, brown sky.










Switching the red and blue channels leads to a more pleasing blue sky. Unfortunately, no nice fluffy clouds in the sky which would have done a lot to improve the images. There is some fog in the valley in front of the Los Padres mountain range. Well, something to look forward to.










Image above shows the IR "Wood Effect": foliage reflecting IR light similar to snow reflecting visible light. Image after a simple channel swap, and some brightening of the shaded shrubs in front.










After creating the blue sky, some of the prior coloration can be painted back, and contrast increased via a faded "equalize". I overdid this one for sure.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

And finally, a few more. IR photography teaches you to look at things differently. Shapes, contrasts over colors. 

One early morning, nice clouds made me drive around in my neighborhood and click away at some agricultural settings. Common subjects become quite special when looked at in infrared.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

man, you sure do know how to use a camera.


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