40 breathtaking examples of infrared photography

SarahLee said:
I think what Jules is alluding to is using a filter on the lens on a non converted camera -
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Ahhh... got it. I was doing some serious head scratching there. :)


That's how I always used to use IR film anyway. Fully opaque wratten IR filter.

Kodak B&W High Speed IR worked wonderfully.

Check out the eyes! I used it more for portraits than landscapes.

kYsRpzO.jpg


Digging out these IR film shots is making me feel really old LOL

D3200s are pretty damned cheap used on fleabay! :)
 
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Now that I really like - the bird adds a real bit extra to it.

Go on, go on, you know you want to buy one :)
(BTW If you don't fancy DIY, conversion costs for DSLRs were around £250 last time I looked but not sure if that's still valid.)

If you or anyone else is interested in the cheap and cheerful approach, this is what I've gone for.
Just been exchanging a couple of EMails with the seller - very helpful and knowledgable guy. I'll pop an update in here when it arrives.
 
SarahLee said:
Any examples Nod?
I'd really like to see what they come out like.
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http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=7426

As you can see, it's very low resolution (240x240 pixels) but the images do stitch together quite well. I haven't been able to remove the text and graphics but since it's really a tool rather than a "camera", I can live with it! AAMoF, I find the info quite interesting anyway! I suppose it would be easy enough to clone it all out and/or do more stitching to remove it and keep the incredible resolution...
The major downside was the cost. Makes a D70 plus conversion a very cheap alternative - in fact, you could probably get a converted D700 for the same money! But even they won't take thermographs.
 
Morning all,

Just "rejoined" TP, and as I am heavily into IR thought I'd add my 2p worth.

True IR is mono and starts at about 850nm. Now, you can get what we call "false colour" by using lower than 850nm filters. I currently have a 720nm on my Nikon D70 and I occasionally get some nice colour effects, but to do it justice you need to go down to 650nm.

Here's a sample from a recently converted Samsung WB500 at 650nm :

9247717164_410fe7b4d5_b.jpg


The orange colour on the boat is blue in normal light, as is the bridge in the background.

Personally, I like both colour and mono IR, but several blokes I have sold modded cameras to only like the mono stuff, so it's horses for courses.

More infrared using various cameras at my Flickr pages.
 
Thanks for sharing that one David. I've had a quick peek at the Flickr link too and it's pretty much convinced me to get my D70 done. I'd be more into the mono types so I reckon 720nm would do for me. Who did your conversion on the D70 and what's your PP system? I see you use CS6 - do you use an action and batch convert or does each shot need a lot of individual attention?
 
As far as cost goes you can get decent IR filters off ebay for a few quid.

I picked up one of these and it works fine, better than the Cokin one that lets in too much visible light. Straight out the camera and just pressed the B&W button in lightroom.

 
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Protech in UK do a good job on the Nikons although mine was done before they were about. Mine was done in San Diego in USA by Pro Camera Repair.

As for Pshop, I use Khromagery (free plugin) to do the colour channel swaps, then contrast, hue, saturation all manually to get the result Im after.

720nm is good for the D70, as is 650nm - then you can also stick a higher wavelength filter over the front if you like.

We have a decent set of IR togs over at AVF and I have my own IR thread there which is quite popular :) Quite a few of the guys there have cameras modded by me too :)

Just finished an Olympus C725 for another mate, it's been all go here recently !

I do have an IR tutorial I wrote a while ago if anyone is interested, I could post it in here somewhere.
 
Nod said:
Thanks for sharing that one David. I've had a quick peek at the Flickr link too and it's pretty much convinced me to get my D70 done. I'd be more into the mono types so I reckon 720nm would do for me. Who did your conversion on the D70 and what's your PP system? I see you use CS6 - do you use an action and batch convert or does each shot need a lot of individual attention?
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Now I ended up going for a weaker filter on the one I've ordered.
The advice the guy gave me was if you're undecided, go for a lower strength filter and you can always incorporate additional external filters to up the strength. Seemed a reasonable suggestion if you want the flexibility to be able to do faux colour as well as mono.
 
Quite so Sarah, a lot of guys I mod for have had the 650 fitted so they can always add a 720 or 850 on the lens, and with compacts, its easy enough. A DSLR is a tad trickier esp if you dont have live view.
 
g8ina said:
Quite so Sarah, a lot of guys I mod for have had the 650 fitted so they can always add a 720 or 850 on the lens, and with compacts, its easy enough. A DSLR is a tad trickier esp if you dont have live view.
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Sorry David - cross posted with your previous reply (rather than deliberately ignoring / talking over the top of you) but good to have it confirmed by somebody in the know :thumbs:

I think your tutorial would be a great addition here - I'd certainly appreciate it when my new toy arrives :)
 
g8ina said:
Protech in UK do a good job on the Nikons although mine was done before they were about. Mine was done in San Diego in USA by Pro Camera Repair.

As for Pshop, I use Khromagery (free plugin) to do the colour channel swaps, then contrast, hue, saturation all manually to get the result Im after.

720nm is good for the D70, as is 650nm - then you can also stick a higher wavelength filter over the front if you like.

We have a decent set of IR togs over at AVF and I have my own IR thread there which is quite popular :) Quite a few of the guys there have cameras modded by me too :)

Just finished an Olympus C725 for another mate, it's been all go here recently !

I do have an IR tutorial I wrote a while ago if anyone is interested, I could post it in here somewhere.
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Thanks for that David, you've probably gained Protech a customer!

I know I could stick a filter in front of the lens but that makes seeing what you're shooting a little awkward... Looking at the EXIF on David's shots, I see that 1/400th is achievable so easy to handhold. Noise isn't a problem - in fact, I always used to like big grain in my B&W film days!
 
Well I came home today to a missed RM delivery, which hopefully means my new toy is in the depot and I'll have it for the weekend.

Glad to see a few more getting enthusiastic about IR in here - I've enjoyed the photos in this thread and I'm hoping to see some more out and about on the forums soon.
 
and me is one happy chappy today as I just sold the Samsung WB500 for 65 quid and an Olympus C725 for 50 quid :)

Sarah, do you think we might get our own thread for Infrared as Ive done in AVF ? Just as a thread in GP for now see how it goes then if popular maybe a sub directory ?
 
g8ina said:
Sarah, do you think we might get our own thread for Infrared as Ive done in AVF ? Just as a thread in GP for now see how it goes then if popular maybe a sub directory ?
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:thumbs: Go for it.
We already have a few "Show us your xxx type shots" threads for various techniques but no IR one yet.
They're all member led, so no need for mod permission - feel free to get the ball rolling and start one off.
I may even have something to contribute after the weekend (as long as you promise no laughing :p)

I'm not sure whether "general photo feedback" or "creative" is the best spot for it, but I'd be inclined to go with general for now.

I'll be honest about it up front though - I think it's very unlikely that we'll add a new sub-forum in the future. We probably already have too many as it is.
 
Am I weird in that my 2 fav's from the bunch are the ones with bicycles? :D

I'd like to give it a try, it's one of the few things I've yet to. Dabbled a little in all the HDR, long exposures, high speed water droplets etc ... but never this. Always thought you had to rip an old camera apart and have it modified. If I could get a decent screw on filter I might give it a go?
 
Cagey75 said:
Am I weird in that my 2 fav's from the bunch are the ones with bicycles? :D

I'd like to give it a try, it's one of the few things I've yet to. Dabbled a little in all the HDR, long exposures, high speed water droplets etc ... but never this. Always thought you had to rip an old camera apart and have it modified. If I could get a decent screw on filter I might give it a go?
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No - you're not weird. I quite liked the bicycle ones too.
(or maybe we're both weird :thinking: )

I've got reasonable results with a Hoya R72 filter on an unconverted DSLR - and in fact there are a few people around who are producing really good stuff this way.
The downside I've found is that you need really long exposures for enough IR to penetrate the IR blocking filter on the sensor, so unless it's a very still day motion blur can destroy the end result.
It's a bit hit and miss depending on your body / lens combination too. Some bodies have better IR blocking filters than others which effects your exposure time and some lenses give you some weird hot spots. Not to mention that you can't ectually see anything through the viewfinder, which makes composition interesting :lol:

Good fun and relatively cheap for just dabbling and playing around with it though.
 
Cagey75 said:
Am I weird in that my 2 fav's from the bunch are the ones with bicycles? :D

I'd like to give it a try, it's one of the few things I've yet to. Dabbled a little in all the HDR, long exposures, high speed water droplets etc ... but never this. Always thought you had to rip an old camera apart and have it modified. If I could get a decent screw on filter I might give it a go?
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Yep, Sarah has it spot on, the down side of external filter use is the need for those long exposures. But if you want an easy camera to mod have a look at a Sony DSC-P93a, or similar. Its so easy, 8 screws and a swapped filter and you are done.

Heres one from a Sony I did last year and took to Malta with me :
5453110905_675e82687c_b.jpg
 
Well Saturday turned out to be a bit busy, so I didn't get chance to go to the post office depot until this morning.
Instead of posting in here, I've put something in the Shopping, Suppliers and Bargains area if anyone is interested : http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=494858

So far nothing more to show for it than a few quick test shots, rattled off while walking the dog this morning, but hopefully I'll get something worthy of the photo sharing sections over the next week ;)

Good to see some more examples being shared in here and in the other thread :)
 
I too like to dabble with IR, and one day will get a DSLR converted so that I can do it properly. At the moment I'm using a Canon Ixus 115, and simply hold a 720nm filter over the lens (and occasionally get my fingers in the way). I've tried to get some with the Nikon D7000, but it doesn't seem to want to play, and I can't get it to take the necessary custom white balance.

923098_10201148839113664_30084019_n.jpg


I love the insane colours of the old Kodak IR Ektachrome, and would love for someone to design a plug-in or custom firmware that would replicate it.
 
You will find the newer the camera, the worse the response with just a filter in front of the lens. The hotmirror filters are getting better and better at removing the infrared.

But for a handheld filter I rather like that shot :)
 
For an £80 pocket camera, it's a corker. The only issues in using it for IR are ISO noise (which - if I wasn't so lazy - I could reduce by sticking it on a tripod), and you get a big IR hot spot in the middle of the lens as you zoom in.

It will also let me take white balance readings off all manner of stupid things, allowing me all sorts of colour combinations.
 
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