Infrared photography

[stephan00]

I'm sure that there are a few people here at CR who are more than experienced in IR-photography, so here I go

Recently I could use a friend's converted 1200D to take some photos and was glad about it, because I'd been thinking of either getting an IR-filter or a cheap body and converting it. However, even though the results are quite different from what one usually gets (of course), I was unable to create the look of the "typical" IR-photos found on the web.

I am fully aware that the maximum benefit can only be enjoyed with photos of landscapes with a lot of green and sunshine, but was hoping for something a bit better.

My search on the web did turn up a lot of pages with a lot of tips and tricks, but none was really helpful :-( My friend claims that he did a proper custom wb with grass, but I didn't have time to check it. Also, with regards to the post-processing, my friend converts all his images straight to b/w, so I can't ask him.

Here are first the raw-image straight out of the camera, which to me still looks very red; next one, where I fiddled around in lightroom, reducing saturation of red to -100, and making small adjustments to contrast, clarity, etc., nothing big. The last one is obtained by swapping the red and blue channel in creative-suite, which is already closer, but since I do almost all of my stuff in lightroom I'm not the cs-whiz.

Any ideas, tips, tricks, etc. - or is the swapped image already as good as it gets and I was unlucky with the weather (and perhaps choice of subject)?

Thanks,
Stephan

P.S.: The raw-file can be found here, just in case https://www.dropbox.com/l/lYSUlxw38NCsaJi6TVlzMq

 

[fugu82]

Here is a link to a good tutorial on IR processing:


http://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/an-in-depth-guide-to-infrared-photography-processing--photo-9540

 

[stephan00]

Thanks, will have a look at it - looks just like the think I was looking for

 

[BeenThere]

Try this in LR. First convert to B & W. Next use the color luminosity adjustment sliders in the red and magenta channels to get the luminosity balance you want. The other color channels don't have any effect. Next do whatever curves and clarity adjustments that work best. You can now take into one of the B & W plug-ins like Nik if you have one. This a B&W only work flow. For color effects other techniques are used.

 

[RustyTheGeek]

** HIJACK ALERT **

Sorry OP but I can't resist! This is somewhat related...

Who has performed an IR camera conversion, WHAT IR CONVERSION SERVICE/COMPANY DID YOU USE and what are your best tips for success?
(So I'm sort of combining my question with the OP's question.)

So far, it seems LifePixel is a good call but I know there are others.

 

[fugu82]

I have used LifePixel and Kolari Vision and can recommend them both. They have really helpful [and much-needed] info on their websites, too.

My best tips for IR success would be to be patient, expect a pretty righteous learning curve, and to double-check your focus.

 

[RLPhoto]

First it's very important to know what wavelength of IR conversion is installed on your rebel. Once you know, visit lifepixel.com on some of the IR processing techniques. You'll have to make a custom profile for LR using the Adobe profiler on a .DNG. You'll never be able to slide the WB enough either way to get the correct inversion you'll need to do later in photoshop and the profile will allow you to do that.

I have a T1IR camera and it's a pain to get setup with a profile and for a temporary fix, you can set a custom WB in camera, shoot raw+jpg, then invert the colors in the .jpg in PS to get an idea of what your raw should look like. Lifepixel.com has great info on that.

 

[stephan00]

Apparently the 1200D I used was converted for a wavelength of 670 nm, and it was done by Optic Makario in Germany: http://www.optic-makario.de/ . Don't know about other companies, but they get the autofocus working, so no need to mess with the IR-markings on the lenses.

 

[stephan00]

So, following the advices with a dng-profile and the basic tutorial at lifepixel, this is the preliminary result. Although far from finished this looks already very much like the "typical" ir-photos. I'm also including one where there actually was a bit of blue sky and sunshine on the forest (also preliminary).

Thanks a lot for the pointers

Maybe just one more question, if I may: given the fact that one probably has to touch each ir-photo anyway, do you use those customizable actions to do a quick-and-dirty conversion and do the fine-tuning afterwards, or do you go through all the photos one-by-one?