First shot at Infra Red

[Musicman]

Having bought an Infra-Red converted Sony NEX 5 from Lee O'D on this very forum, I took it out for a spin yesterday lunch time to see what I could do with the kit lens and a couple of my Contax CZ primes.

A crash course in finding the right white balance and channel swapping in Photoshop led to these...

1.


Tower Bridge IR by cybertect, on Flickr


2.


Pool of London IR by cybertect, on Flickr


3.


Heavy Petal IR by cybertect, on Flickr


4.


City Hall IR by cybertect, on Flickr


5.


IR III by cybertect, on Flickr

 

[pbucks]

Really like the colours and crispness of 1 and 2.
Keep getting drawn back to number 3 for some reason I can't quite put into words, but I like it.
4 and 5 don't really do anything for me, sorry.

 

[arclight]

Really like the colours and crispness of 1 and 2.
Keep getting drawn back to number 3 for some reason I can't quite put into words, but I like it.
4 and 5 don't really do anything for me, sorry.

I agree except that 1 and 3 catch me as particularly striking. I think the human interest aspect of 3 has a strong appeal (sort of real people in an unreal setting)

 

[Musicman]

I probably wouldn't disagree with those assessments. Thanks.

#1 is a very familiar scene, so maybe that accentuates the otherworldly air that the IR colours present. Besides, it has the best light of any of them...

I'm a bit of a sucker for the patterns that shadows make, which was why I included #5.

 

[carlcurtis83]

I like these and would love to give it a go. Is there any kind of IR filters out there that would give me the oppurtunity to do so without shedding cash on a converted camera?

 

[Coyon]

I like these and would love to give it a go. Is there any kind of IR filters out there that would give me the oppurtunity to do so without shedding cash on a converted camera?

Yes is the short answer!
You'll need a tripod and a long exposure- a lot like using an ND10 filter.
The filters vary by the wavelengths of light they cut out. If you want 'false colour' images like Rob's above you want something like a 580nm filter. 720nm and upwards will result in more monochromatic/B&W images.
Here's a bit of a side by side:
http://www.kolarivision.com/filterchoices.html

You can pick up an IR filter from SRB for about £20-£30 which they guestimate are around 775nm
http://srb-photographic.co.uk/infrared-filters-730-c.asp

BTW Conventional wisdom is that you can't meter through these filters- but my 5D mark i will happily do so.

 

[Coyon]

Rob I like the 3rd shot too BTW! Particularly the 'Why the hell are all your flowers blue?' look on the woman's face.

 

[Musicman]

Rob I like the 3rd shot too BTW! Particularly the 'Why the hell are all your flowers blue?' look on the woman's face.

Thanks Dan, and also for the filter info for carlcurtis83. I'm a total noob with IR.

 

[carlcurtis83]

Yes is the short answer!
You'll need a tripod and a long exposure- a lot like using an ND10 filter.
The filters vary by the wavelengths of light they cut out. If you want 'false colour' images like Rob's above you want something like a 580nm filter. 720nm and upwards will result in more monochromatic/B&W images.
Here's a bit of a side by side:
http://www.kolarivision.com/filterchoices.html

You can pick up an IR filter from SRB for about £20-£30 which they guestimate are around 775nm
http://srb-photographic.co.uk/infrared-filters-730-c.asp

BTW Conventional wisdom is that you can't meter through these filters- but my 5D mark i will happily do so.

Thanks very much for the info coyon, just what I wanted to hear