Infrared Photography

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Hi all, first off, sorry if this is in the wrong place.

So I have recently purchased an Infrared Converted camera, I have read up on infrared a bit and have decided to try it. So, my question is, I have seen infrared images, and the colours in them are different to normal, and when I shoot with the IR converted camera, the images are good, however the sort of come out with a blueish tint to them, I haven’t really been able to get out since purchasing the camera to try with it in great detail, so I don’t know if I’m missing anything, if you search up infrared photography, that’s what I want my images to look like, basically what comes up. I’m trying to shoot in colour, so although I like the look of Black and White, colour is what I’m aiming for.

Is it something that people do in editing to achieve that sort of effect? Or can it be done in camera to some extent? Thanks

I have previously used canons, and the IR converted camera is a Sony, so I’m not to familiar with the controls so I am having a play around and getting faniliar with it.

Thanks for the help, if you require any more info just ask, thanks.
 
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Welcome Zeddy,

To get faux colour IR images you need to do a bit of channel swapping in PS really.

You don't say what IR wavelength your camera can let through but basically the lower the wavelength in nm (nanometers) the more colour will be recorded. My Panasonic G3 has a full spectrum filter over the sensor so will record Ultraviolet, visible and Infrared light. I use a 720 nm filter on the lens.

Firstly ensure you take a manual white balance reading off green grass or foliage and save it as a custom WB (this will render foliage white)

In the Photoshop colour channel mixer you need to swap the red and blue channels

So in the red channel bring the slider down to 0 with the blue set to 100

In the blue channel set the red to 100 and the blue to 0.

You can make adjustments to all 3 colours (in all 3 source channels) to your liking.


Hope this helps to get you started.


I found this site useful when starting out: https://www.slrlounge.com/basic-channel-swapping-quintessential-guide-world-infrared/


Terry.
 
Hi, thanks for both of your help. I have messed around a little bit and I started to change the white balance and they started turning out as mentioned above, I haven’t had chance to edit them, so I’m going to try that. Thanks again :D
 
I found I had to build my own dng profile for infrared because there wasn't enough room on the sliders to get the white balance where I wanted it.

e.g. https://kolarivision.com/post-infra...l-setting-white-balance-infrared-photography/

If you're getting a blue tint to your images it sounds like you have a 720nm+ conversion which cuts out most of the visible light (which is where you get the colour from). High wavelength conversions are best used for black & white because more colour wavelengths are filtered out. If you want false colour, it's generally regarded that you go for lower wavelengths (mine is a 590nm conversion) which allows more visible light through, which results in more colourful images. These have a natural red tint to them unprocessed.

The thing about conversions is that you can get (for example) a 590nm converted camera and slap a 720nm filter on the front to go black & white (removing more colour from the scene) but you can't go the other way. This is one reason why I got the shortest wavelength conversion. I have a set of longer wavelength filters should I decide to do B&W.

That's my understanding anyway.
 
Edit to add an illustration. These are the same test shot taken with my unmodified 590 (far right) then a range of different filters.
All images are the raw unconverted imports straight out of camera.

gEPsOFr.jpg


From L-R: 950nm, 850nm, 760nm, 720nm & 590nm
As you can see, very little colour is retained in the longer wavelengths.
Oh, and welcome to TP!
 
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I have a 720nm converted camera - in Lightroom the images all look a deep red SOOC.

Step 1 is basic processing in DXO Optics pro, which deals with the red cast & I usually add a little micro-contrast & reduce highlights/boost shadows a bit.
Step 2 is into GIMP (free - I don't have PS) where I colour-swap red & blue channels
Step 3 is into On1 Effects to adjust & boost colours, crisp the image up a bit.
Steo 4 is into LR for final levels and polish.

IR image-2714 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr

IRsnowgrass-2856 by Toni Ertl, on Flickr
 
Sorry to hijack this thread button it is the most recent IR one. Has anyone tried IR with an iPhone/other camera phone. I just had a bulb moment and wondered if iPhones had IR filters. Turns out that since iPhone 4 they have had what Apple calls a “hybrid IR filter” on the main camera but the rear cameras of both iPhone and iPad have no IR filter. Using a tv remote pointing at the rear camera this seems to be correct as it “sees” the flashes when the remote is clicked.
(I thought the front camera on the iPad was detecting it too but one of the remotes I used has a visible light indicator which was showing through the front of the remote)
 
You could try taping an IR-pass filter over the camera lens & see what you get - some DSLRs haven't had IR filters on the sensor & this works with them.
 
You could try taping an IR-pass filter over the camera lens & see what you get - some DSLRs haven't had IR filters on the sensor & this works with them.
Yes, that looks like the way to go — cheap enough too, thanks.
 
I feel like WH Fox Talbot must have felt. I don’t have an IR pass filter handy but a bit of googling tells me that the magnetic material in a floppy disk can be used for making IR flashlights so I’ve tried that as a filter on the front camera. It clearly passes IR as tested with tv remote but there is nothing showing on the screen in normal daylight. However I tried a 0.5 sec exposure and got this image of my street entrance on a dull rainy day:
full


Which maybe just a red filter or maybe IR.
Edit. I think maybe it’s just a deep red filter effect since the leaves are so dark :mad:
 
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