Today’s Post by Joe Farace
As a wise man once said, “It won’t be long now…”
Although Spring may have already sprung where you live, real Spring in Colorado seems just around the corner. And for me that means it’s time for more infrared photography, although I have been playing around with it this winter.
The above image was made at McCabe Meadows park near Parker Colorado and was shot with a Canon EOS SL3 and a EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM kit lens (at 24mm) with a Hoya 58mm R72 Infrared Filter. Exposure was one sec at F/8 and ISO 6400 in Auto ISO mode. High ISO settings are endemic when shooting with the dense, almost black IR filters, as you can see below. The RAW file was processed in Silver Efex Pro and platinum toned using PhotoKit with a dash of Glamour Glow from Color Efex added for some IR glow.
As a way for trying infrared photography this summer, you might think about attending one of the Introduction to Infrared workshops that will be held on select on Saturdays during Summer 2022, look for dates soon. The workshops will be held at McCabe Meadows and you don’t need an IR-converted camera to attend, although I will have one on hand to show the difference between using one or using on-lens filters. This is a 90-minute hands-on workshop about making digital infrared images with your own cameras. We’ll kick off with a brief discussion of capture options, then we’ll walk around the park and make some IR photographs. Each participant will be able to shoot using different kinds of filters making infrared images with your own camera but you will need a tripod when shooting the filters that I will let you use during the workshop.
I’ve found that Life Pixel does a great job with IR conversions and they’ve done most of the conversions for my Canon DSLRs and all of my Panasonic Lumix G-series cameras. This is not a paid or sponsored endorsement, just my experience.
My book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography is available from Amazon for $17.79 with used copies starting around $13.79 as I write this. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and is available from Amazon for $9.39 with used copies starting around two bucks, as I write this.