Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“I’m walkin’, yes indeed, and I’m talkin’ ’bout you and me.”—Antoine “Fats” Domino
As I’ve written here before, I used to take a three-mile walk during the day to get some exercise, clear my head and sometimes try out new to-me camera gear. That habit continued on Daisy Hill but since my recent mobility challenges, not as much. My new doctor, and I guess my old one too, has encouraged me to get more exercise including taking walks. As my mobility has started to improve, I’m trying to get back to taking walks and am giving it a try, albeit slowly.
I got back to it starting with several PhotoWalks I made at nearby McCabe Meadows. You can read Part III of the three-part series of posts here. There are really four parts if you count my Stupid (infrared) Photographer’s Tricks post that’s linked to the others. In the future, I’m planning to return to my original walk to and around Bingham Lake, as soon as temperatures return to seasonal norms.
Bingham Lake Park
Bingham Lake Park is a 30-acre park that’s located in Douglas County, Colorado and is a quiet oasis that’s enjoyed by hikers, mountain bikers, dog enthusiasts, fisherman and photographers like me. The one-mile trail around the lake is a popular attraction for local residents as well as visitors. The lake itself is home to various warm water game species, such as large-mouth bass, black crappie, walleye, blue gill yellow perch, and channel catfish. A shelter located at the west trail head of the park is a perfect location for a picnic and a great place to chimp any digital photos you make during your walk, as you observe the waterfowl and other wildlife that frequent the lake.
How I made this shot: I attached a Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 lens at 12mm (24mm equivalent) to my Panasonic Lumix G6 that had been converted for infrared capture by Life Pixel using their Enhanced IR (665nm) filter. One of the reasons I like this combo is that it’s a compact, lightweight package that’s perfect to take on a walk. For some reason, this camera and lens got me motivated during this particular walk and I made some images that were somewhat different from the kind of shots I normally make during these walks. It was fun and if you didn’t already know it, Having Fun with Your Photography is the unofficial motto of this blog.
The Av mode exposure for the RAW file was 1/400 sec at f/13 and ISO 400. The image file was slightly cropped and tweaked in Photoshop before using Silver Efex to convert it to monochrome. Platinum toning was added with PhotoKit 2.
In future walks I plan to bring along a 35mm SLR. I don’t know which camera I’ll use, much depends on the film that’s chosen for the walk. Look for some #FilmFriday posts about these walks in the future.
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.
New copies of my book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography are currently available used from Amazon for $20.85 (plus shipping) as I write this. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and new copies are available from Amazon for $11.46 with used copies starting at a little more than six bucks, which is a heckuva deal.