My series of black and white—or monochrome , if you prefer—photography posts in honor of Black Friday continues today. Until Friday, all of the images in the series will be about black and white imagery,
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” ― John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America
There’s color, black and white and then there’s the kind of monochrome images that can be captured with invisible light. The wavelength of every color of light is measured in nanometers (nm) or one billionth of a millimeter. Light with wavelengths ranging from 700 and 900nm can be called infrared light. This band of infrared light is a thousand times wider than that of visible light yet is totally invisible to our eyes. What does that mean for you? Making infrared photographs has the power to transform mundane subject matter into unforgettable images. Everyday scenes that you might walk by and never think of photographing, take on a more dramatic look when seen in infrared, even in Winter.
Infrared in Winter
Why shoot infrared images in the Winter? After all, in traditional infrared—spring and summer IR— photography, the Wood Effect produces bright to white reproduction of the chlorophyll layer that’s found in deciduous plants.
I’ve been making digital infrared images during winter when the only leaves on the trees are on evergreens, like the Ponderosa Pines found in my back yard. Evergreen trees don;t respond to infrared photography as dramatically as deciduous tree but my experience has shown that there can be some kind of visual response
Why shoot IR in Winter? Well, I can think of a few reasons: First of all, to my mind, digital infrared capture works perfectly well even when there’s snow on the ground. Oh, you may say, those kind of images look more like classic black and white photography shot with a red filter. While that’s partially true, it’s not completely true because infrared capture reveals hidden aspects of the subject that traditional photography can not see. Second, I enjoy infrared photography and I don’t want to relegate my enjoyment of it to certain times of year or when traveling to tropical climes. (My friend Juan Pablo in Costa Rico tells me that I would love making IR images in his country and I believe him. If only….)
How I made this photograph: Most of the landscape photographs I make these days is related to my interest in infrared photography and occasionally with film photography. I especially enjoy the look that;s produced by digital infrared converted cameras when making photographs such as the feature image.
The camera I used was an old—introduced in 2008—16.05-megapixel Panasonic Lumix G5 that was converted by LIfe Pixel using their Standard IR (720nm) filter. It was shot with a Lumix G Vario 12-32/F3.5-5.6 kit lens. Yes, this is the same lens I wrote abut in my post, Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer, but this particular image seems acceptably sharp to me. Using IR capture helps here because it cuts through any atmospheric haze. The Av exposure was 1/160 sec at f/11 and ISO 400. I really hate to shoot at much higher ISO setting with camera that have this smaller sensor, although there may be other issues related to the age of the camera. My friend Barry Staver”s IR images, shot with a Lumix GH4, look significantly better than mine..
The magenta colored RAW file (see above right) image was converted to monochrome using Silver Efex’s High Structure (Harsh) preset, which I applied twice before adding Platinum toning from PhotoKit to warm it up a bit.
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 my Panasonic Lumix G-series cameras. This is not a paid or sponsored endorsement, just my experience.
Used copies of my book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography are currently available from Amazon starting around $33, as I write this. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and new copies are available from Amazon for $16.16 with used copies starting at less than seven bucks, which seems like a heckuva deal.