infra red; take 1

This is my first attempt at an infra red image.  First serious attempt that is.  

I did have a go once before, but I had no idea what I was doing.  I just stuck an infra red filter in front of the lens and hoped for the best.  Because the filter blocked out virtually all daylight, I could hardly see the image on the screen.  The resulting shutter speed was so low that I needed a tripod.  It was all a big faff and the end result was rubbish.

Then someone suggested getting a camera converted to infra red.  Ignore the next bit if you’re not interested in the technicalities.

It turns out mirrorless cameras and compact cameras are ideal for converting to IR.  Because there’s no mirror in the camera (unlike a DSLR) the light from the subject falls directly on the sensor.  Stick a filter in front of the sensor (not in front of the lens) and hey presto (thanks to the wonders of live view), a clear image appears on the screen (or in the viewfinder).  You can actually see what you’re taking - which means no tripod, no slow shutter speeds - I can just snap away as normal.

Because Anniemay and I use Olympus cameras, I bought an old secondhand Olympus EM10 body on eBay and sent it off to have an infra red filter fitted.  And this is the result.

OK - it’s not quite as simple as that.  There is still some work to do processing the image.  And I still have stuff to learn.  You need to set a custom white balance for IR images and it’s best to shoot in RAW.  I did neither of these - had I done so, I would have had more scope to manipulate the tones produced by the camera.  

So back to school for a bit.

And why bother?  

Because I like the idea of shooting infra red landscapes.  They’re best shot in Summer in the middle of the day, when the sun is shining.  Completely the opposite of everything we’re told about landscape photography.  So no getting up at some unearthly hour of the morning in the cold and the wet.  And during the ‘Golden Hour’ just before sunset, I’ll have my feet up with a glass of something.


The extra shows another attempt.

Anniemay suggested I add it to the Mono Monday 'Lines' challenge.  So I wrote a lot of lines to add to the couple in the image.