Back to Infrared Photography

My recent trip to New York City and Little Island inspired me to capture some new infrared images. Before I pull out the infrared-converted camera, I look for dynamic compositions that are simple and feature strong shapes. I also like to include both foliage and sky, if I can.

Looking from Manhattan’s Lower West Side toward New Jersey, I liked the composition framed by the concrete supports of Little Island and featuring the converging lines of the pilings in the Hudson.

I processed the Super Color image today to render the water in blue and the foliage in a golden yellow. What do you think?

From Little Island in Manhattan, looking across the Hudson River to New Jersey, an infrared Super Color image.

Everglades in Infrared

Processing a digital infrared image requires experimentation. Once the image has been captured, it can be rendered in many different ways. I adjust the hue, saturation and lightness of each color one at a time and make several other technical changes — like channel swapping, levels and curve adjustments. Let’s just say that processing is a lot like cooking. The chef adjusts according to taste.

A colorful and unrealistic infrared photograph from Shark Valley, Everglades National Park.

Infrared photograph rendered in black and white, depicting wind in the Everglades.

Driftwood in Infrared

This driftwood stump caught my eye while I was walking the beach, as I noticed grasses growing out of the center. The scene spoke to me of both the passage of time and the regeneration of life, naturally occurring. Looking it over, I saw a simple composition that would be interesting to photograph with my Infrared camera.

Grasses growing out of an old tree stump on the beach in Naples, Florida. Infrared Photograph processed to grayscale and ochre with high contrast in the sky, creative choices of the artist.

Do you find this image both peaceful and intriguing? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Learning New Methods

What did you learn today? Whether your field is medicine or teaching or child rearing, I’m sure you learn something new every day. Right now I’m using these few months close to home to learn lots about processing infrared photographs. I’m finding Infrared Photography an interesting creative outlet.

After having a Sony camera converted to capture only Infrared and “SuperColor” light (over 580 nanometers), I learned how to White Balance, Channel Swap, and adjust the hue, saturation and tonality of the color captured. That may be a lot of meaningless jargon to you, but the message is this: it is all quite technical and detailed, but the tools, once mastered, are fun to play with!

Today’s share is a photograph I shot outside the Conservatory of the New York Botanical Garden on October 3. I chose the sharpen the foreground plants while fogging and softening the background. I also chose to feature the golden color we love in the Fall against the deep blue sky. All of these choices are creative ones; I like that this image is uniquely mine.

Photography