Infrared Photography

Never one to leave well enough alone, I sent my Canon G10 camera to have it converted to a dedicated infrared camera. NOTE: if you decide to have a camera converted by Lifepixel, as I did, please use my name as referrer; it won't cost you more but I'll make a few bucks. I chose the extended color option for my camera, which includes a sensor filter that accepts a wider light range. The idea is that this provides more to work with in creating what's known as "false color" IR images.
Here are some samples from today.


First is a "straight" image, right out of the camera with minor tweaking in Adobe Camera Raw. This is Dugualla Bay, by the way, on the northeast side of Whidbey Island. Low clouds obliterate the Cascades.



Next we have a grainery on Ebey's Prairie, framed by a pine branch. The top image is before processing. The bottom image is after a black & white adjustment layer and a curves adjustment layer in Photoshop CS4.


Finally, we have the blockhouse at Coupeville's Sunnyside Cemetery. To give it a traditional infrared look, I processed in Adobe Camera Raw with a minus clarity setting, producing more glow. Then I used a channel mixer layer to turn the red sky blue. Notice how the flag is burned out even though the rest of the image is well exposed. IR really reflects differently off of different materials. That seems to be why it can make what would ordinarily be a boring scene come to life.

Some things I think I've learned from my first IR outing include:

• Look for a variety of foliage, deciduous and conifer trees, crops, grasses.
• Look for cloud texture.
• Look for bright light (it's still a point-and-shoot camera with a tiny sensor).

Obviously, I need experience to optimize my raw and post-processing. I should try a polarizing filter. So far I have not noticed a "hot spot" problem with this camera/lens; that may vindicate my decision to stick to the P+S camera rather than converting a DSLR.