Opportunistic Shooting

Ferry and Couple

Although I anticipate many shots and execute them when conditions agree with my intentions, and I stake out some shots and wait for the light, sometimes just being alert pays off. This was the case today when a friend and I were checking out art galleries in Seattle. Returning to my car parked under the Alaskan Way viaduct near Pioneer Square, I saw a ferry approaching the terminal, some nice clouds in the sky, good side light, and a couple deep in conversation on a bench by the water.
Because I knew I'd be parked in Seattle, I had not brought my bag of "real" camera gear, instead opting to carry my infrared-converted Canon G10 in my "European shoulder bag" (not a purse). Actually it is an Ace Leather (of Whidbey) shoulder bag. Anyway, I was happy to have it and here is the result.

More Canon G10 Infrared (IR) Images

On a couple of puffy-cloud days this week I worked with the IR camera again. This time I used DXO Optics Pro to convert the raw files. Since it works based on profiles for specific camera/lens/focal length/ISO, many issues that might otherwise be bothersome are dispatched with ease.

This Coupeville house just looked interesting with the cloud behind it. I used the auto white balance setting provided by the camera, used DXO's ability to do film look emulations, then applied medium-high contrast. The B&W film look I chose for this was Ilford XP2.

For this image of the barn at Jenne Farm, I simply applied a curves adjustment, then in the HSL section (hue, saturation, lightness) I set saturation to 0 to convert to black & white. Remember that the IR images have some color content as they come from the camera.

For this shot of the same barn I tweaked quite a bit: highlight recovery strong, black point 99, local contrast 43, then in color mode I chose the sepia gold toning with medium-high contrast and grain 0.

Finally, for this shot of the Jenne farm house and barn, I used color mode b&w, high contrast and daylight white balance. Note that without the b&w conversion, daylight white balance produces a major red cast as one would expect of a color IR image.

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.