Dabbling in ir photography

[the nature boy]

I've seen a lot of beautiful infrared photos online and have been tempted for some time to give it a shot. I finally found an inexpensive camera on hsolist that had been converted and decided to pull the trigger. A person can get IR filters to put on their camera but the 5 second average exposure time turned me off. Since trees are the main subject with this type of photography, it would take a perfectly calm day for that to work properly. These 3 photos were taken in the last week and it will be a couple months before I can take full advantage of this camera. Foliage is what it's all about. I'm new at this so it's going to take a lot of work before I get to where I want but it sure is an enjoyable learning process.

 

Edited March 13, 2016 by the nature boy

[eyeguy 54]

nice pics. interesting project and hope to see more.

[the nature boy]

46 minutes ago, eyeguy 54 said:

nice pics. interesting project and hope to see more.

Thanks, but it could be awhile. There is a lack of worthy subjects this time of the year. A clear sky and green trees are the perfect combination and both are rare around here this time of the year. My wife doesn't like them because even though the pic of the house scene was taken yesterday when it was close to 70 degrees, it looks like the dead of winter and my wife really hates winter. And, unlike what the original post says, and it's too late to edit it, the camera was bought off the bay, not hsolist. 

[eyeguy 54]

did a bit of reading on it and it looks like a fun thing to do. some of the pics are really neat.  my elements 11 has an ir filter that is fun to play with but i havnt figured the color part of it out.  blue sky and green foliage. soon  I might need to get a filter and explore this also.  maybe get together this summer and learn stuff. 

[the nature boy]

I actually had a filter in my BH wish list but the more I thought about having to take the tripod with me everywhere, the more I hesitated on ordering it. If I wouldn't have found this camera for about $65 more than a filter, I probably would have tried it. Before you pull the trigger on the filter, be sure to see what's involved such as having to compose and focus and then attach the filter for each shot because the view finder will be too dark to see through once the filter is on. It would take a lot of patience, which I am short of. 

[eyeguy 54]

no probs with tripod.  easy to set up. interesting on the focus. that might be tricky.  for fun I used the ir stuff in my elements 11 on a pic from last summer.  pretty neat. 

[the nature boy]

Looks pretty good.

[Canon Guy]

Very nice job nature boy.

[RebelSS]

What's an "elements 11"?  

[the nature boy]

24 minutes ago, RebelSS said:

What's an "elements 11"?  

Photoshop Elements is a cousin of Photoshop and much more affordable but powerful enough for most people.

Thanks Canon Guy.

Edited March 14, 2016 by the nature boy

[eyeguy 54]

looks like it is up to elements 14 now.  under 80 bucks.  great program for basic editing and tons of stuff for those that really want to learn. I had 6, 8 and now 11.  fun program

[eyeguy 54]

I see a lot of dandy ir pics online with color in them. I am guessing that the only way to do that is with photoshop or some program.  Or can it be done with a filter?  Or a special camera? I see color in yours nature. on cs6 I can add some color back in.  interesting.

[the nature boy]

It can be done with an IR converted camera or an IR filter and using Elements. I'm finding it quicker to use Elements 5 than my older version of Photoshop. Either will work just fine. The processing does take practice though.

[the nature boy]

I did a little more practicing this morning on the PC. 

[eyeguy 54]

fun effect. should be fun to play with once things get nice and green. I have been messing around also with photoshop so plan on not getting a filter. 

[eyeguy 54]

played with a bluejay pic from last year. 2nd has just a bit of color added back in. the sky is sweet in that last pic you did tnb.