Photo of the Week 2022-02-14

 

Continuing to work with my modified camera (an EOS M converted to dual-spectrum VIS & IR), I explore the potential of infrared during winter ...

 

'Dusky Winter Trail '

Files captured on an infrared modified camera cause me to explore many options and consider different looks. Lately I've been working with a 550nm filter which begins to transmit light in the light green and yellow range up through orange, red into near infrared. Of course the yellow, orange and red are within the visible spectrum and their inclusion adds familiar colours to the file that also includes the colourless (to human eyes) near infrared data.

 

These image files bear no resemblance to the colours seen with my eye and benefit from considerable post processing. Unashamedly, I will experiment with any number of processing programs, plug-ins and presets to create something that satisfies my creative whimsy.

The RAW file for this image received five different treatments of which the "Dusky" version above won out. The others, well, they may just stay on the hard drive as reminders of what the other possibilities are.

 

DJE

Photo of the Week 2020-03-09

Shooting as much as I do, it's easy for images to slide further and further back into lesser seen sections of the catalogue. I've taken to flagging images in various ways in an effort to minimize this. Some are flagged for future processing, others are processed and flagged as candidates for posting, still others, the best, are flagged to be printed.Still, some fall through the cracks and it's a pleasant surprise when they are "rediscovered".

Recently while performing some file maintenance on the image catalogue recently, I spotted shot that I had planned to work on but, as happens, had found a crack. Perhaps because it is and infrared capture that typically needs some processing to evaluate properly, I had not flagged it, perhaps because I was focused on another series of images. I can't recall.

"Rediscovered", I immediately flagged it and later processed it with standard Red-Blue channel swap, cropped in the Golden Ratio and processed it with a little contrast tweak.

Spring Creek - IR

This week's photo was captured one morning while exploring the backroads of the Bruce Peninsula. After making some conventional exposures of the scene, I used the infrared modified EOS M to capture this scene with 590 nm filter. 



DJE

Photo of the Weel 2019-12-09

My foray into infrared digital has had me exploring photography with unmodified DSLR's with lens mounted IR filters requiring the use of a tripod for long exposures, and infrared modified P&S camera allowing handheld exposures, and lately an infrared modified mirrorless camera. This latest camera is modified for dual-spectrum, visible and infrared sensitivity, allowing the use of various wavelength lens mounted IR filters to attain the variety of 'looks' possible with infrared. This setup is by far the most flexible and exposures can be hand held and previewed on the LCD screen..

Along the way, 550nm, 590nm, 720nm, 850nm IR filters have been used and recently a new IR filter developed by KolariVision, the IRChrome which quite closely replicates the results obtained by using Kodak Colour IR file, a.k.a Aerochrome.

The Aerochrome look can be simulated by processing exposures made with the 550nm filter, sometimes requiring a considerable amount of work in photo editing software. Unexpectedly, I encountered a resource online that helped me develop a Photoshop action that can work on visible light (non-IR) captures. I was able to achieve some very satisfying results with this method. Following are some examples ...

' almost there ' (faux Aerochrome)

morning trail light (faux Aerochrome)

that special place (faux Aerochrome)

DJE

Photo of the Week 2019-09-02

Finding your way forward in a creative life is challenging, even vexing at times. The journey is fraught with choices, decisions of where to go, what to do, which path to take. There are as many options as imagination will allow.

Having these choices provides near unlimited freedom of where you may go, literally and figuratively. Making a choice can be daunting if you over analyze as I am known to do, or ...

... it can be as easy as just taking the next step, one step at a time as they say (whoever "they" are, I've never been sure).

I've learned that for me, there needs to be some purpose in those steps. Without purpose, it's really just wandering around and although that can be alright for a brief time, if left too long, yo can wander off. The end result being that you end up just going through motions. This is where I think I've had been the last while ... how long? It doesn't matter.

What matters is getting back the feeling that I am on track and creating with some kind of intent. Hence my recent decision to get out and visit some locations that I've had on my list for a while. Last week's image was made at one of those locations and that outing spawned an idea to photograph other vintage bridges to tell their story.

This week's image is from a location that catches my ever and my interest every time I pass by. With a plan to photograph it in infrared and explore what it is that intrigues me, I set out with some purpose ... and a way forward.

DJE