Infrared Photography Methodology and Post-processing Workflows

[Randall Cipriano]

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Guys,

Please share your Infrared photography pre and post-processing workflows here whether filter based using screw-on filters like the Hoya R72 and the Cokin 89B which are the most widely available filters locally or a camera with a modified low-pass filter.

I'll start off with my own methods. Some people have already asked about the IR workflow I used in my American War Memorial tree shot and those from the Wawa/La Mesa EB.

But before anything else, I'd like to reiterate the science behind Infrared filters on a previous thread.

An IR filter is a nearly opaque glass filter which filters out nearly all visible light and lets through a certain wavelength of Infrared light.

For example, the Hoya R72 Infrared filter will let through anything above 720nm in wavelength. Anything under that rating, won't reach the sensor. In relation, visible light, or the light that we can see is at a wavelength of 400nm - 700nm. Below or above that is invisible to us. So infrared photography is just like photographing the invisible.

Anything that is reflecting or emitting a high amount of infrared will be white in an infrared exposure. The lower the IR the darker the image will be. IR does not generally work at night, indoors, nor in deep shadow as there is no Solar IR present. Though an electric coil stove does emit IR hehe. A bright sunlit scene is the best for IR photography.

Disclaimer: I cannot guarantee that this workflow will work as stated with other brands and models except for the Pentax K10D and the Hoya R72 IR filter. Different cameras and models have different exposure times. Though, the Pentax K10D has a similar (loooooooong) exposure time with the Nikon D80 (as tested with Jetty Remigios' D80) and I assume the same goes with the Sony A100 and the Nikon D40x since they all use the same 10mp Sony CCD sensor. The Pentax K100D and the Nikon D40 also use the same 6mp Sony sensor and they also seem to have similar exposure times for IR capable of handheld shooting. I haven't used the Cokin yet so I can't be sure of the output too.

Here is the workflow I did for the AWM Tree:

Shot #1




Shot #2



By the way, with long exposure IR cameras like the K10D and D80, you have to place the viewfinder cap to avoid light leaks coming from the viewfinder. I didn't know this at the time and as you can see, there are horizontal color banding in the above pictures.


Now for the Wawa and La Mesa IRs, this is the workflow I used on all of them:



As you can see from my images, I generally go for the peachy colored trees instead of pure white ones to get a difference in contrast with the clouds and skies. If you want whiter plants, just adjust or add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer and change the Reds to a 0% saturation. Or use Selective Color. You can also adjust the saturation in ACR beforehand.

I hope someone finds this helpful. Thank you for reading!

Here are some resources for other IR workflows:
http://dpfwiw.com/ir.htm
http://www.lifepixel.com/digital-inf...tructions.html
http://www.lifepixel.com/videos/basi...shop-info.html
http://www.xdeltax.com/infrared/index.html
http://www.wmphotos.com/Links/8a-Nikon%20D100.htm
http://www.naturfotograf.com/UV_IR_rev00.html

PS. Please forgive the grammatical errors above, editing, resaving and reuploading the images is quite cumbersome. :[

[karlopaulino]

Thanks for the workflow idol!

[alistaire_ong]

wow, i'm sure a lot will be thankful for this randall.. i'm one of them! i'm planning on buying an IR filter and this is really a big help when i'm already starting IR photography...

cheers bro,
alistaire

[Randall Cipriano]

You're welcome Karlo and Alistaire.

IR EB na 'to! Hehe.

[Red Dungca]

@Randall,

Thanks a lot for unselfishly sharing your IR workflow. I hope to shoot with you someday when I get to have that IR filter. Lets set an IR eyeball, Louie, Roger, Darryl and Armand have already express their intention to join

Thanks again bro!

[raymondgayondato]

all hail king randall! all hail elitist! all hail pentax!

[Randall Cipriano]

Sure Red! Just tell me when and where. Pero be sure not to leave us behind, your invincible camera is IR handheld capable unlike mine which needs bulb LOL!

[Red Dungca]

Invincible? haha So far its ok, I'm still praying it is

Do have any place in mind? I'm thinking of Tagaytay...anyway lets set that if I already have the filter with me. Hats of to you bro!

[Randall Cipriano]

all hail king randall! all hail elitist! all hail pentax! http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/8152/worshipjy6.gif

Why thank you high and mighty Gayondato. Glory be to Canon as well. :p

Thanks for lending me the R72 aka "Ligaya" the first time. This all started because of you hehe. Now my wallet is 2,600 bucks lighter.

[Randall Cipriano]

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Invincible? haha So far its ok, I'm still praying it is

Do have any place in mind? I'm thinking of Tagaytay...anyway lets set that if I already have the filter with me. Hats of to you bro!

A nice place would be those with alot of greens and reflecting water which is quite nice for the traditional B&W IRs too. I'll just stay tuned for the future EBs.

Cheers!