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IR Photography


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4 replies to this topic

#1
Thumper

Thumper

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I ordered two Hoya IR filters (a 77mm and a 58mm) last week from B&H.   The first shot produced with my new IR filters.

 

i-ZgfXd3B-L.jpg

 

15 second exposure, ISO 400, f/8.  (77mm filter on 10-24mm Nikkor).   

 

I took several shots to produce this particular shot as I was trying to figure out the right combination of settings that would make for a good image. I did get a bit of motion blur from the wind hitting the tree limbs as I was shooting longer exposures. (You just have to accept that wind is a fact of life in the Texas Panhandle).   I tried a few more shots the following night and I learned that the filters require a fair amount of light in order to work at all.   I tried a few shots on the East side of my house when the sun was setting.  There just wasn't enough light regardless of what ISO or shutter speed that I used.   

 

At this point, the filters have given me the ability to shoot true IR without having to convert one of my cameras to a dedicated IR platform.  The drawbacks to using the filters vs a dedicated IR body are that I have to setup the focus and composition prior to installing the filter (as I cannot see through the filter using the viewfinder on the camera).   My AF system will still focus through it, I found out, but I have no idea what it is that I am actually focusing on when the filter is in place if I don't set it up beforehand.  If I decide that I am going to be using IR a lot, then I will probably opt for a dedicated body through LifePixel. (The cost for doing that is really not that bad).  But for now, the filters are fantastic for what I am using them for.   (That can always change).  

 

 

I'll post more when I take some more shots.



#2
Jerry_

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Thumper, nice shot

Remembers me the days when I occasionally shot IR on film.

Your explanation makes me consider to also order these filters :)
Also from your post I get that the filter lets no visible light through (well this is what it should do), but that the focussing is still fine (would be interesting to find out what wavelengths they use for focussing).

Looking forward for the next IR shots with your filters.

#3
Thumper

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Thanks, Jerry!

The filters appear black, however if you hold them up to bright light, you can somewhat see through them, and everything is red. (But very very dark). The RAW files will come out red, but you can filter that out in channels or just convert to B&W, and you will get the image above. (I simply slid the saturation bar all the way to the left in Lightroom).

#4
alden

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I love the look of IR.

 

I have been playing around with simulating it in Photoshop, with some good results, but not quite as good as what Thumper is getting with his filters. 

 

Here's an example. One of the better ones, I think. 

 

006-IR-L.jpg

 

It's much better to do this from the front end, than it is from the back end. 



#5
Ron

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Very cool, Thumper. I love IR photography myself and did a fair bit of it on film. Talk about a hassle! LOL Anyway, I may get one of these filters and play around with it myself. I wonder though, did you try using live view to see if you could focus that way? 

 

--Ron