Infrared Summer
I haven’t updated the blog in a while, so here’s a quick update!
My “Light at the Edge” photo project has been continuing thru this Summer, with 3 of the images from the project on display at local shows.
The following two images are featured in the “Community & Place” show at the Dayton Society of Artists (DSA). The show runs thru Saturday August 20th. More information can be found here .
This image is featured in the “Life in the City” show at Front Street Art Gallery. The show runs thru August 21st. More information can be found here.
Light at the Edge - Levels
That said, the project has been on a bit of a “hold” the past few weeks due to our usual Ohio Summer issue – high humidity. You see, trying to get out at 4am to take images when the temps are in the high 70’s and the humidity is 95%+ means that viewfinders and lenses fog up instantly the moment you step out of the vehicle with them. And it takes a loooong time for them to acclimate, even with a lot of gentle clearing with a microfiber cloth. I could, in theory, leave the equipment in the garage and then drive to the location with the windows down, but frankly – its miserable outside in the mornings in those conditions. My glasses fog up from just having my head near the viewfinder, which makes composing correctly nearly impossible since it’s happening in the dark already to begin with. So once the weather cools a bit and the humidity wanes, I’ll be back at it.
That doesn’t mean that I’m taking a break from shooting. Last month I shot the dress rehearsal for “Heathers” and that was a blast. As always the talent in Springfield is FANTASTIC and the performance was incredible. I do feel bad for them though, as the next day for the performance some torrential weather moved in and the show had to stop before the end.
The “Heathers”
This is also the time of year that I drag out the Infrared gear. Ohio is at its greenest right now and the light during the day is harsh, which means perfect conditions for infrared images.
Shooting in 720nm infrared allows the camera to see what the human eye can’t. In general, most objects reflect infrared light, and anything green and alive really reflects infrared light Depending on how you edit, foliage can end up an interesting color shade or even white. There’s some subtle nuances involved in processing – setting the correct white balance in camera, creating a camera profile in Lightroom so you get the full range, and usually color-swapping the blue and red channels in Photoshop. It all sounds like a bit of work, but once you get your workflow process nailed down it really isn’t.
Abandoned Church - being reclaimed by Mother Nature. Nikon D2X in 720nm Infrared
Shooting in infrared gives you the ability to shoot in light during mid-day, which is generally considered to be too harsh for most photography.
I’ve been shooting in Infrared for years now, with an older Nikon D2X that I had converted by Lifepixel . My go-to lens is the 24mm-85mm which gives me a good range with no hotspots, which can be an issue in infrared.
Calvary Chapel - Nikon D2X in 720nm Infrared.
I also shoot other lenses on it with fairly good success – the only one that sometimes gives me an issue is the 8mm-16mm Sigma lens, which can have a giant hotspot in the middle of the image depending on the position of the sun and angle. I think that has to do a lot with the big piece of curved glass on the end with no provision for an aftermarket hood to protect it.
Hyde Road Bridge - Nikon D2X in 720nm Infrared. This was shot with the 8-16mm, and you can see the slight color shift with the outer areas if the image being a bit less warm and more blue.
Since the camera auto-exposure meter works on normal light waves, it doesn’t really nail exposure for Infrared on its own. It can over or under expose depending on how sunny it is. For the most part I tend to shoot in manual mode and know about what the right settings are for a sunny day versus a cloudy day, and will adjust my images by viewing them on the back of the camera with the histogram turned on. I’m looking for a histogram that’s not clipped on the right, with most of the information in the middle to right side of the histogram. That tends to give the best final image.
Overgrown - Nikon D2X in 720nm Infrared. The handprints on the other side of the glass in the door take the creepy factor to 10 in this image.
In general the 12 megapixels have been enough for my Infrared work, but sometimes I find myself considering a higher res body like a D810. I may pull the trigger and send one to Lifepixel to do the conversion in the near future. For now it’s a lot of fun, and if I need to print large I can upsize the image with one of my programs.
Overgrown 2 - Nikon D2X in 720nm Infrared.
If you want to read more about Infrared photography, or want to learn more about how I process images, let me know in the comments. I can do a future write-up on it if there’s enough interest.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
Jeremy
