Infra Red Photography Help

Gamefreak501 · 9 Apr 2006 at 20:33

Hi everyone,

I have been playing with an infra-red filter for a while, but I'm still not pleased with the kinds of results I am getting. I don't have a tripod yet because my cheapy one broke, so I have had to handhold at really high ISOs, or rest the camera on things.

Anyway, my camera is about as sensitive to infra red as a pair of 16 ohm speakers. I shoot RAW too. Basically, my pictures come out with a very red tint to them, with a little white for the foliage (still too little in my opinion).

What am I doing wrong - could it be that I need to use even slower shutter speeds of more than 8 seconds say?

Anyway, here is an example of one such shot converted to JPG (original, channel switched and then grayscaled):

Original

Channels swapped

Grayscaled

I handheld all of these, hence the noise.

Thanks in advance!

rpstewart · 9 Apr 2006 at 20:52

The big trick is to set a custom white balance, usually by taking a quick shot of some grass (or whatever you want white in the final image) then using the custom WB function of your camera. The alternative is to set the WB in your RAW converter. RAW Shooter has a wee eyedropper type tool where you can pick the white point in the preview and it does the rest. Once you've done that you can do the channel swap.

A tripod is pretty much a necessity but you also need to pick your subjects carefully - a long exposure on something blowing in the wind isn't going to work.

EDIT: To give you an idea the one in this thread came out the camera looking like this

hoodmeister · 9 Apr 2006 at 20:55

^^ What he said!
You need to set the WB in camera (my preference - means the LCD review is actually useful) or in a RAW convertor.
I have to say I also find that on the odd IR shot where I do the WB in the RAW convertor, I get odd highlights (blown out cyan, instead of blown out white) --- even more of a reason for me to set the WB in camera.

Gamefreak501 · 9 Apr 2006 at 22:23

Wow!

That is really handy to know! Thanks guys!

I just got this one from one of my RAW files - just by using the white balance eyedropper in RAW Shooter Essentials!

Looks quite funky and spooky and much better than being all red!

Looks like I will be posting some more when I fully process all of them

So I will just have to take the infra red filter off, spot meter some grass in custom white balance mode, put it back on, switch to manual focus and all will be good! Sounds better all the time. I will be getting a tripod in a few weeks I reckon (when I next get paid)

Cheers again!

rpstewart · 10 Apr 2006 at 11:05

Gamefreak501 said:
So I will just have to take the infra red filter off, spot meter some grass in custom white balance mode, put it back on, switch to manual focus and all will be good!

You need to do the custom white balance shot with the filter on - what you're doing is telling the camera what white should look like so by taking a photo of grass you'll end up with white grass in the proper image. I've also done it with white balance off a sheet of white paper which gives a slightly different colouring to the final image. Both options are good but the grass one tends to be easier simply because you don't need to faff about with a bit of paper.

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 10 Apr 2006 at 11:19

Gamefreak501 said:
Wow!

That is really handy to know! Thanks guys!

I just got this one from one of my RAW files - just by using the white balance eyedropper in RAW Shooter Essentials!

Looks quite funky and spooky and much better than being all red!

Looks like I will be posting some more when I fully process all of them

So I will just have to take the infra red filter off, spot meter some grass in custom white balance mode, put it back on, switch to manual focus and all will be good! Sounds better all the time. I will be getting a tripod in a few weeks I reckon (when I next get paid)

Cheers again!

Looking great mate. Just be careful with the re attachment of the filter. You have slightly miss focus'd on that. IR shots, just take your time

ST8 · 10 Apr 2006 at 13:10

You guys do realise you can use autofocus with the filter on? Auto focus works using IR so an ir filter isnt gonna stop it working. I cant say ive ever focused my shots manually

hoodmeister · 10 Apr 2006 at 13:22

AF goes mental on all my lenses with both my filters if I try to use it! (D70)

:s

rpstewart · 10 Apr 2006 at 14:15

ST8 said:
You guys do realise you can use autofocus with the filter on? Auto focus works using IR so an ir filter isnt gonna stop it working. I cant say ive ever focused my shots manually

Well my 1D MkII can't focus through the filter and if that can't I doubt anything can.

ST8 · 10 Apr 2006 at 16:58

hoodmeister said:
AF goes mental on all my lenses with both my filters if I try to use it! (D70)

:s

Bizarre my d70 doesnt seem to have any issues with the 18-70 using an r72 or the cokin p007

hoodmeister · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:05

I don't have the kit (18-70) lens ~ so perhaps that's it..

Have you tried it with the Sigma 50mm F/2.8? Mine doesn't have any of it...

yak.h'cir · 10 Apr 2006 at 18:25

rpstewart said:
Well my 1D MkII can't focus through the filter and if that can't I doubt anything can.

My 350d focuses absolutely fine with the IR filter on the 50mm f1.8. Never had any problems with it at all actually.

I've heard its pretty hard to get an accurate manual focus due to the focus point being slightly different for IR then it is for visible light. But cant say i've tried as never needed to.