Infrared Paddy Fields

[Don Ellis]

Just returned from Bali 24 hours ago and thought I would share a couple of photos with you.

When I started shooting infrared a few years ago, I used a stock G1 and an R72 filter which gave me greenish tones in the foliage (because the R72 lets in some visible light). I later modified the G1 and moved to a true-infrared 093 filter, gaining normal shutter speeds but losing the greens.

Both approaches have their appeal for me, but I did miss the greens, so a couple of months ago, I bought another stock G1 to regain them. Here’s two from the paddy fields of Bali -- stock G1/R72.

Cheers,

Don

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/ricefield1.jpg


http://www.kleptography.com/dl/ricefield2.jpg

[Duder]

very nice. :) I've just recently gotten into IR photography myself, using my old Sony camera which I converted for infrared, although I tend to get blueish foliage rather than green.

I should also mention that in researching IR photography before I got myself the R72, I came across some of your stuff and was very impressed.

[rammy]

Wow Don, fantastic shots (regardless of the IR)!!

What do you mean R72 is not true IR, I thought it was and wanted to get one myself? Is is just a red filter then? What is the 093 filter, is that from Hoya?

[Andy_T]

Incredible images as always, Don!

Thanks for sharing!

Best regards,
Andy

[Don Ellis]

very nice. :) I've just recently gotten into IR photography myself, using my old Sony camera which I converted for infrared, although I tend to get blueish foliage rather than green.

I should also mention that in researching IR photography before I got myself the R72, I came across some of your stuff and was very impressed.

Thanks for commenting, Duder... I'm glad you enjoyed the others as well. I have tons of photos to sort through from Bali, so I'll post a note here when I finally get around to doing a new gallery.

Cheers,

Don

[Don Ellis]

Incredible images as always, Don!

Thanks for sharing!

Best regards,
Andy

Thank you, Andy... nice to hear from you. I'll have more one of these days. :)

Don

[Don Ellis]

Wow Don, fantastic shots (regardless of the IR)!!

What do you mean R72 is not true IR, I thought it was and wanted to get one myself? Is is just a red filter then? What is the 093 filter, is that from Hoya?

Hi Rammy... no, the R72 is not a true infrared filter. It allows a little visible light through, but don't let that stop you from getting one -- as you notice, I went out and bought another camera just to use the R72. The color hues you get are not possible with a filter that only allows infrared through (like the B+W 093), which produces black-and-white photos only.

"B+W" is a brand name, by the way, not short for black-and-white. The photos in "infrared england" at http://www.kleptography.com/gallery-irengland.htm where taken with an 093 and a modified G1.

Thanks for commenting. Glad you enjoyed these.

Don

[JMAS]

Awesome, Don!
I love your work.

The 2nd one is my favorite.

[dkord]

I love those pics! Sharp and clear, good composition too. Been having trouble with focus when I try IR.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Lovely photos Don :)
The colors are indeed wonderfull :)

I'm a bit confused about the lack of color in your converted camera..
I went and reread your workflow etc.. but I cna't seem to find what I'm looking for...

ie: what your doing different that I am getting the pastels with a converted D60.. and you don't?

Are you using a custom white balance?

Don.. as I consider you to be the "IR God" .. I'd really love it if you would give me some no holds barred critique on the IR stuff I've posted in B&W and experimental forum...

[Don Ellis]

Awesome, Don!
I love your work.
The 2nd one is my favorite.
Thanks, Jaime... I always like hearing what people like.

Cheers,

Don

[Don Ellis]

I love those pics! Sharp and clear, good composition too. Been having trouble with focus when I try IR.
Thank you... as for focus all I can tell you is that I always use auto-focus, never manual. Settings are invariably P mode, Auto White Balance, ISO50.

Both of these shots were handheld at 1/8th of a second. f2.0.

Cheers,

Don

[Don Ellis]

Lovely photos Don :)
The colors are indeed wonderfull :)

Thanks, CDS... it's nice to have the greens again. I'm very pleased I bought the new camera.

I'm a bit confused about the lack of color in your converted camera..
I went and reread your workflow etc.. but I cna't seem to find what I'm looking for...

ie: what your doing different that I am getting the pastels with a converted D60.. and you don't?

Are you using a custom white balance?
I need to create a workflow specifically for infrared. I did post a secondary message in the forum thread that announced the IR Conversion page on my website, but while that was once "sticky", when the new forum software was introduced it disappeared. I tried searching with a variety of terms and never found it.

Basically, it said: The secret to escaping the magenta plague (which is interesting for only the first dozen shots and only infrequently thereafter) is to...
1. Shoot RAW on P mode with AUTO white balance.
2. Convert to TIF in BreezeBrowser (for instance) using a CUSTOM white balance -- which is as simple as clicking the eyedropper in BB's preview screeen on anything that is a medium to dark gray.
3. Auto-Contrast in Photoshop CS.
4. Process as usual.

So... I never use Custom White Balance during shooting, only in the conversion phase. I don't know the characteristics of the D60, but it does seem to me that different cameras react differently. Even with the 093 filter, for example, Leela's modified G1 produces an overall greenish tone while mine produces virtually black-and-white photos. The only difference is that her firmware has been updated (I've been thinking of asking Canon to roll it back, but for the moment I'm just converting to black-and-white).

With my converted G1 and an R72, I was getting an overall greenish tone rather than the localized greens only on the foliage, so I switched to the true-infrared 093.

I'm glad you're getting pastels.

Don.. as I consider you to be the "IR God" .. I'd really love it if you would give me some no holds barred critique on the IR stuff I've posted in B&W and experimental forum...

That's very flattering but I can assure you that my knowledge of infrared photography could be written on a 49mm IR filter with a Magic Marker.

My colleagues have saved a ton of work for my holiday return, so it may be a few days, but I'd love to see what you're doing and will certainly get over there. If nothing else, you can look forward to personal observations which are much more easily ignored than expert opinions. :lol:

Cheers,

Don

[CyberDyneSystems]

Thanks Don.. I'll se if I can find the old sticky..

You may want to try this Custom White balance trick with your converted G1 (granted as you say.. we are talking about different beasts.. so mileage may vary)...

But with the D60 and all the RAW software out there I have found;
The RAW converters color temp sliders all "bottom out" @ 2000.... (this is true of ACR, BB, RSE C1 Etc....)

The Custom WB on the D60 looks to be between 1000 - 1500...
So by shooting AWB... and then trying to use the RAW converter to set WB manually.. one can never get cooler than 2000...

...and apperently the Camera would set it lower than 2000 using a custom WB...

The results are;
I find If I shoot a custom WB.. (shoot a white peice of paper, or even grass on a hot sunny day.. yes GRASS) ...then the images straight out of Camera have NO red tone at all... they are a slightly bluish B&W.. with some sepia tones.. and contain gobs of wonderfull color info hidden in them ready for tweeking in PSCS.

Again.. this is with the D60.. and I'm pretty sure the built in filter is R72... but not positive... (the converted D60 has replaced the IR high pass with the r72 on the inside...)

Anyway.. I've been playing around with the IR thanks mostly to seeing your work.. and I'm really loving it!

[Duder]

yeah, whenever I use the custom white balance on my sony camera/R72, I get the slightly bluish B&W and some sepia tones(usually the sky). I've not been able to get the same effect out of the 20D.

[Don Ellis]

Thanks Don.. I'll se if I can find the old sticky..

You may want to try this Custom White balance trick with your converted G1 (granted as you say.. we are talking about different beasts.. so mileage may vary)...
Thanks for the details... I will give it a try. Although my camera is producing greens with my present technique, I'm always open to suggestions.

I'll leave you with one more photo from the series:

http://www.kleptography.com/dl/ricefield3.jpg

Cheers,

Don

P.S. And I will check out your photos as soon as I can... I'm still swamped and shouldn't even be posting this. :lol:

[CyberDyneSystems]

Saving the best for last! ? :)

I love this one.. the added sense of scale with the building in it.. very nice :)

[Don Ellis]

Saving the best for last! ? :)

I love this one.. the added sense of scale with the building in it.. very nice :)
You do have a good eye, don't you... I doubt if one in ten people even notices the small house.

Cheers,

Don

[Big_B]

You do have a good eye, don't you... I doubt if one in ten people even notices the small house.

Cheers,

Don

I did! I did! (although it's much easier to say that once someone else has alreay spotted it :lol: )

[Big_B]

I should have added excellent work by the way. I love the way that IR seems to make all the little details of a photo stand right out.

[fetching]

when people say they have "converted" a camera for this,w hat exactly are they talking about? can't you just put a special filter on your lens and take it off when you are finished?

[Duder]

when people say they have "converted" a camera for this,w hat exactly are they talking about? can't you just put a special filter on your lens and take it off when you are finished?

no, most camera's have a IR cut filter in front of the camera's sensor. this reduces the amount of IR light that hits the sensor, therefore meaning long exposure times(approx 1/2sec-4secs). If you modifiy the camera by physically removing the IR cut filter from the camera(and replacing it with glass of equal thickness), you can achieve normal shutter speeds.

[Don Ellis]

when people say they have "converted" a camera for this,w hat exactly are they talking about? can't you just put a special filter on your lens and take it off when you are finished?
Yes, you can do this -- and that's the way the photos in this thread were taken. But it depends on the camera. It's true with the G1 but many cameras have more aggressive "hot mirrors" (internal infrared cut filters), so your shutter speeds are very slow OR your results, even with slow shutters speeds, are terrible.

As Duder notes, by replacing the hot mirror with clear glass, you gain near-normal shutter speeds (depending on the filter). They're near-normal with the R72, but a bit slower with the true-infrared 093. Still, on sunny days, I occasionally see 1/500th of a second for the 093.

Cheers,

Don