You might have noticed some interesting images in my portfolios and wondered what’s up with them. You know, the ones that just seem to be a different flavor of black and white, or even something like the one to the left.
The secret, in this case, is not Photoshop. It’s a camera (a Nikon D70, in my case) that has been converted to Infrared-only use. The standard filter covering the actual imaging sensor inside the camera was removed (voiding the warranty, but that’s what creative photographers do) and replaced with a filter that allows light in the infrared wavelengths, instead of the visual wavelengths, to pass through. The camera’s sensor, which is very sensitive to infrared as well as “normal” light, is then capable of producing a photograph that can look quite like traditional infrared black and white film:
This is the “traditional” look of infrared — foliage reflects alot of it, so it’s very light. The sky in many cases will be very dark (except when shooting into the sun like I was here). You can “fake it” in Photoshop, but it never looks quite right.
Add a little processing, and you can end up with a “false color” infrared image:
Fun stuff, right? I don’t do too much of this at weddings, lest it become some kind of a gimmick, but I really like to provide at least a few, for something different.
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