INFRARED
PHOTOGRAPHY WITH DIGITAL CAMERAS
Page
Eight
Simulating Infrared
In the course of testing infrared filters and the amazing effects you can achieve, I hoped to simulate or even further exaggerate the effects of the filters through Photoshop.
In the following series, you see a normal color photo of a lighthouse at the St. Michael's Museum in Maryland. I then put a Red #25A "see-through" filter on the lens to achieve the second picture. The third photo was turned into black and white through the "Image-Mode-Black and White" controls in Photoshop. You can also use the "Image-Adjust-Channel Mixer" to quickly change the image to black and white.
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Picture of St. Michaels Museum with boat |
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Picture of St. Michaels Museum with boat |
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Picture of St. Michaels Museum with boat |
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Picture of St. Michaels Museum with boat |
caption: normal exposure
Caption: 25 Red Tiffen Filter
Caption: No filter…Diffuse glow and extra contrast applied in Photoshop
As you can see, the black and white image above is not different from a normal black and white. I applied the "Diffuse Glow" filter to the whole image to enhance the clouds and blur the whites. After that, I brought the image into "Duotone" mode and applied an exaggerated "Sepia #4" tone to the image. It has the diffuse whites common to infrared but lacks the deep tones in the sky.
caption: No filter: diffuse glow and sepia duotone
In conclusion, there are a few specialized and relatively expensive software programs like Tech-nik which allow you to simulate infrared imaging from any image quickly. But using the infrared filters is a far more rewarding and spontaneous experience. Finally, be aware that certain cameras are more sensitive to infrared light others and experiment with your camera.
