Persian King
White Grassland
Posted by Amir (Tehran, Iran) on 13 October 2007 in Plant & Nature and Portfolio.
Fort Worth, TX
This is not my first IR photo here on Animus3. In fact I have posted more than a dozen or so in the past couple of months. But now I want to reveal the secret behind colored IR. I know there are some professionals out there that already know the trick, but this is for the general public with passion for infrared.
Most IR photos are in fact desaturated (B&W) photos, where the sky is grayed out. But in this method you can keep the colors and if you follow all the steps properly, you could come up with fascinating results.
First thing first, you need a good IR photo. As I said before, IR photos have some essential parts. Nice blue sky, some white good fatty clouds and the most important part, green vegetation (Chlorophyll).
Before pressing the shutter, one needs to figure out the ideal white balance. The slightest deviation of WB could render your photo useless for conversion to colored-IR. And remember, IR by nature is noisy, so take your photo at the lowest possible ISO.
Once the photo is taken, you job is done at the field and now you should import your photo to photo editor of your choice. I use Photoshop CS3, but it could be done with many simpler (cheaper) softwares. Now open your Channel Mixer in layer window and do the following:
1. Select Red Output Channel, keep Red and Green at 0%, while Increasing Blue to 100%.
2. Select Blue Output Channel, Keep Green and Blue at 0%, while increasing Red to 100%.
3. Select Green Output Channel, Keep Red and Blue at 0%, while increasing Green to 100%.
This was the major part. Now you can fix the levels, curve and color balance or apply auto functions of each. A little noise reduction in the sky and sharpening of vegetations and structures will help too.
See the original at Flickr
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Quintino from Joane, Portugal
This is well done. With a special touch, of course.
Post Scriptum: what about that invitation? Not willing to join the photgraphers of the world?
13 Oct 2007 9:15am
@Quintino: Thanks dear.
As for joining, I answered it in my previous post. I love to but I am very busy and might not be able to contribute actively, so it will irritate other members. I hardly manage to post picture here and visit friends blogs.
Mingo from Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
Impresionante imagen , muy hermosa y navideña. Saludos!
13 Oct 2007 9:26am
@Mingo: Thanks a lot my friend
Vahid from Bø, Norway
Cool, Amir! It's nice you show the tricks to the others as well! And thanks for all your kind comments! Sorry if I'm quite busy and cannot do the same! :-(
13 Oct 2007 10:29am
@Vahid: It's my pleasure dear. I understand, don't worry
@Wolfgang Prigge: That's the beauty
Harald from Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Wow !!! A real cool picture. Very well done. Thanks very much for the how to do. I would be very interested on the PS-action.
13 Oct 2007 10:54am
@Harald: I will see if enough people ask, I will post it in future posts.
Rebecca from Leicester, United Kingdom
Wow!!! Dear Amir, have been looking through your images this past week, and they are absolutely superb!! You really have a tremendous talent here, dear friend!! I’m sure there are many out there who would also be ‘trying’ such things out, but not with such amazing results!! I love this IR image too, and thanks so much for sharing so freely with all of us these secrets behind the magic. You are a real gem, one in a billion, dear friend!
13 Oct 2007 12:37pm
@Rebecca: Dear Rebecca,
You are always way too kind to me. I hope I can fulfill those expectation. I just want others to enjoy it as much I did when I learned it from others
@Rags: Thanks and tahnks
Nick Passantino from Bronx, United States
awesome effect here.. i may try it out myself. thanks for the tips
13 Oct 2007 1:42pm
@Nick Passantino: You are very welcome my friend
@standley: Thanks a lot
Viewfinder from Bradenton, United States
Most interesting; gives the impression of a heavy frost on the ground.
13 Oct 2007 3:33pm
@Viewfinder: Thanks a million
@Daroru: Thanks
@Lost Valley View: Hope you liked it
@lissa: Yes indeed
@Maysam: This is an artistic take. You see green everywhere, do you see scenes like this on the daily bases? Both are good in there own respect
Richard_Irwin from Belper, United Kingdom
Infra Red is great fun, and your technique is spot on.
I used to love using 35mm Infra Red film (B&W) with those filters that were so dense you could hardly see through them, and then processing the film was hit and miss, but you couyld acheive brilliant results.
Your shot is totally in the spirit of Infra-Red, you used the day to best advantage, and photoshopped the image to an excellent result.
13 Oct 2007 6:36pm
@Richard_Irwin: So you are the master. I have never done photography with film, let alone IR. That was much more artistic
@Reza: Thanks a lot
tyan from Singapore, Singapore
wow,thanks so much for the very comprehensive info,i think your 'experimentation' is such a success!Looked like it was snow capped grassland somewhat..
14 Oct 2007 2:17am
@tyan: I love to share, that's all.
amy from Rocky Mountain House, Canada
Very interesting technique!! I will have to try it. Makes for a fab image!!!
15 Oct 2007 12:58am
Canon PowerShot A640
5/1 second
F/5.6
ISO 80
8 mm