Colour Infrared (IR) Landscape Photography - by Bluesky
Infrared (IR) radiation falls into the light spectrum beyond red and is invisible to human eyes. However, some digital cameras can clearly see the light in the near-IR spectral range and display the image seen directly on their LCDs. This makes the digital IR photography possible and much more convenient than the traditional film approach.
An IR photograph is usually manifested as monochromatic (B&W) when a true IR filter is used. There are also other IR filters (Hoya R72 is a typical example), which are not so opaque to prevent all visible light from coming into the lens and reaching the CCD or CMOS sensors. The colour processing arrangement and optical system inside a particular digital camera may cooperate well with the R72 filter to possibly generate an interesting special colour effect. Owing to the red light with a relatively long wavelength travelling through the filter, the image straight from the camera has a red or magenta colour cast. These colour components after filtration across the entire image form the basis of colour IR photography.
It is fairly easy to set up a custom white balance to clean up the reddish hue. This can be done either on camera during shooting or in a digital darkroom using an image-editing software package such as Photoshop. To shoot in JPEG format is often fine, but to shoot in RAW means a greater level of comfort for adjustments …….. Full Article.