InfraRed Adventures

 Over the holidays I had one of my old digital cameras converted to infrared. I had been meaning to do that for about a year but wasn't sure which camera to convert. LifePixel offered a holiday special of $60 off and that prodded me to decide. I chose to convert my Canon G-11  which I had repaired the previous year but still wasn't using despite it having been my favorite hiking camera back in the day. There are several options for conversion depending on the color spectrum you want to capture. I went for the basic B&W conversion.

When I got the camera back the note suggested settings to get the best results but I shoot RAW, then adjust the images later so I went with my usual settings of RAW capture, Auto ISO, and Aperture priority.  It seems to work fine. Framing images with it is a bit odd because the image on the screen is shades of pink & red., plus the screen is only about 2¼" wide by 1¼" high. It's enough to give me a reasonable idea of the composition.

I could use the optical rangefinder but I've never liked the finder on that camera in part because I have to remove my glasses to use it. The above image is a copy of the RAW file sized to approximate what the screen shows me.

I import all my photos using LightRoom Classic and after some experimentation, I have decided that the first step (after converting to B&W) is to use the Tone Curve to adjust the basic values. One of the differences between film and digital is that film records light on a curve. The silver salts have to receive a certain exposure to light before they start to react. Consequently the 'characteristic curve' rises from the baseline left to right slowly at first, then steadily upward until the salts are affected as much as they can be, then the curve flattens again. The result, if your exposure is correct, is that you end up with a shallow 'S' curve that gives you detail in both the shadows and the highlights. Digital images are recorded on a straight line which results in a relatively flat image. The default 'curve was a straight line from the bottom left corner to the top right corner.  If you shoot in JPG mode you won't notice that because the camera's algorithm applies a curve that the camera's engineers determined to be good for most photos. The problem with that for serious photographers is that in-camera conversion to JPG 'throws away' data that could be used to convert an image to your taste. A long way of explaining why Tone Curves is my first adjustment. As you can see below, I created a custom curve profile for the image above...

The result of conversion to B&W in the Basic panel of LR plus the curve is seen below.

That photo didn't really require anything else because the tonal distribution is pretty even throughout but some photos I made later required additional adjustment using LR's other tools. I shot several (8-10) photos on Norman Ridge which feature a relatively dark barn in a field of snow that is brighter than the cloudy sky. I wanted the tracks that the tractor made the snow (and were hard to see on the camera screen). I also wanted a greater tonal gradation in both than the flat curve of the RAW image. A Tone Curves adjustment similar to the one above took care of the foreground but the sky was still too flat so I applied a mask to the sky and increased the definition with a combination of Dehaze/Clarity then I reduced the Texture in the sky to reduce noise. I also did a small amount of sharpening on the barn and tree.  The two photos below are my favorites of the barn as of today. I might change my mind another day after playing with the series in LR more.

This is kind of a geeky post but I wanted to talk about what I had done and how I got there. If you have questions, please ask.

Usual disclaimer: The photos are copyrighted. Please respect that. The discount on the camera conversion was open to everyone and LifePixel did not ask for a review or give me any special consideration for writing this. They don't even know I'm writing it. I was pleased with their service and recommend them but there are others out there doing conversions and I am not in a position to make any comparisons.