IR Woes, and Dohs
Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 6:46 pm
What is the opposite of a "eureka" moment?
Perhaps when you realise you are doing something completely wrong. All of the planets had aligned to provide what should have been a perfect photography opportunity for me at the weekend. I had a new uwa lens to try out (Tamron 11-18), the trees and other vegetation are very green, it was hot, sunny and bright, and I had a one hour pass to "go and play with my toys" - all perfect to try and grab an IR shot or three. Found a good location; very green trees, big historic building, blue sky, and a river. I carefully took some shots with the IR filter in place. Excitedly I took these home but, when reviewing on the computer, it dawned on me I was getting no IR effect, just very red images. Doh, and double doh! (I think the Doc suggested that this was happening with my last supposed IR picture.)
A google based investigation has ensued. I think where I am going wrong is white balance. It seems that you need a very low WB value for those "everything green is bright white" shots. It would also seem after reading other sites (one of them a Canon forum, sorry Doc
) that I should have made a custom WB shot (with IR filter in place) of well sun-lit green grass and then used this custome WB setting for my subsequent shots.
Would any of the IR Jedi here care to share a view?
Perhaps when you realise you are doing something completely wrong. All of the planets had aligned to provide what should have been a perfect photography opportunity for me at the weekend. I had a new uwa lens to try out (Tamron 11-18), the trees and other vegetation are very green, it was hot, sunny and bright, and I had a one hour pass to "go and play with my toys" - all perfect to try and grab an IR shot or three. Found a good location; very green trees, big historic building, blue sky, and a river. I carefully took some shots with the IR filter in place. Excitedly I took these home but, when reviewing on the computer, it dawned on me I was getting no IR effect, just very red images. Doh, and double doh! (I think the Doc suggested that this was happening with my last supposed IR picture.)
A google based investigation has ensued. I think where I am going wrong is white balance. It seems that you need a very low WB value for those "everything green is bright white" shots. It would also seem after reading other sites (one of them a Canon forum, sorry Doc
) that I should have made a custom WB shot (with IR filter in place) of well sun-lit green grass and then used this custome WB setting for my subsequent shots. Would any of the IR Jedi here care to share a view?
.