Category: Technique

 

I know I am running the risk of turning this into an infrared blog, but I just wanted to share another of my recent shots with you. I have called it “A Farm  In Infrared”. Does what it says on the tin I guess?

It was taken at 28mm, F6.3 using my little ‘yellow’ compact camera and my infrared lens. I used a tripod to steady the camera and used a 6 second exposure. I’m finding this wee Olympus camera performs best at 6-8 seconds exposure, any longer (on a bright day) and it burns the image. Any less, and I start to lose the detail I am seeking.

Once again, I like how infrared has turned an ‘everyday’ scene into something of beauty. It makes you look at the world around you twice and helps you take pictures you’d normally never think of.

This is all good practice for me – as the true test is when I and the little ‘yellow’ camera visit Kruger National Park (South Africa) for some serious infrared photography next month… cannot wait!

For more of my infrared experiments, please see my infrared experiments gallery and review my infrared blog.

Whilst I adore travelling the world and documenting our trips through photography  it can be even more satisfying to obtain pictures you are proud of from your own locality. When you’re faced with the incredible wildlife of the Mara, or the architectural wonders of Paris it’s not hard to get a decent photograph. It can, however, be much harder to experiment with new approaches closer to home where inspiration, and the luxury of time, is often harder to obtain. That’s why I like to push myself to experiment with new methods and techniques – and why I end up having one or two serious photography obsessions a year.

One obsession is macro photography, which is well documented through my macro challenges blog and ,my macro photography gallery… the latest obsession is infrared photography.

Infrared is a big challenge – not just technically, but also because it requires a new ‘eye’ and a special kind of patience to wait for the right conditions and light.  I’m used to / favor the kind of photography where I can react to my inspiration without having to stakeout in a hide or wait for the right conditions – that’s why I love macro, it is so accessible and you don’t even have to leave the house! In comparison, infrared requires me to consider the shot well before I even place the camera to my eye. It has made me re-consider composition, sharpness and the little details…waiting for clouds to frame the subject of the shot, ensuring that shadows are cast into the picture as desired, ensuring that the sun is not too strong and focusing more on inanimate objects opposed to wildlife.

Take, for instance, the barn above. I would never normally dream of stopping in the middle of the Yorkshire Dales to photograph an abandoned farm building…but this caught my eye because of the band of white cloud wrapping around the darkness of the abandoned building. It was a stark contrast to the turbulent skies and textured snow that frames the top and bottom of this image. It’s nothing special to look at, but I like this image because of what it represents to me – a new technique which, with every shot, is improving my skills and fueling my obsession.

It’s also not bad for a wee compact point and shoot camera! To see more of my infrared shots, visit my online infrared gallery.

Last weekend we headed to the Yorkshire Dales and had a lovely weekend experimenting with infrared photography. Thankfully it snowed heavily on the Friday night, so after the tractor had rescued our car from the field  (!) we headed out for a hike to Aysgarth Falls with the wee ‘yellow camera’ in tow.

The freshly fallen snow bathed the Dales in a sparkling, uninterrupted and pristine white blanket. It took us ages to walk the couple of miles to the falls because we kept stopping every few minutes to take pictures.

The light was strong and I struggled to see my camera screen to understand if any of my shots were delivering any results. I almost gave up, but decided to persevere regardless and instead gave up trying to evaluate my photos in the field. It’s the best decision I made…just to carry on regardless and have the attitude that no matter what the results are – I will learn something from the day that will make me a better infrared photographer.  It wasn’t until 4 hours later, when we retreated into a local pub, that I could see the results of my labour. I was thrilled. Again – they are not award winners, but I do love learning about the detail the camera picks up when shooting in infrared, and I especially love the way it captures and frames the light.

Take, for example, the image above. This is just a ‘normal’ farmer’s field in Yorkshire – you’ll pass hundreds of them and will rarely will stop to take pictures. However, never before had I tried to photograph animals in infrared, and these sheep seemed so obliging – barely moving. I stood by the farm gate long enough for one lone sheep to become curious enough to come a little closer… this was the shot I wanted. I waited until the sheep was framed in the sunlight looking at the camera, with its shadow extended towards the right hand side of the frame and took the shot. I love the lack of sharpness to the image. The softness created by the long exposure and infrared lens creates an almost painting-like effect which requires very little post processing, other than a conversion to black and white and a tweak to blacks and contrast. By comparison, the image below is how it looks straight out of the camera.

I think I might just have found a new obsession 🙂

The rest of my infrared shots to date are stored in my online gallery.