Nikon User Thread

Just to say how I did it, because this is super easy...

First, I know Rapier said never do Auto -> Color, Levels, or Contrast... but every tutorial I read on IR said to use it.

I did.

Next, I open the channel mixer and bring the red channel to 0 from 100 and increase the blue from 0-100. I then do the same thing for the blue channel (bring it from 100 to 0 and bring the red to 100 from 0). This essentially swaps the R & B channel.

From there it is just levels and the normal steps.

Very easy to get this look with any shot using an IR filter...

And I didn't make you buy a DVD to learn it :)

In addition to that HERE IS AN ACTION to this process so you don't need to do the filters and all that. Just download the action and drop it into Photoshop and run it on any of your IR images and it will automatically generate the exact result you see in this image below. From that point you need to go ahead and do the levels and all that jazz.

If you want to play with it you can go HERE where I posted a bunch of raw uncorrected IR pictures and run the action and see the result. I think that this is the easiest and quickest way to get good images with IR... Of course you can also do everything manually.

BTW: If you run this action on a normal image you get very trippy results.

Here are another example using those steps... took me all of three minutes to do

Original
More%20IR%20Original.jpg


Corrected
More%20IR.jpg


Original
Another%20IR%20Porch%201%20Original.jpg


Corrected
Another%20IR%20Porch%201.jpg


-Jeremy
 
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Yeah I love the infrared... it looks great... I love when you can have a blue sky combined with the white foliage.

To clarify... I consider A and S to be my automatic modes on the camera... then I use EV all the time... for my cam, the d70s, +.03 ev is the base line... then I push it up or down from there... again, for you guys with the d50, -.03 ev is the baseline... START at -.03 and you will have a lot more luck with your shots.

Why I call A and S the automatic modes is simple... the only choice you EVER have to make with an automatic camera is how deep you want the DOF... or how still you want motion (or as a related point, how steady your hands are)...

So if you want to shoot a car going by... and you want the look of motion... then you already know... motion = shutter speed... so S. You need about 1/8 to get a really good blur... 1/30 will start to indicate blur... try it... go out and shoot a car going by and pan with the car... at each speed. Pretty cool huh? This also works for somebody running or a bicycle, etc. Basically if control of motion is involved... then S. Freezing motion is easy if you have enough light, or a flash... then just go for 1/500 and up. This will cover you for any situation where motion is the focus of the shot.

Next is DOF... as in portraits, landscapes, etc. In any case where you want to emphasize a particular part of a scene... mostly in portraits... you want to open up the aperature as wide as you can get it. If it's sunny then you'll need the polarizer or ND filter... but you can try to just open it up and the cam can set the shutter high enough for you... remember in A mode the camera worries about the shutter... you don't... in S mode the camera worries about the aperature... you don't. That's why I call them automatic modes...

So it's really really simple... and you'll be way better off if you get an understanding of what aperature gives what look... and the same for various shutter speeds. DOF isn't simply fuzzy BG or clear BG... it depends on distance and the importance of identifying the place.

Sorry to put this in such stupid terms... I hope this makes some kind of sense... and for most people this is boring Mr. Obvious stuff... but if you're reading this and you haven't spent a lot of time in A or S then you need to get your A S and S in gear because it'll open up a whole new world to you.

I see a lot of shots from various races... and people have the cars frozen in place... BORING. It's so simple to get an attractive blur behind moving objects... and you can decide how much definition you want in that blur easily. 1/30 and you can tell exactly where they were... 1/8 and it's car only. Experiment with it.
 
OK, I need an opinion on this... because I have no idea what I think of it. I took this picture last week on my trip and thought the original was pretty good and I'm just unsure how I feel about it now.

Please, any opinions would be appreciated:

Original
Beths%20Flowers%20Original.jpg

Corrected
Beths%20Flowers%20Corrected.jpg

Side by Side Here

I just can't figure out if I like the corrected version or not... Any advice or opions would help. Thanks!

-Jeremy
 
Hmmm not really liking the color corrected version, but I messed around and couldn't make something I liked either. :(

Mattin: I shoot largely in M mode. I like full control. :)
 
Too much CC... I like the shots that are at the edge of reality. Unless it's understood as art... Infrared is art, you can go nuts there. With shots of people, if they're clearly stylized alla J.L. then I don't care how fake they look... but my own preference for shots like flowers and normal portraits is for color and saturation to look almost too good, but not so much that anybody would immediately think photoshop.

A shot like that could be usable for lots of things... I just don't know about the shot on it's own... it's the reality thing. With the pattern I don't think there's enough to draw your eye through the frame within that stylized look...

Virum... for the kind of shots that you do M is a must. I was talking to Infokill about blown highlights and responding to that conversation... basically saying that I consider A and S to be the green mode (automatic). The actual green mode has no place on a cam like these. If you have an SLR you really need to shoot a few hundred shots to understand f-stop, shutter, and how the variables affect the results... once they get a handle on that they can switch to M. I'm still getting to know my d70s and I take a lot of shots in varying conditions and then review the histogram and what my settings were...
 
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Took a walk in the park today after it rained. The weather in NY sucks right now :(
But took my first shot at a panoramic. The sky is completly blown out because there wasnt a cloud in the sky. Nothing but gray. Did this with 2 shots.
 
Is that near the Delacorte theatre in Central Park? I like the picture. I think it might work better black and white. Give it a shot.
 
Its belvedere castle in central park. Not far from my house. I live across the street from the park. I thought a black and white photo would be better too :)
Here you go, hope they arent to big!
 
Very nice stuff... Hey Isaac, I know you're in the process of moving, but by Monday you can still have a photo for our little D50/D70 photo contest of 'Where you live'

C'mon....

-Jeremy
 
Ha, I'm in New York right now apartment hunting, and I'll be living here in less than a month. Left my D70 in Boston though. So no home and no photos unfortunately. :(
 
Well I shot this today, 5 second exposure, F22 on the 18-77mm lens through the R72 filter. Photoshop techniques were my Jeremy IR Conversion, some levels, curves, and then bringing down the blue channel on another curves. I think this is my best IR attempt.

Good%20IR.jpg


BTW: I know, the frame is too big, I normally do it prior to the resize, but didn't this time. Regardless, I am really happy with this photo.

-Jeremy
 
hey yank. really digging the IR stuff. can't wait to get mine. work sent me to santa barbara for the day and i snagged some sunset shots during my downtime.

sbsunset1.jpg
 
I looks nice there...except for the heat. I saw on the news that CA broke 30 heat records today. Out here (Thousand Oaks) it was 102.
 
yeah, it was hot on the way up but once i got into SB it was nice and cool. maybe 80 highest.... kinda humid though. weird..
 
cheezweezl, that is an amazing sunset shot, just amazing... great job, I'm floored. Wow, I just don't know what else to say...

Well, I was going to post another IR shot that I worked on but after seeing that sunset I just want to enjoy it and leave it at that for the night. I can't wait to see what you come up with for your 'where I live' thing because if it comes close to that shot then we're all in for a massive treat.

-Jeremy
 
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