Infrared experiment

Like most photographers,  I have a piece of gear I want.  Unlike most photographers my want doesn't even border on practical.  Although, I'd overuse it to the point of "gimmicky".  I've always been fascinated by the type of pictures it would make.

That want is a camera that has been modified to record the near IR spectrum instead of normal visible light.  I have played with this before.  Older dSLR cameras have a weak IR filter.  This means if I use a filter that blocks visible light the camera can easily record IR.  Newer cameras, like my D200, have much better IR filters.  This makes it hard.  It didn't stop me from trying.  It works.  Barely.  But it works.

I didn't have much time out there.

Shortly after figuring out the metering (about 4 stops over what the meter says), and making this picture, Tobias had the biggest Big Wheel wreck possible that doesn't result in hospitalization.  I needed to go attend to that instead of try more pictures.

White leaves, and snot green clouds, IR makes every exposure an adventure!

Seven interesting images from last year

I spent a lot of time last year learning new techniques. Did I make a lot images? Yes, and I even made a number I like. If I had this site going at the time, I probably would have individual posts for each one. But, for now, I'll splash a handful of images in here. Unfortunately, the only thing that ties them together is they grab my attention.

What I noticed when I went through my collection is I have a lot of images left unprocessed. This has to go on my to-do list. I need to get to the extremely large stack of pictures of my daughter first and foremost!. I also discovered I need to try and make more horizontal compositions. It appears I forget the camera can be held that way!

Again, these stand out to me. Some may represent the best of what I did last year. Some just represent "different" images. One, just makes me smile. In my 2008 collection I may have better, and I certainly have worse!

Enough writing... more picturing... in no particular order...

Pretty close star camera left behind subject. Big friggin white shed reflector to camera right. (This won the flower category in a local contest)

Mostly ambient light. I had a strobe out there but I don't think I used it on this one.


Octabox to camera left. Umbrella fill on axis. (key is probably too hot, but I still like it)

I played a bit with HDR and a fisheye lens. It grabs my attention as I go through my stuff because it is different than any other image I did this year. It is different, probably, in both good and bad ways!



Close star camera left. Bare strobe camera right. Ambient metered sky 1 1/2 stops or so under.



Shoot through umbrella camera left. Wall provides some fill.


Playing with a borrowed D1h and a Hoya R72 filter to do Infrared. Again, I like it because its different than what I normally pursued this year.

I received a "complaint" regarding images sizes. If you click on these, I believe they will open a little bigger. Thanks for looking!