Wicked Cool Infrared

 When foggy mornings arrive, I run out with my Infrared camera and a couple of different lens filters to capture some fun colors.

Morning fog can be dreary, but Infrared Chrome adds a new dimension to the scene. It picks up anything with chlorophyll and makes it a gorgeous hue of reds. Dead trees and bark show up as black and anything to do with sky-water, shows up in a blue hue.

I was in the valley fog of the Kickapoo River. Fog is more common here along the river most mornings.

The sun was just beginning to break through the fog in this shot of a pine stand.

I like to use Infrared in challenging situations. The 665nm filter is a light spectrum that we cannot see either. It is really best used in full blazing sunlight. But I enjoy trying to push the limits with seeing what light does to it during a sunrise. The same principle works here. Foliage is highlighted.

The photo below was taken at sunrise when the sun first touched this bush

Below is another shot with the 665nm on a foggy morning. The filter sees through the haze a bit better than a regular camera. I was intrigued by the spider web on the neighbor's rye grass. [This went along with my study of grasses!]

In bright sunlight, the 665nm really performs!

This is a tree in my 'back' yard in full sunlight on a very hot and humid day.
Technically I should have edited the clouds into a white color, however the humidity picked up the blue hue.

With the spectrum filters, one has to edit the photos to get this effect. The IRChrome and the pure 850nm black and white filter barely need any touching up. 

This is how that same tree looked 'in camera'.

To get wild colors with other hues, one has to do a Channel Swap of colors. Depending on the programs used that can vary the results.

This next simple swap was done with a different editing program that obviously reads the camera colors differently. 

This program picked up the clouds with a slightly less blue hue. I could easily turn the leaves into a cotton candy pink. But I was also pleased with this.

It just depends on which one pleases your inner artist more as to which one you keep and which one you toss out.

Last? Two sunrises in different light spectrums.

Normal....

IR Chrome:

The History of IR Chrome and the use of IR Photography in WWII~~~~~~

Excerpt from Kolari Vision:

When WWII began, militaries deployed the use of infrared aerial photography as they did in WWI. The unique ability of IR to differentiate false greenery used for camouflage from real, live foliage (known as the “Wood Effect”) was a powerful asset, and many used it in hopes of gaining every advantage possible on the battlefield. However, a new paint that could mimic the Wood Effect was developed to render this photographic method useless.

A new tactic needed to be born to get back the upper hand. Kodak and the US Military worked together to create a false color infrared film — Aerochrome III Infrared 1443. With this new color IR film, the chlorophyll in plants would photograph as hot pink instead of a snowy white, making camouflage detection possible again without the Wood Effect paint getting in the way.

Wintergreen Trail and Tail Tales

 

I decided to go to the Reserve early and avoid the 'crowd'. The Wintergreen trail is short and easy with some nice views of the Kickapoo River. Charlie has made this trip with me several times and I'm pretty confident now that he has no desire to take a leap off from the bluff into the river below.

He is wearing his harness and does have a cord attached that I step on in case he gets some stupid ideas.

Our trip was mainly uneventful and we ran into two other folks with dogs. One person was obeying the leash requirement that KVR management has put into place because of the popularity of the trails right now during the Pandemic. There has been some problems with people and their dogs not being leashed.

During a normal year a person can walk with their dog unleashed except when the ground nesting birds are active. The Reserve is popular for those who hunt pheasants and use their dogs for retrieving. Hunting is allowed during turkey, pheasant, and deer seasons. Everyone local knows this and it is on their website.

Ok. So I digress again.
Charlie generally never gets more than 6 ft from me as I will just step on his cord. And when I hear other people on the trail, I just pick up the end of the cord and we are leashed. I've had to pick Charlie up on more than one occasion as we've run into some rather aggressive dogs.

I'd brought the Kurgo dog pack and snacks. Charlie and I hiked out to the end of the last bluff and had a picnic and practice session with the backpack. 

Here is a view of the last leg of the trail through the pines. The smell is wonderful in any season. I had forgotten to put a battery in my little red camera so I only had my infrared pocket camera to take photos. It ended up working fairly well I think. I had to really look at the light, dark, green, and sunlight to compose photos.

On our way back we ran into a small group of people with a little old dog that had no collar and no leash. The dog was very obedient and the owner asked if Charlie and her dog could say hello. I said fine and the two dogs looked each other over, then Charlie simply walked away as did the other dog.

In the shot below you can see Charlie's long line that he drags behind him. When he wears his harness and line ~ and we are walking the reserve trails, he has always stayed close. He must really know the difference, right?

Tall Tale from the Trail....

Not a great shot, but doesn't it look like this tree is pouting??

Do you see the face? I actually had to stop and look at it twice. I plan on going back with a camera that can shoot at a higher speed than the little Canon Infrared can and get a clearer shot. I now have two grumpy faced trees that I enjoy photographing!

Be well.

Lots of thoughts, little time!

I think I am in a state of discombobulation. I have scattered thoughts, no surprise.
I'm thinking about life, priorities, and all those things that come with those thoughts.

I like order. My house is in dis-ORDER. Which means I am in disorder too. I am getting anxious to start to live normally again.
To not live out of buckets and tubs with lids.

So this project is sort of front and center in my mind and life at the moment.
However.
I do have these incredible mornings to ease that discombobulation!

 Merry Meadow at Dawn

Moments later while having coffee on the porch

I wondered what would happen if I turned the camera west and took a shot with the Infrared Filter on.

I was pleasantly surprised.

I edited this with the Orton Method as it was pretty grainy.

The IR brought out a very surreal shot from what was actually there.

Here is the shot in color ... no filter.

It isn't a perfect match, but you get the idea.

Wild isn't it?

Fun with Infared

Getting a Hoya IR72 filter was something I considered for quite a while.  I was pretty sure though that I wouldn't be able to figure out the processing part of it.

With many hours of experimentation, I am getting some fun results.

Some are quite stunning and of course others are quite the flop.  The flops go into the digital trash bin and I learn from the mistakes.

I forgot one day and shot in .jpeg, but still was able to get some interesting results.

For the above shot I had to rely on Topaz Adjust tones to help out.

This shot was red and I thought I would not be able to save it in any way.
I did shoot in RAW so was able to work with colors and tones.

Finally, something I could live with. It is still somewhat a 'flop' as it has a slight white area in the middle of the shot.
I think that may have been some reflection on the lens.
With some deft dodging and burning I could have it cleaned up in no time.

My newest thing is to try a long exposure with water.  This was a bit trickier because the leaves are turning colors and it makes for a very different result.

However, I like it as an 'almost black and white' shot.  The greens are white and the other colors are varies shades of the selenium tone I chose.

Happy Shooting!  Fall is here.  It is one of the happiest times of the year for me and my cameras.