The latest issue of Nikon Owner features Simon Marsden and his atmospheric 'ghosthunter' images, often taken using Kodak infrared film. Gray Levett's article The Dark Knight Rises: Sir Simon Marsden is also available as a PDF on the Marsden Archive web site.
Simon's photos are well worth studying if you're into infrared photography. His technique of shooting into the sun with buildings usually silhouetted and haloed as a result is an interesting alternative to the bright foliage we usually strive for. It took me a long time to get what he was doing.
Simon was very helpful with the RPS infrared centenary in 2010 and I am really sorry that we never got the chance to meet.
Monday, 24 September 2012
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Flaming exhaust
Thermal imaging makes it easy to see hot gases and this is clearly visible in part of the video in this BBC new story.
A stolen car is shown driving along a slip road on the M6 motorway, turning around to go back up the slip road (the wrong way) to avoid a trap and then turning back onto the motorway at speed. The exhaust gases from the car can clearly be seen as it speeds away. The wheels can also be seen 'white' (ie hot) and there are tails behind the car which could be either camera lag or heat left on the road by the tyres.
A stolen car is shown driving along a slip road on the M6 motorway, turning around to go back up the slip road (the wrong way) to avoid a trap and then turning back onto the motorway at speed. The exhaust gases from the car can clearly be seen as it speeds away. The wheels can also be seen 'white' (ie hot) and there are tails behind the car which could be either camera lag or heat left on the road by the tyres.
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Filter experiments: blue
It's taken me a while to get around to doing some serious experimentation with my FujiFilm IS-Pro. This is basically a FujiFilm S5 with the infrared blocking filter removed and while, when released, it was ludicrously expensive the price came down to clear stock. As far as I know it was the only commercially available infrared-capable DSLR since the early Kodaks.
With an SLR the difficulty when photographing using infrared film was being able to see through the viewfinder. Of course you could use a tripod but this wasn't always an option. Most of the time I used a deep red (#25) filter, which gave a good Wood effect but could still be seen through, albeit dimly. The problem continues with a DSLR, especially if you don't have a live view mode.
I thought I'd try filtration alternatives with the DSLR - red, yellow (minus-blue) and blue - as alternatives to opaque infrared-pass filters such as the Hoya R72. The plan was to be able to see through the lens while making the most of the sensor resolution, which means always using the green channel as it has twice the pixels of the others in the Bayer matrix. Of course the Bayer processing mixes things up quite a bit and in an ideal world I'd write my own RAW decoder ... but perhaps that's for later.
I took the opportunity of a holiday in southern Spain ... with lots of sun and plenty of foliage ... to try out using a blue filter, a #47 colour-separation filter made by Tiffen. The light path is like this ...
... because the blue filter does pass a significant amount of near-infrared. I think all blue filters do but I can only vouch for the Tiffen.
Initial experimentation suggested that setting the camera's auto-exposure to -3 or -4 EV brought the histogram into the centre for all channels and the autofocus would work. I could also shoot at f8 and ISO 100 since there was plenty of 'light' available. The lens I used was a Nikkor 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom which appears completely immune to the notorious hot-spot.
This is the result straight out of the camera (apart from some desaturation of the blue channel).
The colour palette isn't as broad as the one you get using an R72 (less greens) but I thought it quite pleasant. And what about the green channel on its own for that pure infrared look?
Pretty promising I think.
With an SLR the difficulty when photographing using infrared film was being able to see through the viewfinder. Of course you could use a tripod but this wasn't always an option. Most of the time I used a deep red (#25) filter, which gave a good Wood effect but could still be seen through, albeit dimly. The problem continues with a DSLR, especially if you don't have a live view mode.
I thought I'd try filtration alternatives with the DSLR - red, yellow (minus-blue) and blue - as alternatives to opaque infrared-pass filters such as the Hoya R72. The plan was to be able to see through the lens while making the most of the sensor resolution, which means always using the green channel as it has twice the pixels of the others in the Bayer matrix. Of course the Bayer processing mixes things up quite a bit and in an ideal world I'd write my own RAW decoder ... but perhaps that's for later.
I took the opportunity of a holiday in southern Spain ... with lots of sun and plenty of foliage ... to try out using a blue filter, a #47 colour-separation filter made by Tiffen. The light path is like this ...
... because the blue filter does pass a significant amount of near-infrared. I think all blue filters do but I can only vouch for the Tiffen.
Initial experimentation suggested that setting the camera's auto-exposure to -3 or -4 EV brought the histogram into the centre for all channels and the autofocus would work. I could also shoot at f8 and ISO 100 since there was plenty of 'light' available. The lens I used was a Nikkor 18-200 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom which appears completely immune to the notorious hot-spot.
This is the result straight out of the camera (apart from some desaturation of the blue channel).
The colour palette isn't as broad as the one you get using an R72 (less greens) but I thought it quite pleasant. And what about the green channel on its own for that pure infrared look?
Pretty promising I think.
Thursday, 3 May 2012
Richard Mosse in Liverpool
Richard Mosse's colour infrared images from the Democratic Republic of Congo are currently on show at the Open Eye Gallery on Liverpool waterfront. It runs until June 10th 2012.
There's also an interesting interview with Richard by Phil Coomes in his Viewfinder blog on the BBC web site.
There's also an interesting interview with Richard by Phil Coomes in his Viewfinder blog on the BBC web site.
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Simon Weir: Web, book and lecture
I was recently reminded of Simon Weir, whose landscape infrared photos are always worth a look.
He's now used Blurb to produce a book. Blub is one of those online book-production facilities and in this case use Indigo printers (of which I am extremely fond and which we use for our own calendars). There is an online preview of Simon's book, which is called Beyond Visible Light and I recommend using the full-screen preview to check out the photos. Whether you then buy a copy is up to you.
Also, if you're a member of the London Nikon Owners Group, Simon will be talking about his infrared photography, and infrared in general, on Friday evening (27th April) in sunny South Kensington. (More info on their blog.)
He's now used Blurb to produce a book. Blub is one of those online book-production facilities and in this case use Indigo printers (of which I am extremely fond and which we use for our own calendars). There is an online preview of Simon's book, which is called Beyond Visible Light and I recommend using the full-screen preview to check out the photos. Whether you then buy a copy is up to you.
Also, if you're a member of the London Nikon Owners Group, Simon will be talking about his infrared photography, and infrared in general, on Friday evening (27th April) in sunny South Kensington. (More info on their blog.)
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