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Digital Infrared Basics

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Infrared photography is easier than ever, thanks to digital cameras.

By Joe Farace

March 24, 2008

Back in the days of IR film, you had to use special film and load and unload your camera in total darkness to reduce the damage of fogging.

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To shoot infrared film you also needed special filters (more on filters later) and either process the film yourself or find an ever-dwindling pool of specialty labs to do it for you. When shooting infrared film it’s more click and hope, but digital IR images can be captured in-camera and you’ll see the results immediately on the LCD screen.


Hiking along Arches National Park, I like the way this lone pine stood out from the background. It was made with a Canon EOS D60 that was converted for infrared-only capture with an exposure of 1/160 sec at f/16 with a plus one and two-thirds stop overexposure compensation at ISO 400. ©2006 Joe Farace

The world of invisible light

One of the biggest advantages of shooting infrared images is that the medium has the power to transform seemingly mundane subject matter into unforgettable images. Everyday scenes you might walk by and never think of photographing, take on a more dramatic look when seen in infrared light. Tree leaves in general appear to be white. This is an effect produced by deciduous trees and grass because they reflect the sun’s infrared energy instead of absorbing it.

Botany 101: Deciduous trees lose all their leaves before the cold or dry season. Before that happens, the leaves often turn orange, red, or yellow and new leaves appear in spring. Coniferous trees (aka evergreens) have small and waxy leaves, sometimes needles, which are usually kept all year and have a less intense but sometimes visually interesting response in infrared photographs.

To give foliage that famed infrared glow you need to shoot at time of day when there’s more sun on the scene, which puts your best shooting time around mid-day! This is not the best times to make conventional images, but these are the “golden hours” for infrared photography. If you need a rule of thumb, try this: the best time of day to shoot digital IR is when it’s the worst time of day to shoot normal images.


The Lodge at Zion National Park is surrounded by beautiful deciduous trees and red rock cliffs, making it a wonderful place to capture IR images. Exposure with a Canon EOS D60 that was converted for infrared-only capture was 1/125 sec at f/11 with a plus one-stop overexposure compensation at ISO 200. ©2006 Joe Farace

Joe Farace is the author of “The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography” published by Lark Books (ISBN 1579907725.) It’s available in all the best bookstores as well as Amazon.com.

 

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