Internet sensations: Sea hawks’ return to Bay Area captured on webcam

RICHMOND — A pair of big sea hawks called ospreys make their debut Wednesday as internet stars on video cams that web cast their nesting and highlight the comeback of the species around San Francisco Bay.

Taking advantage of unusually good view points from high up on a historic World War II maritime crane along the Richmond shoreline, two high-definition cameras will live stream the adult ospreys courting, laying and hatching eggs. Once the chicks hatch, their feeding and learning to fly will be streamed live, too.

Ospreys are fearsome fish hunters whose wing spans can reach five or six feet. They are very chatty and social around the nest with calls and coos.

"We are using the most advanced technology to make this majestic wild bird accessible in a way that no photographer could from the ground," said Cindy Margulis, executive director of Golden Gate Audubon, organizer of the project. "We believe witnessing the life of an osprey family along our urban shoreline can inspire the whole community to protect ospreys and other Bay area wildlife."

The live streaming is available as of Wednesday and can be viewed at http://sfbayospreys.org/. Viewers can see the birds at night, too, because the cameras use infrared photography.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, web cams of raptors such as eagles and falcons or other wild creatures have revolutionized how people watch wildlife. A webcam of a peregrine falcon nest on a ledge at San Jose City Hall attracted half a million views in its first week in 2007. No current figures are available.

A webcam of a bald eagles nest in the National Arboretum in Washington D.C. attracted 63 million views last year.

Until the web cams became available, scientists trying to learn of raptor habits had to do it the hard way perched with binoculars in hard-to-reach spots.

"We would spend long hours in the middle of nowhere. Now anyone can do it at their desk on their computer," said Glenn Stewart, director of the Santa Cruz Predatory Research Bird Group, the organization behind the webcam at San Jose City Hall.

Margulis said the Richmond osprey webcam has an additional advantage: killer views of San Francisco Bay in the background.

Ospreys, to be sure, are the stars of the cam stage. Their dramatic dives to snatch fish out of bays, rivers and lakes are a prize catch for wildlife photographers.

Before the nesting season, crews placed two high definition cameras on a big stick nest ospreys had built on a Whirley crane near the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.

As expected, a male, since named Richmond, and a female, since named Rosie, showed up this February at the nest, paired off, and recently starting courting. Naturalists expect to see eggs laid within a couple of weeks, followed by a 36- to 42-day incubation. The chicks take about 50 to 55 days to learn to fly.

Marguiles said she hopes the attention from the osprey cams will motivate more people to help osprey by protecting or constructing nesting platforms, cleaning the Bay shoreline of litter and junk, and picking up fishing line osprey can get caught in.

In July 2013, an osprey chick hatched at the Whirley crane nest had to be removed so a wildlife hospital could cut it loose from fishing line wrapped around a branch in the nest. The chick recovered.

Osprey are making a big comeback along the Bay Area shoreline possibly due to improvements in water quality and shoreline habitat over the past 30 years. Bird experts also suspect eagles, another species on the rise, are driving osprey out of lake nests and forcing them to look toward the Bay.

The Bay shoreline had only one known osprey nest the early 1990s.

In 2012, there were 15 nests producing 30 chicks that learned to fly. In 2016, there were 26 nests that produced 51 chicks, said Tony Brake, a volunteer researcher with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory.

Most of the nests are along the East Bay and Vallejo shoreline, where cranes, poles and other industrial equipment offer nesting platforms.

"It's about a doubling in four years," said Brake, a Richmond resident. "It's a good sign. I think the cams are going to make people more aware of them."

Osprey facts

Osprey: A large raptor that is the only North American hawk that feeds almost exclusively on fish.Wing span: 59 to 70 inches.Adult weight: 50 to 71 ounces.Fishing skills: Ospreys catch fish on one of every four dives, making a catch about once every 12 minutes of fishing.Frequent flier: An osprey may log 160,000 air miles in migrations over its lifetime of 15 to 20 years.Nests: Contains two to three eggs on average. Stick nests can be 10- to 13-feet deep and three- to six-feet in diameter — easily big enough for a human to sit in.Risks: Ospreys build their nests with sticks and other scooped-up materials, including fishing line. Unfortunately, the line can wrap around and injure the chicks.

Source: Internet sensations: Sea hawks' return to Bay Area captured on webcam

NYCxIR: Ryan Berg Captured Stunning Photos of New York City in Infrared

Ryan Berg is a talented self-taught photographer currently based in Austin, Texas. Ryan focuses on analog photography. He recently traveled to New York City and captured stunning infrared series titled "NYC X Ir".

The photos were taken on a DSLR that I had converted to take infrared photos and were completed over a 10-day period.

More info: instagram / website Sourse: boredpanda

Source: NYCxIR: Ryan Berg Captured Stunning Photos of New York City in Infrared

Pocket-Sized $200 Fundus Camera Reduces Pupil Dilation

Researchers have developed an inexpensive, pocket-sized, nonmydriatic fundus camera using mostly off-the-shelf electrical components. The camera will not replace the use of dilating eye drops, but will make a method of nonmydriatic retina imaging already in use more portable and accessible.

"Dilating eye drops are often necessary for patients with small pupils, or for viewing the peripheral parts of the retina," researcher Bailey Y. Shen, MD, from the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago, told Medscape Medical News.

"What is interesting...about our prototype is that we took advantage of advances in technology (small and cheap camera boards, [and] cheap [light-emitting diodes] capable of emitting dual infrared and white light) to build a working nonmydriatic camera that is very cheap and portable," Dr Shen explained.

Dr Shen and Shizuo Mukai, MD, from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, describe the camera in an article published online March 15 in the Journal of Ophthalmology. "We made our paper open-access...and hope that it will be a step in making nonmydriatic fundus imaging accessible for more people," Dr Shen said.

Source: courtesy of Raspberry Pi Press Photos.

The researchers based the camera on the Raspberry Pi 2 computer, a popular, general purpose, single-board computer platform. They connected the board to a small inexpensive infrared camera and dual infrared and white LEDs.

A lens, a small display screen, and several cables complete the camera. The camera functions by first emitting infrared light, which focuses the camera on the retina. At this time, most retina cameras use white light, which causes the iris to contract, constricting the pupil; thus, dilating eye drops are necessary to be able to visualize the retina.

With the new camera, the infrared light focuses the camera on the retina after a few seconds without provoking a response from the iris. Once the camera is focused, it delivers a quick flash of white light and takes the picture.

Cameras that use this same infrared/white light technique have existed for years, but they are often bulky and cost thousands of dollars.

Dr Shen's and Dr Mukai's camera images the retina and its blood supply, as well as the part of the optic nerve that enters the retina. It can discover health issues including diabetes, glaucoma, and elevated pressure around the brain.

Smartphones

Previous research has demonstrated that smartphones can perform fundus photography, the authors write. Smartphones are ubiquitous and connect easily to mobile or wireless networks. However, when their native camera and flash are used, pharmacologic dilation is necessary, and the safety of the camera flash is unknown among different smartphones.

"[A] major possible improvement to our nonmydriatic fundus camera would be to turn the camera into a 'dongle' for a smartphone, connected to a smartphone via a micro-USB or Lightning [Apple] connection," the authors write. "Such a camera dongle would have an infrared-sensitive camera board and dual infrared and white light LED, but would rely on the smartphone to provide the battery, touchscreen viewfinder, and internet connection, increasing the portability and decreasing the cost of the camera."

Dr Mukai told Medscape Medical News, "Making a retinal imaging device that requires no pharmacologic dilation of the pupil that is inexpensive and portable...will make the device more readily available even in the poorest and most remote setting," If the device were an attachment to a smartphone, it would "also allows for immediate telemedicine capability via the mobile phone platforms and the Internet," he added.

"Nonmydriatic fundus photography is especially useful for screening and telemedicine. Diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma are already being evaluated this way. The cost of the commercially available cameras has limited the scope of the telemedicine networks, and dramatic lowering of the cost should significantly expand the range," Dr Mukai said. "By making the device as an attachment to a smartphone, we can use the smartphone as the computer that it is and use machine learning and [artificial intelligence] for automated disease detection (differentiating diseased from normal retina), and even diagnosis. Our collaborators at MIT Media Lab are already starting to do this. In addition, computational processing can improve the captured images by 'stitching' multiple images for a wider angle montage and by 'stacking' multiple images to improve image resolution," he explained.

"Additional Refinements," "Formal Testing" Next Steps

The team is trying to find collaborators who can help them more comprehensively test the light safety of their prototype camera, Dr Shen told Medscape Medical News. He said it is difficult to say how long that will take, as they may want to make additional adjustments to the illumination system in the future.

"There will be additional refinements to the device, and formal testing would be done on the version closer to the 'clinical' version," Dr Mukai said. "We are fortunate to have a collaborator who is the world expert on retinal-imaging device safety, and we should be able to do it as we did for our iPhone 4 smartphone fundus photography system that we published. As mentioned in our paper, the energy levels reaching the retina and neighboring tissues are well within the safe range," he explained.

"I think that once we can confidently say the lighting of the camera is safe for human eyes, it would be ready for real-world use. What's reassuring is that there are already many commercially available nonmydriatic cameras that we know emit safe amounts of infrared and white lights, so theoretically, a portable and cheap nonmydriatic camera should be capable of being safe as well," Dr Shen added.

Open Access

The researchers include a list of parts, assembly instructions, and the necessary code to program the camera. "We are making the instructions for this device open source...with the hope that others will build it and make further modifications in an innovative way," they write.

"In addition to the device itself, the open-source [do-it-yourself] concept is new to medical-device development," Dr Mukai said. "Since normal pathway and timetable for device development takes several steps, almost a decade of time (when technology is often outdated), and even millions of dollars, one of our goals was to have a device from inception to use in a relatively short time. We were able to do this recently for developing a system for taking fundus photographs using a smartphone, although that system did not involve making a new device," he explained.

"Our prototype camera offers a proof of concept that a portable nonmydriatic fundus camera capable of capturing quality fundus photographs can be produced simply and inexpensively," the authors write. "That such a prototype camera is possible is due in large part to the current smartphone and mobile technology revolution, with improving quality, shrinking sizes, and falling prices of computer chips, camera boards, camera illumination systems, and touchscreens." they conclude.

The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

J Ophthal. Published online March 15, 2017. Full text

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Source: Pocket-Sized $200 Fundus Camera Reduces Pupil Dilation

Bodie Infrared – Rollei Infrared 400 (4×5)

Bodie infrared

Rollei Infrared 400 shot at EI 6Black and white infrared negative film in 4×5 formatGraflex Speed Graphic 1957 – Kodak Anastigmat 161mm f/4.5

Bodie InfraredRollei Infrared 400 shot at EI 6.Black and white infrared negative film in 4×5 format.Graflex Speed Graphic 1957 – Kodak Anastigmat 161mm f/4.5

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Source: Bodie Infrared – Rollei Infrared 400 (4×5)

Infrared Photography: Tips on How to Get Started

You have always wanted to try infrared photography, but you've been lead to believe that this can only be done using expensive IR cameras? This article is for you! Read about how you can build yourself a digital IR camera for just a few dollars.

"Infrared in Sykesville, MD" captured by Sean Naber (Click Image to See More From Sean Naber)

Notes to the Reader

This article covers some of the basic principles of IR photography. It also tells the story of a project involving the modification of a number of digital cameras. The cameras were converted to be used as IR cameras. The aim of the project was to do the IR conversion as cheaply as possible.

Important disclaimer: Taking apart a perfectly good, fully functional, digital camera, is risky in more ways than one. There is the possibility of electrocution (through highly charged capacitors within the camera) and there is a real chance that the camera may never work again. I take no responsibility for any such mishap. The risk is yours completely; so are the rewards afterward if you get it right!

At the time of writing this, the NZ$ is worth about 70 cents American.

The Trigger and the Motivation

I am a simple man. I sometimes get involved in projects of a complex nature and may on the odd occasion fiddle with technologies which may be classed as "modern" or "advanced." By nature, though, I like to simplify things if at all possible. I also believe that many times we are precluded from doing worthwhile things by society telling us, "It's difficult," "It's too expensive," or "You'll never be able to do that. Only certain people can do that, and you are not one of them."

In this article I aim to prove to you that you too can do IR photography. In fact, you can produce stunning IR photos using a home-built camera on a very tight budget if:

You are prepared to invest a very modest sum of money in getting together the parts needed.

You have the practical skills needed to take something apart and put it back together again (or know someone who can help you with that).

You can cut and shape a small piece of glass (or get someone to do it for you).

You have any knack at all for taking decent photographs.

You are prepared to risk "getting it wrong" or "screwing it up."

Photo captured by Ruel Tafalla (Click Image to See More From Ruel Tafalla)

Resources

Before you set off on this journey, you may want to get some more information on the subject. Fortunately there is a lot of information accessible on the Internet.

For information on camera conversions:

"Greenwich Park" captured by Sean Nel (Click Image to See More From Sean Nel)

In some instances, the articles mentioned above will give you all the details needed to convert a specific camera. Some of them refer you on to other sites where once again modifications to cameras are described and detailed. Even if you do not intend to convert one of the cameras covered in these articles, it is worth the while to scan through them. You then get an idea of what a digital camera looks like on the inside and how they are constructed. You will learn a lot by just scanning through the articles contained in this list!

Some more information on IR photography (using digital cameras) can be found at LifePixel and other similar sites.

You can also search the Internet for sources of your own using phrases such as:

"infrared camera conversion"

"infrared photography"

"IR photography"

You may also go to a local library and ask about IR photography. Many libraries will only have books and references on IR film photography but you may be lucky and get info on digital photography from yours. It all depends on how modern and up-to-date your library services are.

IR Photography Concepts

I am going to assume that you have a basic grasp of the principles of IR photography. Even though you need not be an expert on these, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the following before you proceed with this article:

What is infrared light?

How does it differ from light in the visible spectrum?

Why is it we can not see it but digital cameras can ?

How does a digital camera capture a picture?

What is a CCD?

What does a camera's mega pixels(MP) value indicate?

What does a "hot filter" do, and why is it found inside most digital cameras?

Manipulating JPEG files on a personal computer

Utilizing graphics software

The mere fact that you are reading this article tells me that you have an interest in IR photography. You may also be keen on taking your own IR photos and manipulating them. I take that to be a good sign and trust that you will "fill in the gaps" around missing information where and when needed.

From experience I can tell you that:

You do not need a specialized IR camera costing hundreds (or thousands) of dollars to do IR photography.

You do not need to use a DSLR for infrared photography. A cheap digital camera that has been converted for IR photography can take stunning IR photos. It will most likely not suffer from long exposure times and can be utilized as easily as any other digital camera.

It is not that difficult to convert a suitable point-and-shoot digital camera for IR photography.

Suitable cameras and the materials needed to build your own dedicated IR camera can be sourced cheaply if you have access to the Internet and a reliable postal service. You may already posses some of the tools and/or may be able to get the components and tools in stores close to home.

"IR Queen's" captured by Reza (Click Image to See More From Reza)

What You Need

You will need the following during the construction phase of your IR photography project:

A suitable camera. There are numerous references to suitable cameras on the internet. You may want to read my comments on what I considered suitable cameras below. This will give you an indication of how I went about it. As you will most likely be buying second hand goods, ensure that the deal includes a memory card, charger for the battery (if applicable) and some software (good to have) for downloading the photo files. A carry case is good to have but not essential.

A suitable IR filter. You will most likely be able to get this from a photography shop, photographic retailer or the like. If you are able to source goods over the Internet and can have it delivered to your home, you will not find it difficult to get a suitable filter. Consider buying at least two or three different filters. If you do, the filters should be spaced far enough apart (in terms of their respective cut-off points) to allow you to experiment with different lighting conditions, more or less Woods effect etc. Note that you may not only have to buy filters for use as filter elements, but you may have to buy some filters to cannibalize for their parts.

Some basic tools. These include one or two jeweler's screwdrivers, a glass cutter, a diamond-impregnated file, masking tape, a fine-pointed semi-permanent pen, tweezers and blu tack. You may or may not want to use vernier calipers to measure the glass element that needs replacing inside the camera. More about that later.

A suitable workplace. The workplace should be clean, uncluttered and well-lit. It should preferably be set up such that you can leave the project there indefinitely while searching for, constructing or waiting for parts.

A few consumables like paper cloths, cleaning liquid, epoxy glue, earbuds and a clean handkerchief or two.

Enough time to complete the project. A typical build can take an evening or two of full-on work but may extend out to a week or two if you have to wait for delivery on goods which had been ordered

Basic Tools

Infrared Photography Tools

You may not need all of the tools shown in the two photos. Most are cheap and easy to find.

Additional Infrared Photography Tools Needed

Once you have completed your camera you will need:

A memory card suited to your camera. Some cameras have internal memory allowing you to store photo files on the camera itself. It is however always worth the while to get a memory card. The files are downloaded so much easier and the storage capacity is increased many times over.

Batteries, a battery pack, or power source for your camera.

If your camera allows for manual white balancing, you will need a gray card to allow for this action. You need not spent lots of money on this; see notes later in this article.

Suitable subject material for your photo shoot.

Sufficient light and suitable weather conditions for the shoot.

Means of getting the files from the camera on to the computer. You may transfer the information by means of a cable connection or by taking the memory card from the camera and slotting it into a suitable card reader. Consult the instruction manual for your camera for more information on how to do this.

Access to a personal computer and suitable software for image manipulation. Once again this need not cost you a cent. You can download GIMP from the Internet and use it to process our photos. There are Gimpuser tutorials which teach you how to take a color photo and convert it to grayscale or how to change around the colors for false-color photography. You will basically be doing one of these two actions to convert your IR photo into a stunning work of art. See http://www.gimpusers.com/tutorials/infrared-monochrome.html

A tripod is handy in that it allows you to take photos in poor lighting conditions.

Things to Keep in Mind About IR Photography

IR photography is as much an experimental process as it is an art form. You never quite know what you are going to get when you press the shutter release. You are for ever experimenting, always trying different things and you need to take lots of photos to maybe get the outcome you hoped for.

IR photo's need not be sharply focused, crisp and clear. In fact much of the allure of this art form is contained in its ghostly appearance, its dreamy atmosphere and sometimes surrealistic appearance. I will be referring to this later on within the article.

Digital IR photography has very real advantages over IR film photography. The old IR films had to be treated with great care to prevent fogging and had to be developed by experienced photo laboratory staff or dedicated amateurs. It was not easy and it was not cheap. Digital photography and the process of producing an IR image of your own does not cost a cent. That's right! Once you have modified your camera and added the bits needed to get it to do IR photography, the only real expenditure will be toward batteries for the shoot. You can upload your own photos, "process" them, and produce results without any real cost. This is especially important when you consider that you will be taking lots of photos to see which ones are useful and which ones are not.

Proceed to Part 2: My Own Infrared Camera Project

About the author:Pieter Albertyn is a self-confessed "tinkerer" and amateur photographer. He lives in Napier, New Zealand. Pieter has previously been involved in product development and systems engineering. He loves to modify utility products, enhance their features and develop basic logistical support systems for them. Though he works in an English dominated workplace, English is his second language.

Source: Infrared Photography: Tips on How to Get Started

Frightful Photo Friday: Cameras and Other Neon Gadgets Necessary For a Ghost Rave

I thought we might have a little fun this week, since my previous Photo Fridays seem to mostly be morbid and gruesome (and mildly upsetting, when faced with the truth that the internet is full of lies.)

So instead, I want to spend some time on the colorful side of ghost photography– namely, focusing on a few of our favorite ghost hunting tools that, whether purposefully or not, are composed of colorful neon lights like they belong in a dubstep video. Maybe ghosts are into that, I don't know, but I'm glad to know they're being included in the party.

Just a little heads up: This post will contain gifs of flashing lights, neon colors, and lots of movement, so if you're sensitive to any of those, maybe skip on over this post. In fact, skip on over reading anything at all, and listen in on the Haunt Jaunts Podcast instead!

Otherwise, let's get this party started.

Infrared/IR/Night Vision Cameras

While these come in multiple forms, whether through a light attachment on the head of your camera (video or otherwise) or in the form of a special lens cap for daytime photoshoots, infrared cameras work similarly to a thermal camera.

While less detailed than a full-fledged thermographic imager, infrared works by sensing temperature radiation through the lens, and then converting that into a digital signal that imprints in different shades of color on the camera's sensor.

Infrared radiation is measured in wavelengths, while thermal radiation is done through actual temperature. This is how cameras are able to "see" in the dark, despite our eyes still being blind.

If you've watched as much Ghost Adventures as I have, you might recall how often one of the guys mentions how "the IR light on the camera is invisible to the naked eye," hence why we, the audience, are able to see what's going on, yet the crew keeps bumping their knees into everything in sight.

Unrelated

While in ghost hunting scenarios the infrared images captured would be mostly monochromatic due to the lack of light, it's also possible to shoot infrared during the day. This achieves an unnatural color in the surroundings, without having to rely on photoshop or another editing process in post-production. Usually, images end up more saturated, and landscapes appear more like they belong on an alien planet.

EMF Detectors

EMF stands for Electromagnetic Field, a fancy name for a type of static electricity, which ghosts are thought to give off. (I literally heard that in Zak Bagans voice. Get out of my head!)

Source: ghosthuntersequipment.com

Depending on the intensity of the electromagnetic field, or, essentially, how closely the spirit is standing within your reach, the lights on the top of the detector will flicker between colors ranging from green (low intensity) to red (high intensity). For this to be a true rave, a spirit need only hop in and out of range and send that color spectrum a-dancin'.

REM Pods

REM pods work in the same manner as an EMF detector, but rather than detecting the static itself, it instead creates its own little energy bubble around the antenna. When the bubble is interrupted, it lights up to indicate a presence.

Source: theghosthunterstore.com

REM pods, then, are usually left alone without any nearby touch, as a person could easily set it off by getting too close to the antenna. They also usually give off a high-pitched wail whenever a spirit gets too close. Me too, REM pod. Me too.

360 Parascope

The 360 Parascope is made up of a single central pod, with a number of clear dowels emerging from around the circumference. This gadget detects EMF, using an array of changing colors depending on the intensity, in order to determine the location of a spirit within the vicinity. It's a lot like if the EMF detector and a REM pod had a baby, in space.

Source: paranologies.com

Not only does it look like one crazy UFO that I definitely want to hop onto, but the colorful lights are surely going to be a source of curiosity for any spirit who might have passed on before the lightbulb became a normal staple of society.

What more, when the lights follow their movements, I imagine they'll be pretty pleased to know that they're being sensed. Personally, if I was a spirit, I might just sit and play with the lights for hours on end, while dreaming of actual UFOs.

REM Bear

Used mainly in an effort to make contact with child spirits, the REM bear is a seemingly normal stuffed animal, but with some high-tech inclusions.

Usually throughout the paws, ears, and tummy, the bear contains colorful lights and an EMF detector, which we already talked about above. It's said children, and even potentially older spirits, are more likely to interact with an object they recognize from their own lifetimes. Therefore, this cuddly cyborg bear might be a better choice than the UFO 360 Parascope we talked about earlier.

In this clip GAC doesn't actually use a REM-bear per say,

but boy do I love that dramatic DUN DUN after the thing moves.

This also makes me wonder, what will people 100 years from now use to attract the spirits of 2017? An EMF-detecting Macbook? Surely some poltergeist out there somewhere is already messing with a Macbook. At least if you get too suspicious, you can put some of your own traps in place should they get a little too handsy. Unplug the charger? Prepare to be caught red handed, dude.

Laser Grid/Kinect Camera

All hail the mighty Xbox, and its bringing forth of the Kinect camera. While this super-cool high tech piece of equipment is bunk in terms of winning Just Dance 3, it turned out to be a pretty neat addition to the average ghost hunter's utility belt.

Using the Kinect to track possible apparitions was invented by Bill Chappell, who I also mentioned previously in my Spirit Photography post. Basically, the infrared dots scattered by the Kinect camera, once disturbed, build a skeleton of the shape breaking them up.

You can see it in action when a human is standing within the field, and then, if you watch the above video, as another form mysteriously appears alongside him. Now, imagine playing Just Dance 3, only for another invisible player to suddenly join and totally wipe the floor with you.

Full-Spectrum Camera

A brief science lesson:

In terms of wavelengths the human eyes can seen, we're pretty limited.

Source: bounceenergy.com

This goes back to why we're not able to see IR light, but cameras can. Our eyes are also unable to register UV light and X-Rays, two other wavelengths used commonly within our society, particularly in the medical fields.

So then, what does a full-spectrum camera do? Exactly what it sounds like, it gives us visual access to more of the otherwise invisible wavelengths, just in case a spirit is hiding away in the UV corner of the room, just trying to get a seasonal tan. (That imagery really got away from me there.)

Source: ghoststop.com

Combining both UV and IR wavelengths, full-spectrum cameras open up another wavelength of possibilities when it comes to photographic evidence of the paranormal.

What other futuristic tools have you seen used before, whether in your own hunts or on TV? What are your personal experiences with the gadgets talked about above? Do you think any of them are more effective than others? Share in the comments!

Until next time, don't forget to call an Uber if you're feeling a little dizzy from all the dancing lights. (Uber, more like BOO-ber, hahaha.)

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Source: Frightful Photo Friday: Cameras and Other Neon Gadgets Necessary For a Ghost Rave

One fraught phone call

Out There was in the house last Friday night as renowned Italian soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci (with pianist Donald Sulzen) performed Elle, the distraught character at the heart of Francis Poulenc's La Voix humaine, along with a program of French art-songs for SF Opera Lab in the Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera.

In La Voix humaine Poulenc set a text by the great gay poet Jean Cocteau. In it, a woman basically has a breakdown during a long, desperate, final phone call with her soon-to-be ex-lover. It's melodramatic, but its musical values redeem it. Poulenc's piano score complements the narrative with exquisite tension and release. A vocal and dramatic tour de force, La Voix humaine requires a virtuoso performer, and in Antonacci it has found one. Her dramatic delivery, her astonishing vocalism and her emotional investment were all first-rate. Sulzen's pianism displayed all of the piquancy, glitter and perfumery that Poulenc is famous for. Supertitles by Megan Young were projected onto the wall behind the performers in full stanzas, rather than by the line, which suited the material.

In the program's first half, Antonacci and Sulzen performed Hector Berlioz's dramatic ballade "La mort d'Ophelie" ("The Death of Ophelia") and a series of art-songs including Claude Debussy 's trio of erotic melodies set to poems by Pierre Louys, Chansons de Bilitis; and Poulenc's seven-part song cycle La fraicheur et le feu (The Coolness and the Fire ), settings of verses by the Surrealist poet Paul Eluard, which the composer dedicated to Igor Stravinsky .

In the sixth of these, "Homme au sourire tender" ("Man with the tender smile"), Eluard addresses the title character as well as a "woman with the tender eyelids, man with the freshened cheeks, woman with the sweet fresh arms," and so on, and concludes, "There is nothing that prevents you, my masters, from testing me."

The relatively new Taube Atrium Theater is turning out to be a versatile venue for the type of chamberworks SF Opera Lab is presenting. The intimate seating and configuration of the space are changeable, earlier this year easily accommodating composer Ted Hearne and librettist Mark Doten 's oratorio The Source. Next SF Opera Lab will present the vocal octet Roomful of Teeth in their San Francisco debut (April 23) and members of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in ChamberWORKS(April 27). For SF Opera Lab tickets and information, visit sfoperalab.com or call (415) 864-3330.

Scene from director Ceyda Torun's Kedi: real cats of Istanbul. Photo: Oscilloscope Laboratories

Cat sense

Director Ceyda Torun's Kedi, now showing in Landmark Theatres, follows the street cats of contemporary Istanbul, who are well-known as an adorable presence in the ancient city. On a behavioral scale, the kitties fall somewhere between feral and tame, but the film shows that they allow people to feed and pet them. Torun's camera follows a handful of these proud furred felines, and viewers get a sense of them as individual personalities. It's a delightful acquaintance. We also meet the humans who become attached to these regal creatures.

In the movie's most harrowing sequence, one cat earns his restaurant meals by chasing a terrified mouse down into the Istanbul sewers. Using infrared photography, Torun films the thrill of the chase from the rodent's alarmed perspective, its beady eyes fixed on the presence of its prospective predator. Perhaps the next such documentary offering could show things from a Turkish mouse's point of view. Call it Redi.

Source: One fraught phone call

Film Emulsions with a Look You Can’t Get in Digital Photography

Lead photo by Doctor Popular. Used with a Creative Commons License.

There are loads and loads of film emulations that have been more or less copied with presets for Lightroom. Everyone has their own interpretation, and for the most part if you ask any film photographer, they'll tell you that they don't look like film. At the same time though, there are film emulsions out there that really don't look like anything that can possibly be replicated in digital.

Here are some of our favorite film emulsions that digital hasn't yet copied.

Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan 400

Japan Camera Hunter Street Pan is a near infrared film that when developed with Rodinal, does a really super contrasty job yet gets a lot of details from the right spots. We're super excited that it's coming in 120. This is a film that you seriously can't get consistently with any sort of editing in digital photography.

In our review, we state:

"The film grain from Street Pan is very fine overall. It's much finer than Tri-X and Delta 400. So if you're a person that craves that super grainy look, then this may not be the 400 film for you. In fact, this is some of the finest grain that I've seen overall for a 400 speed black and white film."

Buy Now: Japan Camera Hunter

CineStill 50D

CineStill 50D is the finest grain color film on the market. It also has some absolutely fantastic colors. This is a respooled Kodak cinema film; and nothing in digital can touch it.

In our review, we state:

"CineStill 50D film is set and fixed to ISO 50, so you'll need to shoot with lots of light. We recommend using diffused flash, lots of natural sunlight, or a lens that opens up really wide. In addition to that, you'll need to realize that this film is also daylight balanced. For the record, most films are daylight balanced for shooting in direct sunlight (approx. 5000K). That means that when the sun starts to go down a bit or you're shooting in overcast situations, you'll need to use a slight warming filter to balance it out because the color temperature is cooler as a result."

Buy Now: Amazon

Lomography X Pro 200 Slide Film

We're currently in the process of reviewing Lomography 200 slide film; but you should know that it's basically designed for cross processing. However, if you're brave enough, there indeed ways to tame it. This film is super saturated and super warm. When you're in typical daylight settings, it's just going to look warm.

There are ways around this though; and we're still working on our review. But of course, this is another film that can't be easily mimicked in digital.

Buy Now: Amazon

CineStill 800T

CineStill 800T is a tungsten balanced film. That means that in daylight, it will be very blue. But indoors or under tungsten lighting, it will look normalized. It's a fantastic film and surely one of my favorites.

In our review, we state:

"Our film was developed by the great folks over at Lomography–who did an overall incredible job with the developing along with the scans. In the portrait to the left (and with any that are in a similar background/area) we put a flash right up against a window to enhance the natural light coming in. Then we used a handheld light meter and got the images we needed after ensuring that our lens's aperture was perfectly metered.

CineStill 800T is incredible with skin tones and also very well detailed. The grain is very fine; you can see it at times but you'll genuinely love the look. When a flash is used or you shoot in overcast lighting, the colors are very true to life. Skin tones are muted and a bit subdued while other colors are very spot on. What helps in this situation are Sigma's excellent lenses, though for what it's worth we don't get any of that magical micro-contrast that we do when they're attached to digital cameras."

Buy Now: Amazon

Kono! 400T

KONO! film is really quirky and different stuff, but in my experience it's always very beautiful in its renditions. This is another Tungsten film and requires a lot of light. Like CineStill, it's a cinema film that is respooled and designed for 35mm film shooting.

In our review, we state:

"Something that I really love about this film is how the skin tones look. This image was shot indoors with a flash going off and hitting a window which had a shade over it. It isn't perfect, but it's still really beautiful. I've achieved better portraits before with Tungsten film but for what it's worth, this is still very nice."

Buy Now: Lomography

LomoChrome Purple 400

Photo by Sai Mr. Used with a Creative Commons license.

I haven't had the right opportunity to test our batches of Lomochrome Purple, but when you look around on the web at some of the images that have been made with it, you'll be amazed at the type of work coming out. It's all very trippy but gorgeous.

Buy Now: Amazon

Source: Film Emulsions with a Look You Can't Get in Digital Photography

What a kick! Out in the Desert With Infrared Photography

Intro by Skip Cohen

I love sharing posts from good buddy, Mark Toal. Mark is part of the team at "Mirrorless Photo Tips" along with two other great friends, Joe and Mary Farace. They're sharing great content every day and need to be on your radar.

Last year Mark was featured on an episode of "Why?" and sharing one of his favorite images, another beautiful infrared shot. Just click on the thumbnail of his image to the right to listen to the backstory.

Click for more info The two images below were both captured with a LUMIX GX7. I've personally been shooting with LUMIX cameras for the last two years and over and over again, Panasonic lives up to its tagline of "Changing Photography." The GX7 has been replaced by the GX8 pictured on the left.

​Check out more of Mark's work together with the rest of the Luminary Team with a visit to the Lumix Lounge. This is an incredibly diverse group of artists and you'll never be disappointed with the images and information they're sharing!

by Mark Toal​It's been a long, rainy winter in the Northwest this year so I haven't been able to use my Infrared camera as much as I would have liked. Infrared photography is easiest when there are white puffy clouds against a blue sky and fairly bright light. The middle of the day is perfect for infrared photography so a recent trip to Tucson was a perfect time to pack my converted Panasonic Lumix GX7 with the Lumix G Vario Lens, 7-14mm f/4.0 ASPH lens.

A lot infrared photograph's focus on the way trees and greenery turn white as in the photo of the palm trees. If you avoid trees, grass plants you can get an image that looks a lot like standard black and white, but the sky will be much more dramatic as in the photo of the Mission in Tucson.

Images copyright Mark Toal. All rights reserved.

If you have a camera that you're not using that much, why not send it to LifePixel to be converted to infrared. Trust me you won't regret it. And for a limited time only, if you want to save $50 off for Priority Processing Upgrade when converting your camera to infrared, use the coupon code "ToalIR." ​​

Joe's book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography is currently out-of-print but used copies are available from Amazon for under $6. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and is available from Amazon with new copies under $6 and used copies less than five bucks. You can buy'em both for less than $12.

Click on either book for more information!

Source: What a kick! Out in the Desert With Infrared Photography

Drones Fly Onto Radar For Farm Operations

Just about every yield advantage for corn and soybeans has been identified, except those that may only be observable from an aerial point of view.

That potential for incrementally improving crop yield and quality is what motivates Mission Hill farmer Chris Nelsen to make use of drone technology.

After buying his first drone four years ago, Nelsen has learned that a bird's-eye view can reveal important information about his crops and irrigation systems that give him an advantage for his bottom line.

"Once a corn crop is four to five feet tall, there are a lot of things you can't see just by looking across the field," Nelsen says. "You could have insects attacking the crop, nutritional deficiencies in different areas of the field or maybe some flooding problems. You won't be able to address those problems unless you have a way to identify them. Drones can help wit that."

Drone use in agriculture has evolved as operators like Nelsen have learned how to use them and drone technology has advanced. What started as a quick way to view a crop is now giving farmers an opportunity to obtain GPS coordinates for their entire field to create a map that can be overlaid on a yield map to reveal a higher degree of information about the crop.

"The Cadillac of drones starts uploading dataeven as it's flying over a field," Nelsen says. "There are third-party vendors who can take drone images and stitch them together to create a panoramic view of the crop. Add the geo reference data to that and you have a lot of information about your crop and your field."

Infrared photography is one of the emerging features of drones used in agriculture. Infrared photography can be used to help assess a plant's health. Traditionally, infrared imagery for agricultural and ecological use has been captured from satellites and airplanes. The information it provides has been used mainly by large farming operations and academic research projects.

However, farmers like Nelsen can now use drones to capture infrared images of crops and review the pictures to determine if plants are suffering from issues such as nitrogen deficiency or overwatering.

"Infrared images will provide a comparison of how 'green' each plant is," Nelsen says. "The greener the plant, the healthier it is. Nitrogen deficiency is a common plant health issue. However, something like a plugged or worn irrigation sprinkler package could be causing either excess or lack of water in an isolated area. Drones that capture infrared images at any time the farmer needs them can help in recognizing an issue and responding to it as soon as possible."

Infrared images of an operating irrigation sprinkler will reveal differences in the concentric circles created by the water, pinpointing an irrigation malfunction.

"In the past, we had to rely on satellites to obtain these types of images," Nelsen says. "If it happens to be cloudy on the day you need an image, you might have to wait at least three or four days for that satellite to pass over again. Drones can be launched anytime there's a need."

Nelsen has found that ponding issues that don't appear to be too serious when observed from the ground level can look much different from an aerial point of view. The drone can reveal the length and breadth of the ponding area, as well as help in assessing the health of plants in that area.

"If you use a $20,000 drone, you can have video and images to review as soon as the drone lands," Nelsen says. "I don't use one with those features, but I am able to view real-time video on my phone or other digital device by using a drone app. You can view near infrared video, too."

Farmers like Nelsen who have implemented drone technology in their operations are finding that they have a wealth of data they don't always know how to use. Partnering with an agronomist or other crop and soil specialists can help in mining the information drones gather.

"You want to use that information to the best of your ability to maximize efficiency and productivity," Nelsen says. "By putting the trained eyes of specialists like an entomologist on your information, you may discover things you wouldn't otherwise recognize."

Nelsen cautions that use of drones doesn't relieve farmers of the need to physically scout their fields and get close to the crop. All the images and video in the world can't replace that hands-on observation.

"You can't just farm from the sky," Nelsen says. "You have to get out there. Just flying over a field with a drone isn't going to make everything OK."

To select an appropriate drone, Nelsen recommends completing research to learn about the features of different types of drones, and ask agricultural experts and those engaged in the agriculture industry for their insight on the topic.

"There are companies who have all the technical information and know all about designing and servicing a drone, but they may not be able to help farmers understand the benefits of stitching crop images together or even help them find a vendor to provide that service," Nelsen says. "Take time to weed out the drone companies that aren't equipped to specifically help you make the most of your drone."

The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is a simple graphical indicator that can be used to analyze remote sensing measurements to assess whether or not the observed target contains live green vegetation.

NDVI maps show the difference between the near-infrared (strongly reflected by vegetation) and red light (which is absorbed by vegetation). The maps can be created by drones that capture near-infrared and red wavelength data. The information aids in activities like monitoring drought and predicting yield. It also provides data about density and intensity of green vegetation growth. Water-stressed, diseased or dead leaves become yellow and reflect significantly less in the near-infrared range.

"All this information can be used to help develop prescriptions for variable-rate planting, fertilizing and irrigation," Nelsen says. "It could also be used to develop spraying plans for insect or weed treatments. Based on the wave length emitted, you could program a sprayer to treat anything that varied from the wave length emitted by a corn plant. All of that precision matters in making crop production affordable and reliable."

Nelsen has retained images from the past four years, storing them on his computer. Cloud storage is usually an option for drone images. Nelsen doesn't rule out the use of other technologies to maximize his potential for top yield production.

"This past year, we used a plane equipped with a high-end camera to review some drainage issues before we planted to avoid losing nutrients to runoff," Nelsen says. "We can use the map generated through that to overlay and correlate with our yield map to further identify any shortcomings or faults in specific areas."

Nelsen believes drone technology will continue gaining favor in the agriculture industry because it extends the options for farmers to refine crop production and improve overall yield with data captured from the air.

"Even a 2 percent or 3 percent loss is significant for farmers," Nelsen says. "Losses can be reduced with tactics like fertilizer stabilizer to reduce leaching or drone data to reduce ponding. Incremental gains, especially in years with low profitability, can make all the difference."

Source: Drones Fly Onto Radar For Farm Operations

Counterpoint: Shooting Infrared in Winter

Posted on Mar 17, 2017 in Featured, Panasonic

Today's Post by Joe Farace

On Tuesday, my pal and co-create of the Mirrorless Photo Tips blog showed one solution to shooting infrared imagery when the weather back home is not all that accommodating. Since March and April are the two snowiest months in Colorado, I've got some time to go before I see fully leafed out deciduous trees, although we have 300 days a year of sun. What that remains is for me to shoot IR in the sno w.

And yes, you can shoot infrared in  Winter. While the Wood Effect produces the bright to white reproduction of the chlorophyll layer of deciduous plants, even evergreen plants and trees will show some effect and, to my mind, works perfectly with the snow on the ground.

Continuing a theme I wrote about in a post entitled "What Inspires You to Make Photographs," I've been making infrared images in a winter when the only leaves on the trees are these Ponderosa Pines.

This image was shot with a Panasonic Lumix G6 that had been converted to infrared-only capture by LifePixel and a Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH lens. Exposure was 1/40 sec at f/16 and ISO 400 and shot in my own backyard.

If you would like to experience some of the same thrill of discovery that occurred during the first stage of your photographic education, my suggestion is to never stop exploring. Try some new things. Maybe it's infrared photography but whatever you do try something outside your normal comfort zone.

For a limited time only, if you want to save $50 off for Priority Processing Upgrade when converting your camera to infrared by LifePixel, use the coupon code "FaraceIR."

My book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography is currently out-of-print but used copies are available from Amazon for under $6. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and is available from Amazon with new copies under $6 and used copies less than five bucks. You can buy'em both for less than $12.

Source: Counterpoint: Shooting Infrared in Winter

Infrared in the Desert

Posted on Mar 14, 2017 in Featured, Monochrome, Panasonic

Today's Post by Mark Toal

It's been a long, rainy winter in the Northwest this year so I haven't been able to use my Infrared camera as much as I would have liked. Infrared photography is easiest when there are white puffy clouds against a blue sky and fairly bright light. The middle of the day is perfect for infrared photography so a recent trip to Tucson was a perfect time to pack my converted Panasonic Lumix GX7 with the Lumix G Vario Lens, 7-14mm f/4.0 ASPH lens.

A lot infrared photograph's focus on the way trees and greenery turn white as in the photo of the palm trees. If you avoid trees, grass plants you can get an image that looks a lot like standard black and white, but the sky will be much more dramatic as in the photo of the Mission in Tucson.

If you have a camera that you're not using much send it to Lifepixel.com to be converted to infrared. Trust me you won't regret it. And for a limited time only, if you want to save $50 off for Priority Processing Upgrade when converting your camera to infrared, use the coupon code "ToalIR."

Joe's book, The Complete Guide to Digital Infrared Photography is currently out-of-print but used copies are available from Amazon for under $6. Creative Digital Monochrome Effects has a chapter on IR photography and is available from Amazon with new copies under $6 and used copies less than five bucks. You can buy'em both for less than $12.

Coming Attractions: On Friday, Joe takes on the topic of shooting infrared when the weather isn't cooperative, with a solution that closer to home.

Source: Infrared in the Desert

IR Infrared Photoshop Action Set. 30% Off Regular Price By Twinbrush

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Ethereal Infrared  Photoshop Actions

This set of 8 actions converts your images and photos into ethereal pseudo-infrared. I say 'pseudo' as without the proper lenses and film/adaptions to your camera it is impossible to achieve true infrared photography. This action set, however, gets you mighty close!

Using smart object conversion, smart filters and adjustment layers, not only are your original images kept perfectly intact, but you have full control over the effect, adapting and changing it as you see fit.

The effect works best with images with a good balance of green/yellow hues. Please see before and after pictures for reference.

Give your images a stunning new life with the Twinbrush Infrared Action Set

Core features:

• 8 Actions included• Non destructive, using smart objects and filters• Fully Editable smart filters and adjustment layers

Please note, this success of this effect depends entirely on the imagery used; Some images simply work better than others. Please see before and after images for reference before purchasing.

Photographs used for previews are not included and are copyright of their respective owners

Software compatibility: Adobe Photoshop CC and newer.

This product has not been featured in a past deal.

Source: IR Infrared Photoshop Action Set. 30% Off Regular Price By Twinbrush

Infrared Vision Turns the Northwest Into an Alien Planet

From Popular Mechanics

It's easy to forget that there is light all around us, emitting from changes in the heat and energy of molecules, that we can't see at all. In fact, of the entire electromagnetic spectrum-the chart of all the known frequencies and wavelengths of light-we can only see about 0.0035 percent. That's almost nothing at all! And yet all the vibrant colors and hues of the world are contained within that tiny sliver of electromagnetic radiation.

Our eyes cannot see infrared-the light that has a slightly lower frequency and longer wavelength than visible light. But our machines can. Telescopes taking observations in infrared let us see more distant and alien objects that are hidden from us in visible light. But sometimes just an infrared camera on Earth is enough to make you reconsider the way you see the world.

Invisible Oregon, created by professional photographer Sam Forencich, is a video of the dramatic landscapes of the Pacific Northwest captured by infrared cameras. The footage we watch doesn't allow us to directly see infrared, but a rendering created from infrared light shows us what the world might look like if our eyes were just a little different.

The pink and purple tints that wash over the countryside lend the Oregon landscape an alien quality, like a world with a different color sky. But it's not until the moon rises and its light drives the shadows from the land, clearly illuminating the earth while the stars and Milky Way still stand out in bold relief, that you realize how very different the world would be if we could see just a little more light.

Invisible Oregon is the perfect example of a project based on science that becomes an artistic expression. We can understand the world around us more completely, not just in the sense of knowing the physical properties of light, but also by beginning to comprehend our own limitations when we perceive the world.

In Forencich's words:

Ever since my youthful days of "experimentation" I've often wondered about the nature of reality. Those of you that still believe in science understand the limitations of our perceptions, and it's no secret that many creatures exceed our abilities to interpret the world around us. The idea that we have to process the sensory data coming into our brains makes it seem like we are already a step removed from the real world.

So what exactly are we missing? What do animals experience that we can't, and how do our human perceptions vary from person to person? While this film does nothing to answer these questions, time-lapse and infrared photography do, in a metaphorical sort of way, extend our sensory abilities so we can imagine a world beyond ours. Ultimately I think this is what draws us to these forms, not to solve the mystery, but to flirt with it's boundaries.

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Source: Infrared Vision Turns the Northwest Into an Alien Planet

Enhancing your Black and White images with Infrared Photography

This article will give you some tips on how you can enhance your black and white images by using infrared photography.

Infrared photography for something different

Are you a fan of black and white photography? Like many, I love a good black and white image. The mood you can exude from the shadows and light always fascinates me.

When I was new to photography, I mostly avoided black and white landscapes. I used it mainly a handy way to hide the sporadically bizarre white balance my old Olympus EPL1 used to occasionally surprise me with.

Infrared photography (IR) also took a while to attract my attention. I wasn't a huge fan of the typical false colour images, but quite liked the black and white IR photos, particularly the work of Simon Marsden. If you haven't explored his portfolio of dark and atmospheric infrared film photography, you are missing something unique.

Anyway, after a while, I started doing more black and white landscape images, and eventually followed the urge to get into IR images purely for their unique monochrome potential.

I went down the path of buying a modified camera off Ebay. You can buy anything from a point and shoot to a full frame DSLR, and everything in between. If you have an old body you can always get it converted, but it's worth checking the cost against buying one that's already been modified.

I picked up an Olympus EPM1 for around AUD $300 ($230 USD). The advantage for me was being able use the same lenses and batteries I already had for the EPL1.

Why buy a modified camera rather than use IR filters?

Filters are a great and relatively inexpensive way to get into IR photography, but they have their limitations.

The main attraction of a modified camera is that you are not limited to the long exposures needed for an IR filter. You can capture sharp images in any conditions, and can be more creative with your exposures (e.g. pick the perfect shutter speed for moving water). You can shoot handheld from any point of view without being limited by a tripod.

It is also much quicker. When using filters, you need set your focus before attaching the filter which can become tiresome.

I used to take my IR camera with me for a run along the river. Without the need for a tripod, I could travel light and take quick photos whenever an interesting composition presented itself.

What can infrared photography bring do for a landscape photographer?

Perhaps the most striking characteristics of infrared photography are the typical white vegetation, black water, and dark skies. You can create punchy, high contrast images. The middle of the day works best for these type of shots. Perfect for those landscape photographers that hate early mornings!

If you like capturing the complex patterns in clouds, you'll find that the black skies really allow the clouds to stand out.

IR also gives you clarity. Any haze visible to the eye tends to disappear in infrared photography. So you can achieve a very crisp and contrasty look.

The deciding factor for me was tone. I found the infrared monos gave me a wonderful palette of greys and blacks to work with, particularly for trees and vegetation. The balance between light and dark just seems easier to manage in infrared and really lets you produce some unique images.

Processing

So what processing should you use for infrared photography? The short answer is not much really. Experiment to find out what works for you.

Myself, I don't normally use Lightroom or Photoshop, so my workflow may be a little different than yours. But the principles will be the same.

I import my raw images into Corel's AfterShot Pro, which is a handy little raw file editor. Here I'll straighten the image, adjust the exposure, and maybe increase the contrast if required. My infrared raw files come into AfterShot Pro displaying blue-grey hues, which is a good starting point for me. From here I export them as TIFFs into PaintShop Pro.

PaintShop Pro has a "Black and White Film" effect that lets you apply a colour filter to your image. Changing your filter between blue, red, and green gives a different result.

From here it is a matter of personal taste adjusting the light and dark of your image, the white and black points to suite the image, and maybe applying curves as appropriate.

What is the Secret Sauce?

Infrared photography is wonderfully clean and crisp. But what if you love that IR film look with a ghostly flare?Don't worry. PaintShop Pro has it in the bag. They have an "Infrared Film" effect that was probably created to make ordinary images look a bit infrared-ish.

But when you apply it to a proper infrared image as a starting point, you get a wonderful controlled flare effect. It doesn't quite match the often spooky and surreal results Simon Marsden achieved with IR film, but it does get you a lot closer than anything else.

The flare can be applied to give a sense of mystery, mood, and surrealness that is hard to replicate any other way.

Are there any downsides to infrared photography?

Not really. The only big drawback you'll find is that you cannot use your favourite filters. Standard neutral density and polarizers do not work in the IR spectrum. If you sky is very bright and your subject is dark, you'll just have to blend a few different exposures. Shooting in RAW of course gives you more leeway, but my Olympus files are not as forgiving as my Nikon files when recovering blown highlights.

The only other thing I notice is that some people get so enamoured by the white leaves and black sky effect that they forget to put their attention on the composition. Yes, everything looks cool in IR, but don't take pictures of everything. Aim for strong compositions and uncluttered images. IR really shines with a minimalist approach.

Many dismiss infrared photography as an oddity; a strange niche that is a bit too left of centre for them. Others just think it is too hard and expensive to get into.

But if you like creating black and white images that stand out from the crowd, I'd suggest you have a crack at it. You'll find it a challenge but also quite rewarding.

Source: Enhancing your Black and White images with Infrared Photography