Fujifilm’s New X-T1 IR Camera Is Designed Specifically for Infrared Photography

Lifestyle • Sep 23, 2015 0 Shares 0 Comments
Source: Fujifilm's New X-T1 IR Camera Is Designed Specifically for Infrared Photography

Seeing the unseeable: Fujifilm releases infrared version of its flagship X-T1 camera

by Gannon Burgett

posted Monday, August 3, 2015 at 11:54 AM EDT

Fujifilm has thrown the photography world a curveball. Today, the Japanese photography company introduced an infrared version of its flagship X-T1 mirrorless camera, the X-T1 IR.

Similar in every other regard to its sibling, the X-T1 IR's sensor captures different light from the electromagnetic spectrum, including ultraviolet, infrared, and visible. Specifically, Fujifilm states it captures between 380nm to 1,000nm, much more than the human eye (approximately 390 and 700nm) or other sensors are capable of capturing.

Infrared photography can be used in a multitude of situations, but Fujifilm specifically notes the use of the X-T1 IR for medical and forensic purposes. Of course, photographers in general will also find the unique capabilities of the X-T1 IR fun to work with, especially astrophotographers.

With the exception of the sensor's new capabilities, all other features remain the same, including its 16-megapixel X-Trans II CMOS sensor, weather-sealed magnesium alloy body, 2.36-million dot EVF, 1.04 million dot high-precision 3" tilting LCD monitor and other features.

The Fujifilm X-T1 IR is set to ship October 2015 for US$1699.95. To dig into the specs and details, head on over to our X-T1 IR's landing page.

Source: Seeing the unseeable: Fujifilm releases infrared version of its flagship X-T1 camera

Photographer Andrew Child captures Cuba's hidden colors

Crumbling concrete vibrates with color against a Caribbean sky, a defunct sugar mill still buzzing with the energy of the revolution.

In the next shot, tobacco seedlings glow green and rows of brown earth stretch to a pulsing, tropical hillside.

This is Cuba in full-spectrum, infrared color. And despite warming relations between the U.S. and its neighbors to the south, travelers will only see these sights through the lens of photographer Andrew Child.

"I was amazed by the setting," Child, 49, said of his first trip to Cuba. "It's the country, it's the people, it's the politics, and the economics. They've got one foot in Cold War-era socialism and they're experimenting with free markets. They're really in transition."

That cultural experiment has served as the backdrop for Child's photography during three recent art- and faith-based trips to the island.

Child's artistic experiment – full-color infrared photography – is a relatively unknown technique he discovered almost 15 years ago. He read that digital cameras were susceptible to infrared light, and some photographers were exploiting the flaw to produce black-and-white infrared shots.

"But I'm not really a black-and-white guy," Child said, sitting in his studio in Maynard. He lives in Acton. "So what I did was take two pictures: one where you filter everything but the infrared and a second where you take just a visible light shot. You add that color overlay and you get this sort of dreamlike quality."

He now shoots full-color infrared panoramas, a painstaking process that involves stitching together dozens of infrared and color images to create one continuous, full-spectrum shot. His subjects include Cuba's cities and towns, the Israeli coast, the Spanish countryside, and colonial New England.

Child's works have been exhibited at galleries, art schools and institutions throughout Greater Boston, and he is now working on a book of his Cuban photos.

To meet Child is to meet the guy next store. He refuses to wax about his work's deeper meaning, although he admits he is drawn to places that are "falling apart": An abandoned General Motors plant in upstate New York; an 18th-century schoolhouse in Stow; the graffiti-covered wall of Israel's Dolphinarium discotheque, the site of a 2001 suicide bombing that killed 21 teenagers.

"You look at that photograph and it's a nice shot of graffiti, but for me what was nice about that place was the response of the youth in Tel Aviv – it was a creative [response]," said Child.

Page 2 of 2 - The photographer is also involved with the National Autism Center, having produced a series of portraits titled, "Faces and Voices of Autism." That series is part of a permanent traveling exhibit for families on U.S. military bases.

It is an atypical career path that a younger Child might have missed, had it not been for a trip to another corner of the world: Kenya.

After abandoning dreams of law school and a career on Capitol Hill, Child graduated from American University with a degree in political science and then took off for Africa.

It was 1987, and he was teaching in a small high school in the village of Kitale, on the slopes of Mount Elgon. In a short time, he proposed to his eventual wife, Susan, and found his calling behind the camera.

"I was getting away from all the expectations – not so much that people had for me, but that I had set for myself," he said. "I realized there that I had a passion for photography."

In the 30 years since, Child has used his camera to fill a broad portfolio, including gallery exhibits and clients as diverse as Martin Guitar, Boston College, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and Tom's of Maine.

Still, it is Cuba that seems to reinvigorate the photographer's experimental roots.

"Havana has a unique blend of Cuban hospitality, beautiful architecture, Caribbean sensuality and economic potential that just keeps pulling me back," he said. "As an American, I grew up thinking of Cuba as a forbidden land. Spending time with friends I've made during my visits has dispelled some of those mysteries and deepened others."

To see more of Child's work, go to www.andrewchild.com or visit his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/andrewchild.

Source: Photographer Andrew Child captures Cuba's hidden colors

Fujifilm’s New X-T1 IR Camera Is Designed Specifically for Infrared Photography

Clothing • Sep 19, 2015 0 Shares 0 Comments
Source: Fujifilm's New X-T1 IR Camera Is Designed Specifically for Infrared Photography

How Converting My DSLR to Infrared Made Me Fall In Love with Trees

My name is Luka Gorjup, and I'm a 29-year-old photographer who was born and raised in Ljubljana, Slovenia — you know, that tiny beautiful country in Central Europe that many mistake for Slovakia?

It is beautiful, indeed. We have the seaside,the Alps, the karst, lakes, vineyards and many many excellent athletes. And we have beautiful forests — lots of them. In fact forests cover approximately 66% of our land. In terms of relative forest cover, Slovenia ranks 3rd in the European Union, just after Finland and Sweden. This is probably the reason I have deep respect for trees and nature.I really like trees. I cannot name all sorts and species, tell them apart by their leaves, branches, etc… but I have always been fascinated by their greatness and uniqueness. Although I always liked photography, I didn't get the opportunity to dive into it until I was 22. I was saving up for my first DSLR for a really long time and my mother also helped me out a bit so I could finally buy a Pentax K200D in 2008.

I remember thinking to myself that I just have to buy a camera with two kit lenses and this is all I would ever need. I was really happy, carrying my camera around everywhere I went and constantly shooting things I saw. I was really happy with my gear. Eventually I switched to a Nikon DSLR because it was more suitable for my work, but I kept the Pentax K200D and had it converted for infrared photography.

It was in my second year of studies at the University of Ljubljana that I came across infrared photography. I did a research paper on it, found it to be appealing, and decided to try it out for myself. After spending quite some time researching and gathering data, I decided to buy an 830nm IR filter to replace my camera's low pass filter.

Remember, I live in Slovenia, so sending a camera to a specialized shop to have a conversion done was out of the question. And since I don't even know at which end to hold the soldering iron, I reached out to my great friend Tadej for help. He owns a custom car and oldtimer restoration shop in Ljubljana and I have shot many amazing project cars for him. His favorite tools are an angular grinder and a welding torch, but he is also one of the most precise people I know and I knew he would treat my camera with great care.

So, I bought an 830nm filter. I prefer black and white infrared photography and I wanted my camera to shoot monochrome only, so I didn't opt for other wavelengths filters. Since IR filters are opaque, one cannot see through them. I wanted the convenience of handheld shooting and being able to see through the viewfinder, so I've had my filter cut into dimensions of my camera's sensor.

Tadej and I finally got together one afternoon to make the conversion. A few hours of disassembling, soldering, cleaning dust and superglueing later, the camera was converted. It was already late in the evening so I could only try if it works by shooting a glowing lightbulb. The pictures showed something, so apparently we managed to make it work!

The next day my dive into infrared photography began. I started discovering infrared and I have tried to shoot almost anything, from portraits of tattooed people, animals, fine art nude, architecture, to of course, nature. Nature is one of the most obvious choices in infrared photography as the foliage reflects a great portion of IR and the effect is more pronounced. I was curious what I am missing out by not being able to see past about 700 nm, so I observed the world around me with my eyes and compared the things I saw with the infrared photos I took.

From all the photos I have taken in cities and nature, the common denominator is always trees. I got fascinated by the shapes and patterns their branches make, by their greatness and also by the sense of loneliness they project to the observer. I fell in love in the infrared rendering of glowing foliage, radiant tree crowns and surreal scenes that remained hidden to my naked eye. I especially like how trees enrich the urban environment, therefore many of my photographs depict urban forests.

We always hear that the best light is at sunrise or sunset but for infrared photography the best light is supposed to be when the sun is really strong. Well, there sure is lots of light then, but shooting infrared in harsh sun is much like shooting landscape in dull light. Everything is evenly lit and nothing stands out.

I try to challenge myself with infrared photography and use light as it is, in every time of the day, in every weather and in every place. And that's how I fell in love with infrared photography and trees.

About the author: Luka Gorjup is a Slovenian portrait, wedding and automotive photographer, now living in Germany, who likes discovering his surroundings with infrared photography. He has a bachelor degree in Graphic and Interactive Communication Studies and is currently working on his Masters thesis in the same field of studies. You can find more of his work on his website.

Image credits: All photographs and text in this article are created and owned by Luka Gorjup and are copyrighted

Source: How Converting My DSLR to Infrared Made Me Fall In Love with Trees

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Source: Canyon Ferry #TBT

How Converting My DSLR to Infrared Made Me Fall In Love with Trees

My name is Luka Gorjup, and I'm a 29-year-old photographer who was born and raised in Ljubljana, Slovenia — you know, that tiny beautiful country in Central Europe that many mistake for Slovakia?

It is beautiful, indeed. We have the seaside,the Alps, the karst, lakes, vineyards and many many excellent athletes. And we have beautiful forests — lots of them. In fact forests cover approximately 66% of our land. In terms of relative forest cover, Slovenia ranks 3rd in the European Union, just after Finland and Sweden. This is probably the reason I have deep respect for trees and nature.I really like trees. I cannot name all sorts and species, tell them apart by their leaves, branches, etc… but I have always been fascinated by their greatness and uniqueness. Although I always liked photography, I didn't get the opportunity to dive into it until I was 22. I was saving up for my first DSLR for a really long time and my mother also helped me out a bit so I could finally buy a Pentax K200D in 2008.

I remember thinking to myself that I just have to buy a camera with two kit lenses and this is all I would ever need. I was really happy, carrying my camera around everywhere I went and constantly shooting things I saw. I was really happy with my gear. Eventually I switched to a Nikon DSLR because it was more suitable for my work, but I kept the Pentax K200D and had it converted for infrared photography.

It was in my second year of studies at the University of Ljubljana that I came across infrared photography. I did a research paper on it, found it to be appealing, and decided to try it out for myself. After spending quite some time researching and gathering data, I decided to buy an 830nm IR filter to replace my camera's low pass filter.

Remember, I live in Slovenia, so sending a camera to a specialized shop to have a conversion done was out of the question. And since I don't even know at which end to hold the soldering iron, I reached out to my great friend Tadej for help. He owns a custom car and oldtimer restoration shop in Ljubljana and I have shot many amazing project cars for him. His favorite tools are an angular grinder and a welding torch, but he is also one of the most precise people I know and I knew he would treat my camera with great care.

So, I bought an 830nm filter. I prefer black and white infrared photography and I wanted my camera to shoot monochrome only, so I didn't opt for other wavelengths filters. Since IR filters are opaque, one cannot see through them. I wanted the convenience of handheld shooting and being able to see through the viewfinder, so I've had my filter cut into dimensions of my camera's sensor.

Tadej and I finally got together one afternoon to make the conversion. A few hours of disassembling, soldering, cleaning dust and superglueing later, the camera was converted. It was already late in the evening so I could only try if it works by shooting a glowing lightbulb. The pictures showed something, so apparently we managed to make it work!

The next day my dive into infrared photography began. I started discovering infrared and I have tried to shoot almost anything, from portraits of tattooed people, animals, fine art nude, architecture, to of course, nature. Nature is one of the most obvious choices in infrared photography as the foliage reflects a great portion of IR and the effect is more pronounced. I was curious what I am missing out by not being able to see past about 700 nm, so I observed the world around me with my eyes and compared the things I saw with the infrared photos I took.

From all the photos I have taken in cities and nature, the common denominator is always trees. I got fascinated by the shapes and patterns their branches make, by their greatness and also by the sense of loneliness they project to the observer. I fell in love in the infrared rendering of glowing foliage, radiant tree crowns and surreal scenes that remained hidden to my naked eye. I especially like how trees enrich the urban environment, therefore many of my photographs depict urban forests.

We always hear that the best light is at sunrise or sunset but for infrared photography the best light is supposed to be when the sun is really strong. Well, there sure is lots of light then, but shooting infrared in harsh sun is much like shooting landscape in dull light. Everything is evenly lit and nothing stands out.

I try to challenge myself with infrared photography and use light as it is, in every time of the day, in every weather and in every place. And that's how I fell in love with infrared photography and trees.

About the author: Luka Gorjup is a Slovenian portrait, wedding and automotive photographer, now living in Germany, who likes discovering his surroundings with infrared photography. He has a bachelor degree in Graphic and Interactive Communication Studies and is currently working on his Masters thesis in the same field of studies. You can find more of his work on his website.

Image credits: All photographs and text in this article are created and owned by Luka Gorjup and are copyrighted

Source: How Converting My DSLR to Infrared Made Me Fall In Love with Trees