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IR Fireworks

What to do on the 4th of July…  Humm…  Grill? Done.  Catch up with family? Done.  Relax? Done.  Watch fireworks?  Wait a second…  How many of you have photographed fireworks?  I’m guilty.  But who’s photographed fireworks in IR?  I’ve never done that, and probably few have.  Let’s give it a try.

I climbed on the roof of my house to get a better vantage point and set-up my full spectrum 5D Mk II with a 720nm filter.

I use a Hoodman Loupe for focusing my 5D, since the filter blocks the visible light and makes the viewfinder useless.  This technique works quite well for me and is what I’ve been using for more than 5 years.  I wrote a blog on the topic.

I knew about where to look for the fireworks.  So I installed my Pentax 67 55mm medium format lens and prefocused before it turned dark.  It’s more difficult to focus once it is dark.  I connected my shutter release and then waited…

At 9 o’clock on the dot, the fireworks began.  I was shooting exposures from about 3-10 seconds at ISO 400 and f/5.6.  This seemed to work well.  Adjustments in framing, focusing and exposure need to be done quickly, as the fireworks continue.  I continued to shoot until my memory card was full.  It was close to 9:30, which is when the firework show typically ceases.   A quick back of the camera indicated that I had captured some interesting shots.

So where were the trouble spots?  First, I noticed that the 55mm lens had some significant internal reflections.  I’m not sure if this was caused by the filter, or the basic lens design itself.  My EF24-70mm f/2.8 has a similar issue with super-contrasting scenes.  I’ll have to set-up an experiment to test my lenses under these conditions.  I’ll share the results here. The three photos below, though still interesting show the effect of the internal reflection.

Releasing the shutter release mid explosion halts the motion of the firework and provides a truncated look.  Note also a second shell climbing to altitude.

The other problem I encountered was the wind.  I was standing on my roof and at times needed to grip the tripod to insure that it didn’t take a tumble.  Interestingly, the wind also had an effect of blowing the fireworks.  Many didn’t have the traditional firework shape, but rather a skewed , wind-swept look.  This was also interesting.

Finally, as with any long exposures on digital cameras, there are some required management of hot pixels.  Most modern DSLR’s have internal noise processing,  But this requires an equal-length dark exposure for each light exposure.  So I prefer to do this off-line using the technique outlined here .  Since the exposures were fairly short, the hot pixels are manageable, even by manual removal methods.

I did very little post processing of these images.  I set the camera with a custom white balance on a green subject.  Most images were posted after a little cropping and re-sizing for the blog format, but not much more than that.  I did process several in B&W, since that’s my favorite IR medium.  Some photos have a bit of an abstract look to them.

By the time the fireworks show was over, the mosquitoes had found me.  So I gathered up my tripod, camera bag, loupe and flashlight and headed off the roof.  It all ended well and I enjoyed the experience.   I hope you’ll give it a try next year.

Happy 4th of July…

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: 5D, 67, Chesak, Fireworks, full spectrum, Infrared, IR, medium format, Pentax

Southwest IR Photography

Like many other things in life, we think the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I enjoy digging through forums and seeing photographs of other photographers. I used to think that all these photographers had better subjects for photography. This is especially true when I got into IR photography. IR seems to do best with lots of greenery in the scene, or that’s what I used to think.


Living in the desert southwest, we don’t have much greenery. What we do have is lots of dust, rocks and cactus. When I first got started doing IR photography, I envied people that lived in greener locales. But that’s no longer the case. IR photography is so much more than the iconic white foliage on trees. After shooting IR for several years, I found that it is a great tool for any scenery.

During my early IR photography experiments, I tried the color swapping techniques. But I always returned to my B&W versions. I find it much more challenging to get an interesting B&W photo. I began to have an interest in B&W images with my astrophotography. It happened sort of by accident. I live in an area with fairly heavy light pollution. So it was much easier to shoot B&W images using a specific narrow bandwidth filter (called Hydrogen Alpha).

 


My IR photography spun off of my astrophotography, since modified cameras are sometimes also needed for shooting nebula. I started with the iconic photos of trees with white leaves and liked the results.


Shooting IR photos limited me to summer photography. So I began to experiment shooting in the fall and winter. It was then that I saw that IR had a lot of potential for B&W. I also learned what looks good in IR photos and began looking for other subjects. Not a leaf in sight in this photo.


IR is also great for adding interest to what might otherwise be considered junk. I shot this through a broken window of an abandoned building. I wasn’t expecting much from this photo, being hand held in a dark environment. It was windy & raining. I was holding an umbrella and my tripod wasn’t tall enough to reach the height of the window. But I loved the result.


We can have some fairly ugly weather here in the desert. Spring brings us wind, and a lot of it. At times the wind is strong enough to pick up the dirt. Voila, dust storm. I wouldn’t advocate taking your camera gear out in a dust storm. For those willing, there are some interesting shots to be had. This is probably one of my all-time favorite IR photos. Ironically, it was also one of my first. There was no live view focusing. The camera wasn’t focus calibrated (link here for focus calibration) and I had no tripod. To make matters worse, the camera I used was a first generation 6.3MP Canon 300D (Digital Rebel) that I had converted on my own to full spectrum, not something I’d recommend.


This was a shot that I probably could not have done at any other time. Behind the tree is the rest of the city, roads and mountains. Some years later, the tree looks much different (with broken branches and its age showing).   It also didn’t take long to find out that IR photography is great for landscape shots.

 

IR is also a fantastic tool for shooting clouds and inclement weather. So when other photographers are heading home, I’m usually heading out. It seems these days that my preference is to shoot IR in poor weather.

IR photos also seems to bring out the old-ness of subjects. I really enjoy shooting old, rundown buildings or vehicles. IR makes these attractive subjects even more interesting.

Modern subjects seem to be just as attractive in IR.  Combining the subject and the poor weather is always nice.


Although not really limited to IR, I find that shooting Panoramas gives my IR images a little punch, and also the ability to print them larger. There’s also the combination of all the techniques. It keeps the excitement in photography and the challenge in IR photography.


Nearly every IR photographer starts out by shooting the iconic white foliage. I’m no different. It’s what you do after this that makes IR so interesting. Most hang up their IR cameras and move on. For me, it’s basically started my photography world. I spent the last 40 years doing regular photography and the last 5 shooting IR. I’ve enjoyed the latter so much more. You may not think that you live in an area best for IR photography. I challenge you to find and shoot the subjects that you have in your area and make the most of them. You never know what emerges from the seemingly uninteresting.

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: 5DII, Canon, Chesak, Clouds, El Paso, IR, landscape photography, Panorama, Southwest, Texas

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