IR filter

[ivan balais]

Hi,

Question lang po, pano po ba mode pag gumagamit ng ir filter? may mga nabasa din kasi ako na kelangan pa daw imodify yung camera. Any special settings lang po ba kelangan?

[dondon medina]

Hi,

Question lang po, pano po ba mode pag gumagamit ng ir filter? may mga nabasa din kasi ako na kelangan pa daw imodify yung camera. Any special settings lang po ba kelangan?

Hi Ivan,

It's been a while since I played around with IR - but as I recall, my camera was mostly set on manual mode. Due to the nature of IR filters, you'll have to pre-focus first (so manual focus ka rin), set your aperture and shutter speed manually. I used a Cokin IR filter that slides into a holder. Ideally, you should shoot raw so that you can tweak your white balance settings during post processing. If you can't shoot raw, the advice I read was to manually set your white balance using a large patch of grass as the target. Also, expect to shoot long exposures, so a tripod is a real necessity for shooting IR on an un-modified DSLR.

You touched on another approach in your post - doing IR using a modified DSLR. As built, our cameras have IR blockers in front of their sensors. There are companies out there where you can send your DSLR and have them modify your camera specifically for IR photography. Fuji even came out with a Fuji S3 UVIR DSLR specifically for forensic scientists (aka CSI folks). The advantage of this is that you don't need the IR filters anymore and you use your camera normally but this time you're shooting pure IR only.

If you're a beginner and you just want to try IR photography, the easiest way to get into it is to buy an IR filter, go out and shoot. Better yet, if you can find someone who can lend you their IR filter first to try out, borrow an IR filter, go out and shoot. And remember, Google is your friend - there's a wealth of knowledge out there about IR photography. 

Hope this helps.
-Dondon

[ivan balais]

Many thanks Sir Dondon.. bilis response ah.. yup I already tried searching from google pero mas detailed ata yung information nyo

[ivan balais]

hirap red yung result ng picture

[dondon medina]

hirap red yung result ng picture

That's expected and that's where post processing comes in. Try this technique posted on a different forum --> http://digitalphotographer.com.ph/forum/showthread.php?t=5931

Share your photos!

[ivan balais]

meaning sir di talaga makukuha ung perfect ir shots without post processing? link was helpful i'll try it Thanks Sir ge po may work pa

[Elbert Malonzo]

meaning sir di talaga makukuha ung perfect ir shots without post processing? link was helpful i'll try it Thanks Sir ge po may work pa

pede naman makakuha ng perfect IR shot without post processing.  kelangan mo nga lang ipa-convert into IR ang camera mo.

[ivan balais]

Sir Elbert,

Nako wag na siguro sir ok na siguro ko sa filter.

Sir Dondon,

Next time nalang siguro post pag maganda  nasa work ako ngayon eh poor quality yung photo nasa loob kasi ako ng building

[dondon medina]

Sir Dondon,

Next time nalang siguro post pag maganda   nasa work ako ngayon eh poor quality yung photo nasa loob kasi ako ng building

Drop the sir - even here at the office, I ask my team not to call me sir (napaghahalata kasi edad ko pag ganun).  

From experience, areas with a lot of greenery lend themselves very well to IR photography. My favorite spots are the following: American War Memorial; UP - Diliman (University Avenue) and Wawa Dam.

Another tip? Shoot on a bright, sunny day and don't forget to bring an umbrella. Hehehe... Seriously, when shooting, I find it lessens the glare when my camera and myself are under the umbrella's cover.

Happy shooting!

[ivan balais]

okies sige Dondon nalang .. pag nag set ba ng WB naka lagay nadin yung filter o hindi pa di kasi nabangit dun sa nabasa ko sa mga forums.. sabi mag set manually ng WB then yun yung gamitin na WB for IR shot..

[dondon medina]

okies sige Dondon nalang .. pag nag set ba ng WB naka lagay nadin yung filter o hindi pa di kasi nabangit dun sa nabasa ko sa mga forums.. sabi mag set manually ng WB then yun yung gamitin na WB for IR shot..

Without the filter muna - but do both, you're not wasting film anyway. Mas maganda, shoot in raw. You can always tweak your white balance in Adobe Camera Raw later.

[ivan balais]

Many thanks talaga Dondon I'll try this.. kano kaya ir filter? may idea po kayo?

[Joseph Tuvida]

Ivan,

you need to be setting the white balance for IR,  "WITH" the filter on, then meter on the green areas on a sunny day.  It is critical that you get a "GOOD" reading for white balance on your specific camera.

First, may I we know what camera you are using?  Brand name and model....  as different cameras have different intensities of blocking filters.... note:  newer cameras tend to have more aggressive IR blocking filters hence increasing the duration of your exposure.  Now, this may be or may not be beneficial to your purpose.  Longer exposures will give you that impression of motion but you won't be able to take stills.

Second, processing is dependent also on the output of the camera.  Some cameras already produce that classic IR look that, depending on the photographer, may or may not need further processing.  Remember old school high cut IR is really meant for black and white results.... it was only these past few years that they decided to integrate lower cut off filters to somehow let "some" visible light in... hence accounting for that false color.... the processing of which will require some techniques.  I believe Dondon has already given you the essential links. 

Third, it is better for you to get screw in filters whenever possible, at least for IR purposes.  Stray light from the sides which may enter the lens, or even from the viewfinder, will interfere with your results.   

Fourth, IR is sometimes a hit and miss matter.  Camera-lens-filter compatibility is also taken into consideration.   There are shots that may look ok on your lcd but when you upload and process it, you may find out it wasn't as you expected.  It may even produce what we call hotspots on your image. 

Fifth, with regards to conversion....  consider that you may have your camera converted for infrared but you pretty much won't be able to use it for anything else.  But, the benefits of conversion is that you will be able to view and compose your shot in the viewfinder normally...  you'll be able to take your shots in much higher shutterspeeds.....  and that what you see on your image output in-cam is mostly what you get (considering you were able to get the proper white balance).

All the technicalities have been provided to you by Dondon already.. and they are quite useful and straight to the point. 

Good luck in your venture 

[dondon medina]

you need to be setting the white balance for IR,  "WITH" the filter on, then meter on the green areas on a sunny day.  It is critical that you get a "GOOD" reading for white balance on your specific camera.

Sabi ko na nga ba eh, mali ang ginagawa ko. :p

Third, it is better for you to get screw in filters whenever possible, at least for IR purposes.  Stray light from the sides which may enter the lens, or even from the viewfinder, will interfere with your results.   

Screw in filters are nice but they are expensive. If you're planning to buy screw in filters, look at your current lens arsenal and get the one for your biggest lens diameter size. For the rest, you can buy step-up rings.

I used a Cokin slide-in filter exclusively when I used to play around with IR. What I do to prevent light entering from the sides is to wrap the whole front of my camera with a dark towel or something similar.

Good luck in your venture 

Doing the initial research is fine - but at the end of the day, nothing beats going out and actually shooting. Shoot na and share your photos!
-Dondon

[ivan balais]

I'm using Nikon d5000 mga Sir.

Thanks sa lahat ng information nato