To take these photos, I had to perch on top of a wide wall. I didn't like the thought of falling, so took great care. I think there was a colony of Glossy Swiftlets roosting in the shelter of a large tree growing aginst the wall - they were very annoyed with my presence and twittered away quite loudly.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Ruins
To take these photos, I had to perch on top of a wide wall. I didn't like the thought of falling, so took great care. I think there was a colony of Glossy Swiftlets roosting in the shelter of a large tree growing aginst the wall - they were very annoyed with my presence and twittered away quite loudly.
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4 comments:
I wish I could take pictures like this, and the other ones.
Hi Mat. That's a great wish to have because I can tell you how to make it happen! I'm pretty sure your camera is a digital SLR? Taking IR shots with a DSLR is so much easier than with a film camera. With a film camera you have to set the shot up blind because you can't expose the film to any light. With a digital camera you are still shooting blind once you put the IR filter on, but you can leave it off while you set up the shot. Then put the IR filter on to take the photo. You have to flick your focus over to manual, otherwise your camera will try to refocus once the filter is on - and won't succeed because it won't have any light to focus with.
IR filters aren't cheap - the larger your lens, the greater the cost. Hoya are amongst the most expensive, but you are guaranteed quality. I took a chance and bought Suntec off the internet because it was a lot cheaper. The coating on mine isn't even - it's thinner in the centre so I often get a bit of vignietting that I have to crop out. The biggest problem is overexposure in the centre of the shot. As long as my subject is dark in the centre it seems to be fine.
An IR filter cuts out visible light rays and only lets through infra red. So you need very sunny conditions. A few clouds are preferable, otherwise your whole sky comes out black - because there is nothing to reflect IR light back to the camera lens. Although if that's the effect you are going for, it's fine.
Different IR lenses cut out different amounts of visible light. Mine is rated IR750, which means it's not meant to allow any visible light through. It also means that I need long exposures and a tripod. Most of the photos posted here were exposed for 30 seconds. The urn was exposed for 1 minute, because I was under a veranda.
Long exposures mean you get some realy cool effects with clouds. Although if it's really windy, the movement of foliage can result in too much blurring.
Once you have taken the photo you have to clean it up in Photoshop (or similar). The raw photo will look a strange colour - bright pink, or purple or red. I adjust "levels" and "contrast" then reduce hue saturation until I am happy. I like to leave a hint of colour, so it's not totally black & white.
Let me know how you go :-)
Thanks for the advice, sounds abit harder than point and shoot.
See you later......
If you don't feel confident trying it alone, there are a couple of options. I would be happy to walk you through it when I am back in SA in January. Alternatively you can take classes at the Centre for Creative Photography: http://www.theccp.com/
I learned about IR in my second term studying "Camera Portfolio 1".
Suspending my study at the CCP was the hardest part to coming to Christmas Island. It was a fantastic learning environment. If you can find the money for the fees, it would be great for you.
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