The Shutterbug Society; Activity #3: Ask and Answer

[ed1nburgh.livejournal.com]

Activity: Ask and Answer
Points: 10 points participatioon
Dates: NOW until Thursday, July 1 at 22:00 PDT.

Details: Since this is a photography club and we have members of all skill levels, for this activity, you're going to have the opportunity to ask or answer photography questions you've always wondered!

FOR QUESTIONS: Be sure that it is a question of substance. Asking, "What's a camera?" will not get you points, but asking something of more substance, such as "What is the rule of thirds?" or "What's the difference between digital cameras and film cameras," will count towards points. If you are only planning on asking questions, you must ask THREE questions to get participation points.

FOR ANSWERS: If you know the answer to a question you see, feel free to respond! In order to get participation points, you must answer one question with at least five, complete sentences. It is encouraged that you post an example of what you're talking about, to make your answer totally clear.

Of course, feel free to go beyond the minimum! You may ask more than three questions or answer more than one, or any combination thereof.

If you have any questions for me, please respond to the thread below!

Shoot things, legally! Join The Shutterbug Society today!

Comments

[ed1nburgh.livejournal.com]

Hey!

Digital infrared photography is quite the process, lol. In a nutshell, you need a DSLR (a point and shoot doesn't have the capabilities needed for infrared photography), an infrared filter for your lens, and a camera that can take a custom white balance.

Essentially, you put on the filter (which is a dark, dark opaque reddish filter) and "measure" the white balance of something green, which sets green as white. Then, you take the filter off, compose your shot, and then put the filter back on. It requires a really long shutter speed, which is how you get whooshy cloudes (like this (http://kalbaxecnailla.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1hvtsw)) or smooth water (like this (http://kalbaxecnailla.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d10zo56)) because you have to get enough light into the camera.

Then there are a lot of digital processes you have to do, because after you actually TAKE the photo, it's going to come out looking really drab and stupid, so you have to do a bunch of Photoshop magic to get it to look white and full.

If you're REALLY curious, here is a tutorial I wrote about it: HERE (http://kalbaxecnailla.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d112h6j)

Kaitlin | Ravenclaw

[marchenland.livejournal.com]

I have that Hoya filter, shooting with a Canon XTI, but my experiments are always super grainy, and do not come out at all like the examples I see online.

Any idea what would be causing that?

If I still have any of my failed attempts from last summer, I'll try to use your tut and see what happens. Maybe if I have the same failure, I can post the link and you can tell me where I'm going wrong.

IR is he first thing I've tried, photographically, that I can't seem to make work. SO frustrated!

[ed1nburgh.livejournal.com]

Graininess is a HUGE problem with infrared photography.

First off, be sure you are using the lowest ISO possible. I'm not very familiar with Canon cameras (I'm a Nikon person myself) but if you can get it around 50-100, that's the best.

Also, most cameras have a "Long Exposure NR" option; I turn that off. Even though it's supposed to reduce noise on long exposure, I find it adds a lot of grain with infrared, so I just get rid of it.

If you're already using the lowest ISO you possible can, it could just be because the camera you're using doesn't handle infrared well. Sometimes that happens; certain cameras "take" to IR, and others don't do it as well. If you have the option of trying it on another camera, such as a friend's, I'd give it a try.

I also have a pretty hefty noise removal filter since IR has become one of my principle methods of photography. It's called Noise Ninja and while it's fairly expensive, I can't recommend anything more. It really is much better than the regular Noise Removal Filter in Photoshop, and it cuts down on IR noise a lot without causing an over processed look.

I'd be happy to take a look at the settings your using and some of your previous IR shots; I might be able to offer some more solutions!

[marchenland.livejournal.com]

I kind of think it might be that Canons don't do IR well.

I'm considering upgrading in the next year, and I might have my XTI converted to just do IR. Or I might pick up a cheap older Rebel body and have it converted.