This week, we’re back from our travels and we’re discussing full-spectrum infrared conversions. A full-spectrum conversion allows you to use your camera across a variety of infrared wavelengths, plus as a standard visible-light camera. There are pros and cons of these conversions, but we are very happy with our recent full-spectrum conversions by Kolari Vision.
Master the art of digital infrared photography with Jason Odell & Rick Walker Feb 23-26 in Tucson, AZ
Join me and Rick Walker in Tucson, Arizona for an infrared photography master class that goes far beyond the basics and teaches you the skills to truly master infrared processing. This workshop includes field photography sessions in the Tucson area, where we will photograph subjects that are ideal for infrared capture, plus in-depth classroom time to learn how to work with digital infrared images.
Learn how to create channel-swapped, and “blue sky” infrared images directly in Lightroom Classic on your digital raw files!
Rick and I have spent the last year developing a unique processing workflow for infrared digital images using only Adobe Lightroom Classic and, to a lesser extent, Adobe Photoshop. In this class, you’ll learn our secrets for processing raw infrared images exclusively in Lightroom/ACR, including channel-swapping and color infrared.
What You’ll Learn
How to set up ACR/Lightroom with a custom camera preset for your own infrared converted camera
How to adjust white balance on digital infrared images using ACR/Lightroom Classic
How to adjust infrared images from cameras with different spectra (590-720nm)
How to correct hot-spots in infrared images
How to perform channel-swapping directly in ACR/Lr
How to create the “blue-sky” effect on raw digital infrared images directly in ACR/Lr
How to create dramatic monochrome infrared images in Lightroom and using Silver Efex Pro (Nik Collection by DXO).
How to fix common artifacts including banding and noise
How to create unique creative infrared styles using plug-in software
What’s Included
Field and classroom instruction with a student-teacher ratio not to exceed 5:1
Custom camera profile for processing infrared images in ACR/Lr that is specific to your personal camera that includes our unique channel-swapping settings
Nikon 18-140mm f/3.5-6.3 DX Z Nikkor (tested by R. Walker)
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 for Nikon Z (tested by S. Cella)
TTArtisans 11mm f/2.8 fisheye for Nikon Z (tested by S. Cella)
Of these, the 40mm Nikon appears to be the best performer; not perfect, but definitely good enough for most situations. Another interesting result was that the 18-140mm DX Nikkor Z performed reasonably well, which bodes well for Nikon DX mirrorless users contemplating an infrared conversion.
Mirrorless cameras converted for infrared capture can be prone to banding artifacts.
When I got my infrared-converted Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera, a colleague told me to watch out for banding in my images. I have never seen banding in images from my normal Nikon Z cameras, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
It turns out that in rare instances, I can detect slight banding patterns, especially if I’ve made strong local contrast adjustments, like the Structure slider in Silver Efex Pro 2.
