You're really peaking my curiosity about IR photography. I don't have a tripod at the moment, and I need an expensive and sturdy one because my camera's so heavy. How long is a typical exposure?
I bought an IR filter a while ago, tried it once and it was tripe - all I got was the filter reflecting the front of the lens, so all I got was a big red mess.
So, I'm rather new to this whole photography malarkey but I got my hands on a "proper" (though old) camera today and had a lot of fun playing around with manually setting shutter speeds, aperture and all these other features which are completely new to me. Got at least one shot I thought turned out rather nice, so I figured I might as well post it here for your kind ridicule.
Really addictive, this stuff. I think I may take the camera for a walk through a forest near here tomorrow night and play around with it some more. I'm still stunned by the details you can get out of the pitch black night if you just leave the shutter open long enough.
Some shots taken at the 100th anniversary of the airfield Fischamend. Sadly the Eurofighter and Black Hawk I expected to find at the event were nowhere to be found, apparently thanks to our minister of defence, who probably thought it would have been a waste of tax money... which it would have been.
This was my first go at something moving faster than a running dog and the rather bland cloud pattern wasn't exactly helping with capturing appealing material Even though I made over 600 photos that day, not a single one strikes me as particularly good. I mostly used the sports mode with ISO fixed at 100 and manual whitebalance (9000k colour temp.), which turned out to be a bad combination as it led to underexposure or too warm colours. Correcting that via Photoshop (auto contrast/colour on pretty much all of them, a bit of an artistic experiment on the helicopter) added some noise, lessening the overal quality while still providing a much more appealing result. I'm still learning though and luckily the mistakes and unwanted results made me seek better solutions instead of giving up
Thanks. I'm actually thiking about getting it framed.
I Shot this using a Hoya RM90 Filter on my Nikon D50. This Filter only passes longer IR beyond 900 nm which results in B/W images. There are Filters available which also pass some visible light which results in coloured Images. Here are some Samples, my RM90 would fit in the "Deep BW" Category there.
Am I right in thinking that you haven't removed the IR filter from your sensor? And that's why exposures are longer, to capture enough light to get through both the front IR filter and the sensor's IR filter?
I love the idea of doing some IR photography.. but don't particularly fancy removing the IR filter from my camera's sensor
Yes, your exactly right. The Camera is completely unmodified.
I've read that my Nikon D50 is pretty good for shooting IR, some newer Models might be not as suitable.
You can try pointing your Tv remote at the Camera (or any other remote for that matter) while taking a picture. Then repeat the same shot while pressing a button on the remote. If you see a difference in the Pictures (a glow near the transmitter of your remote) your camera is sensitive to IR light and you should be able to use it with a IR Filter.
Just did a quick bit of hunting for info and apparently my D1x will work as yours does, unmodified! I'm going to start shopping for a cheap sturdy tripod and an IR filter
After all this IR talk I couldn't help but get mine out again, I've done a few shots and i'm uploading them now.
I took a picture of a bright green screen, then set that as the white balance - was that right? Or did I need to do it brown. Or didn't I need to do it at all?
I've been lurking on this thread for a while now, admiring the photo's, and I'm finally deciding to take the plunge and purchase a DSLR, although will be looking to buy 2nd hand to reduce costs. Looking at a Sony Alpha A300 with a 18-70mm Lens at the moment but as my knowledge of DSLR's is somewhat limited, I’m looking for a bit of advice one way or the other, or if there is another camera better suited for the tentative newbie stepping into the world of DSLR’s
I'd go for a Canon or Nikon, you can't go wrong with those. And DWB would probably suggest a Pentax.
It has been said a few times already, but most important, if you get the chance... take the camera in your hands and click through the menu, shoot some pictures... basically, see if you like how the camera feels in your hands, then decide.
Yep, the A300 is a good camera by all accounts. The 18-70 is a good lens to start out with, as it gives wide angle through portrait focal lengths. You'll probably want to extend to a telephoto zoom later, so don't expect it to be your LAST spend on photography kit.