Infrared Test 1, Tower Grove Park Fountain

Recently I had a few questions about digital infrared technique and my early experiments, so I thought I'd share my first shot on this blog.  First, a "normal" reference image, Nikon D100, 105mm f/2.8 Micro, f/11 @ 1/500s.  No manipulation.

 
Same camera and lens, using a Hoya Infrared R72 filter, f/11 @ 1/8s (camera automatic exposure).  The R72 passes light above 720nm.    

Curves auto-correction of the red image above in Nikon Capture yeilds an interesting false color image, not unlike a color infrared image.

Finally, a B&W conversion in Photoshop.  I think the effect is somewhere between a true B&W infrared film capture and a Photoshop channels manipulation. 

Praying Mantis

This was a giant Praying Mantis found in some backyard grass. No cropping - I was very close to it. Taken with a 90 mm Tamron macro lens and Canon Digital Rebel. ISO 200, f/16, 1/20 sec.

Pinhole Test 1 Update

Same pinhole shot with a little Lightroom 2 post processing: color correction, curve adjustment, slight sharpening, boosted saturation and a vignette.

Pinhole Test 1

I've been meaning to try this for years, not sure why it took so long... First, a reference shot.  This is my back yard, late afternoon.  Nikon D100, 50mm, f/11, 1/350s.  Focus was on the bench.  Note the complete lack of water in the background :)  I chose 50mm for the first reference test because my pinhole "lens" is a body cap with, you guessed it, a pin hole in the center.  I estimated the distance from the cap to the sensor to be about 48mm, so it seemed like a good fit. 

The pinhole shot, Nikon D100, ISO 800, pinhole body cap, est. f/180, 1/2s.  Angle of veiw is wider than the 50mm.  Color shifted -700K, but I found it was easily corrected.  I was expecting edge fall off, but illumination is very even.  The ISO noise looks enhanced by the large circle of confusion, much like film pinhole pictures look more grainy. 

I'm not trading in my Nikkor glass any time soon, but I've always wanted to explore the world of photographers like Ruth Thorne-Thompson.  Now I'm one step closer. 

Hummingbird in Flight

These are aggressive little guys - buzzing around, dive-bombing each other. Need the ISO of Ray's camera to stop his wings. Canon Digital Rebel, ISO 400, f/4.0, 1/100 sec. and taken with Canon's 300 mm f/4 lens.

ISO Insanity

I shot this photo at an outdoor wedding reception last weekend with the D3. It was around 11 at night so it was virtually in the dark. 85mm, f/4.5 at 1/20 with a slow 24-85mm 4.5 at ISO 6400! You can see some noise but i think it would make an acceptable 8x10 print. This is amazing performance - it's like getting another 4 stops of light to work with.

Concrete Face 1

I stumbled upon this late today. Nikon D100, ISO 200, 50mm f/2.5, 1/640s. Lightroom 2 B&W High Contrast conversion.

Backyard Flood - 2008-09-14

A view from my deck - Fishpot Creek runs behind our subdivision, which has a 19 acre overflow basin. You can see in the upper third of the picture that the creek has overflowed its banks and water is rapidly coming toward the houses. The wind knocked over a potted tree and re-arranged lawn furniture. It is still raining as I write.

Mrs Peebles

Mrs Peeples is a Brown Pelican, a rehab bird who lives at the zoo. One of the first shots with the D3 - ISO 640, 180mm f/2.8 @ 1/640. The high ISO performance seems to be as good as advertised - I'll post some higher ISO pics soon.

NiN Concert - End of Show

Cell phone shot from the end of the recent NiN concert. The moire pattern is due to the logo being displayed by an LED screen. In person it looked like a perfectly solid deep red, like the far right. A slower shutter speed would have smooted out the LEDs, but my cell phone has no controls at all :)