Singh-Ray I-Ray 830 Infrared filter

Five Variations on a Theme - South Fork /  by Todd Henson

A couple weeks back I shared a photo of South Fork Quantico Creek. This week we’ll look at the same scene from a slightly different perspective. I moved onto a rock in the middle of the creek and looked downstream. I also experimented with a couple filters, creating different versions of the same image. Then when home I processed the images, combining some to create even more versions of the scene. Below are the results and some discussion of what I did to create each image.

South Fork - The Blue

South Fork - The Blue

It was late October, many leaves having already fallen, with enough stragglers to give a yellow/orange/brown look to overhanging trees. As I sometimes do I wondered what the Singh-Ray Gold-n-Blue polarizing filter would do to the scene, so I put it on the lens and began turning, rotating between various shades of blue and gold. In this first iteration I opted for the bluer side of the filter, but only slightly blue. This might be the most natural looking of the photos here. To get an idea of what the colors in the scene looked like without this filter check out the previous post where I used a warming polarizing filter. It had more green in the scene.

South Fork - The Gold

South Fork - The Gold

Then I turned the Gold-n-Blue polarizer towards the gold side. This seems to have a stronger effect on the colors in the scene. It adds a lot of warmth, perhaps shifting towards colors more common at sunrise or sunset.

South Fork - Combining The Blue & The Gold

South Fork - Combining The Blue & The Gold

When I compared the bluer version with the golder version I wondered how it would look if I combined the two, keeping the extra gold in the upper part with the trees and foliage, and using the bluer part for the lower half with the rocks and water. So I combined the two in Photoshop. I think I prefer this version over either of the other two. What do you think?

South Fork - Seeing Infrared

South Fork - Seeing Infrared

I also happened to have one of my infrared filters with me. This one is perhaps more of a near-infrared, the Singh-Ray I-Ray 690 filter. It lets in a slightly different set of frequencies than the full infrared filter, allowing for shorter exposure times on unconverted cameras but not quite giving as strong an IR effect. In this case the exposure time was 42 seconds. When home I converted the image to black and white in Lightroom.

South Fork - The Works (or Through the Woods Darkly)

South Fork - The Works (or Through the Woods Darkly)

Finally, I had the idea to combine the black and white infrared image with the composite blue and gold image above. I’ve only done this once before so I was curious what other look I could create. I took the time to experiment a bit in Photoshop, trying options I’ve rarely used, and in this case ended up combining them using the Darken Color blending mode.

Interestingly, this image is vastly different from the other where I tried combining infrared and color. With that one I used the Singh-Ray I-Ray 830 filter, which is the full infrared filter, so it provided that nice glowing fuzzy feel. I painted that infrared look onto the color image where I really saturated the colors to fill out the glow, giving a brighter dream-like feel.

In this one I went for a slightly darker look. Perhaps this was that patch of creepy woods you’ve sometimes driven past but never had the nerve to stop and explore. But now that you have, though creeped out, you still see some beauty in the scene. But having seen the general darkness and the almost reddish tones to the water you’re nervous about what else might be out here with you…

Final Thoughts

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little exploration of the possibilities of a scene. I suppose this is similar to the 10x10 exercise I mentioned a short while back, except that here I created different versions both in the field and at home and decided to only create 5 versions instead of 10. Perhaps one day I’ll go back and create 5 more.

Below you can cycle through each image to better compare them:

Do you have a favorite of those I created? Any thoughts on any of them, good or bad?

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Soft Autumn Bliss /  by Todd Henson

Soft Autumn Bliss

Fall is fading, and with it go the yellows, oranges, and reds of autumn, falling with the leaves of each color. Autumn can have a dream-like quality at times, that transition between the various shades of green to more of a clustering of dark greens interspersed amongst the browns and blacks of bare trunks.

And so I wanted to create an image with a piece of that dream-like quality, something that spoke of the season but in a whimsical way. I was thinking about using one of my Singh-Ray I-Ray infrared filters to help create the softer, more ethereal quality that would shift the image from reality more towards dream. But I didn’t want to lose the beautiful autumn color. So I shot two photographs and combined them in Photoshop.

The first photograph was a natural light image, one in which I was fortunate to capture a special little surprise for those of you who find it. The second photograph was a black and white infrared image created with the Singh-Ray I-Ray 830 infrared filter, which blocks out all visible and ultraviolet light. The filter requires a long exposure time so in addition to the soft infrared glow I might also have had a bit of movement in the leaves when any breeze blew by, further softening the image.

In Adobe Photoshop I overlaid the infrared image atop the natural light image and combined the two, adjusting how much to show of each, finally arriving at the soft colorful look you see. Then I selectively removed the infrared look from specific parts of the image, mostly tree trunks, branches, and that special little surprise I mentioned before.

This is not a style of photography I practice often, leaning more towards the artistic side and using creative license in manipulating the image. But I very much enjoyed the process of visualizing what I’d like to create, thinking through how to do it, heading out into the field and finding a scene that fit the vision, and then playing around in the post-processing sandbox.

I think working on images like this, ones that differ from your usual creations, can be a great way to help ease yourself out of creative slumps. It gives you something new to try, has you thinking and seeing in different ways. And even if the end result isn’t a keeper it can still be a lot of fun and a real learning experience.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. Do you periodically try something completely different than you’re used to? How has that worked for you? And if you don’t do this, give it a try sometime and let me know how it works out.

The Calm Before Spring /  by Todd Henson

The Calm Before Spring

It was the first week of April. We were transitioning from winter to spring. The day began cool, almost cold, but it slowly warmed to a more comfortable range. Most of the trees still lacked leaves, though that will have changed by now. To the right were a couple of weeping cherry trees in bloom. The rest of the cherry trees wouldn’t bloom for another week or so.

It was a fairly calm day. I liked the idea of creating an image with a reflection of the trees on the far shore of the lake. I decided to set up my tripod on the gazebo on the lake, pointing back towards the rest of the park. I put on a filter to slow down the shutter speed and smooth out the surface of the lake as much as possible. I wanted something simple and quiet to reflect the calm before spring.

I would very much like to return to this location and attempt additional exposures as the seasons change.

Filter Geekery

This was my first photograph with my new Singh-Ray I-Ray 690 Infrared filter. The 690 is not a pure infrared filter. It allows both infrared and near-infrared light to enter the camera. This gives a different look than the pure infrared filter (Singh-Ray I-Ray 830), and it requires far less time to create an exposure.

I look forward to experimenting more with the 690 filter and comparing its results to those of the 830. These sorts of filters can be a lot of fun.

Do you enjoy these posts?

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