Top Five Tips - Introduction to Infrared Photography

With the lead up to Christmas now in full swing and my corporate photography commissions in Edinburgh winding down for the holiday period, I have decided to concentrate on infrared photography for this blog.  This week has been fairly busy mind you, with a conference photography commission in Edinburgh last week, probably the last one of 2016 and some newspaper photography in the Lothian area at the weekend and some event photography in Glasgow, with a bungee jumping at the transport museum this weekend.

Anyway back to the subject of the day.  Infrared photography can be very complex and there are a number of myths surrounding it, so as part of my regular blog, I aim to do a number of articles to help people starting out, in what is a fascinating photographic genre.  Today, I am going to concentrate on some basic issues before we go onto the technical stuff in later blogs - anyway, most of you know my opinion on photography, which is that it is 95% visionary and 5% technical.  so here are the five tips for the day.

1.  The easiest and best way to take infrared photographs in the digital age is to have a camera converted, this can cost form £250.00 - £300.00 depending on the model of the camera.  Having said this, to get an understanding of infrared, it wouldn't do any harm to practice with an non-converted camera first using a filter and long exposures.  I like to hand hold when I shoot infrared, so I prefer using a converted camera.

2. You can shoot infrared all year round, not just in the summer.  Although your time is limited due to lack of light, all you need is some sunshine and I am sitting here now in December with the sun splitting through my window.  You wont get the white tree effect to the same extent as spring and summer, but you can still catch blue sky and clouds, the light can also be very contrasty, which is good for infrared and it will force you to look for other subjects, ie metal can produce interesting infrared pictures, as shown in my scrapyard shots in the attached link http://www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk/p304082559

3. You don't need an expensive camera to produce good infrared results.  I use a small Lumix camera with relatively inexpensive lenses for infrared, partly because I want to carry my gear around with me all the time and I also think the smaller newer cameras are better suited for infrared conversion, with the results often better than larger DSLR bodies.  The other weird thing about infrared (and I cant really explain the reason) is that often the cheaper lenses perform better than more expensive ones.

4. Experiment, if you can shoot hand held and the sun is out, don't just take the clichéd white tree and sky shots, photograph people, cars, animals etc. The effects you get can often be unique and can set you apart from the crowd

5. You will need some software experience.  Photoshop preferably if you are shooting colour infrared, although for black and white, all you need to do is to convert to black and white and tweak the contrast, brightness etc.  Obviously you could write a book on software editing for infrared, but that is a brief starting summary.

Anyway, enjoy, more to come soon

Kind Regards

Colin

Colin Wright Photography

Hi Everyone

Another busy week out and about, with some corporate photography in Edinburgh and Newspaper photography with some sports photography in Midlothian.  Well done to Bonnyrigg Rose for their draw with Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup, good luck with the replay. As an event photographer in Scotland at this time of year there is usually a mad rush for conferences and events before the last few weeks prior to Christmas.  I have a conference next week and then its mostly event photography in Glasgow, Scotland, with bungee jumping at the transport museum in Glasgow coming up soon.  Will I take the plunge myself - not so sure, the jury is out on that one, maybe 20 years ago.  I managed a few last gasp infrared photos at the weekend, still some opportunities when you get sun and cloud and Edinburgh at this time of year is as good as anywhere.

To finish of today, I have decided to break the mould include a non-business photo and attach a personal image of my daughter on a trampoline at North Berwick, to demonstrate the importance of always carrying a camera.

Until next time, all the best

Kind Regards

Colin

Colin Wright Photography

Hi All

Just back from some newspaper photography in Midlothian, Scotland and a corporate conference photoshoot in Edinburgh, so I thought I would stick with the Corporate Photography theme for now.  As a conference photographer in Edinburgh and around Scotland, I have a certain routine and there are a few "must do" aspects that are key to all jobs.  The list below could apply to corporate photographers and general event photography, but, as a specialist conference photographer in Scotland, I have tailored it a bit for business conferences.  So here we go:-

1. Prepare in advance.  This may seem obvious but the pre-event preparation is essential, take plenty of charged batteries, more than twice you will require, for flash, cameras etc.  Always prepare your back up equipment, yes, that means 2 of everything and make sure it is all working.  It never fails to amaze me when I see a photographer with one flash or camera.  Check location, access, parking traffic.  Do all this a few days before, to give yourself plenty of time if something isnt working.  Think of the worst thing that could happen on your journey ie car breaking down, train delay and leave in plenty of time.  You can be late for your own wedding, but you cannot be late for a photography commission

2. Record to multiple cards   If your camera has this facility, make use of it, cards can suddenly stopped working and imagine losing a days work.  If you don't have this facility, don't use one card all day, switch cards, so in the unlikely event of one not working, it wouldn't be the end of the world, especially if you are using 2 cameras.  Lose a whole days work and you may as well leave the country.  If you are staying overnight, you should always back up your work on a laptop or other device

3.  Find out what you can and cant do in advance   Always check with the event organiser if the delegates are OK with flash usage, or if anyone has objected to their photo being taken at the event.  When you get there, although there is a temptation to bang away on the flash, do it sparingly and not for the full duration of the speaker's presentation.  Also try to gauge the atmosphere from both the speaker and the crowd and give them some peace, if you feel that's what they want at that time.  This also applies to workshops.  Get the balance right.  You must deliver great images for the clients, but it wont help your business if the delegates complain

4. Lenses to Use  This is a personal thing, but I use a 28-70mm most of the time, with a 70-200mm for longer shots.  During workshops I tend to use a smaller mirrorless camera, so I can keep in the background, without disturbing the participants.  Dont walk about looking like a paparazzi, with large lenses and multiple cameras, this wont go down well at conferences.  There are other lenses you can use, but there is no point in going over the top.   Try to keep in the background as much as you can

5. Get both Standard and Creative Images on the day  First and foremost, make sure you get the standard images the client has asked for ie the speakers, any group shots, networking etc.  But after that, try different angles, move about, catch people networking, just at the right moment, when they are animated and enthusiastic.  Set you camera on a tripod and get some motion photos.  The scope is endless

Anyway, hope this has helped

Until next time

Regards

Colin 

Colin Wright Photography