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Seeing the World as a Professional Infrared Photographer
Hi Everyone
As I update my infrared photography collection from various locations around Scotland, it is interesting to re-visit certain places that I have never photographed in infrared but which I have photographed using conventional photographic equipment. It’s a bit like the switch from analogue to digital, it was like entering a whole new world for the first time. Recently, I visited the Falkirk Wheel for the first time in years. Now this is a location that I had visited before but not with my infrared camera. So what made the visit different. For a start it was raining most of the time and while this is not the end of the world for landscape photographers, it can be for the infrared photographer. However my infrared camera can still take creative images, as long as it is not too dark. So what other considerations are there. Well you are looking for trees and grass where possible. You are looking for some sun rays even if it is cloudy and you hope for some blue skies, however, a stormy cloudy day can also produce some good results in infrared as you are still getting improved dynamic range with the final result. You also have do do more pre-visualisation with infrared and the result displaying on your camera screen still requires a lot of work using editing software afterwards and you have to be able to visualise which photos can be brought to life, so you are looking for contrast, dynamic range and perfect exposure. Focusing is also different for infrared than it is with a conventional event photography photoshoot in Edinburgh or around Scotland and some lenses focus better than others in infrared and it’s not all to do with their cost for some strange reason. I also look for water and metallic subjects in infrared as they look different in infrared, water tends to be darker and metallic objects reflect infrared light in a different way to create an interesting fine art photography image. The other thing worth considering is whether the photo will be suitable for colour infrared or black and white. Colour usually works better in the bright sunny days. So there you have it, a lot more to consider when you visit the location in infrared.
Hope this helps.
Until next time.
www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk
www.edinburghphotographer.com
The Kelpies in Infrared, Professional Fine Art Photography
Hi Everyone
When I first started shooting digital infrared photography one of the first things I photographed was the Kelpies installation in Falkirk. This fine work of art is a major tourist attraction in Scotland and I also had the privilege of photographing it as part of a corporate photography commission in various locations around Scotland for Scottish Enterprise in 2015. However, along with the ponies at Traprain Law, The Isle if Skye and my highland cow photos, the Kelpies has been one of the best sellers. So it was with a bit of excited anticipation that I returned to the location last week. The weather was perfect for infrared, with lots of cloud and sunshine and while it was busy, it was not as crowded as it would have been in July and August. The location is also ideal as it overlooks a canal with boats, in addition to trees and grass, also great for infrared. Metallic structures are also ideal subjects for this genre and the sheer size of the installation creates a rather superhero effect. Combine this with the rather spooky nature of infrared and you have an ideal location for professional infrared photography. Visit the website for more, but in the meantime here is the original photo that started it all, shown below.
Until next time.
Kind Regards
Colin
www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk
wee.edinburghphotographer.com
The Kelpies in Infrared
The Kelpies in InfraredThe Kelpies in infrared by professional fine art, event and corporate photographer, Colin Wright, Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Kelpies by professional fine art and event photographer Colin Wright Edinburgh Scotland
The Kelpies in Infrared
The Kelpies in InfraredThe Kelpies in infrared by professional fine art, event and corporate photographer, Colin Wright, Edinburgh, Scotland.
The Kelpies by professional fine art and corporate photographer Edinburgh and Scotland
Lessons Learned for photographers from Covid 19
Dear All
Six months ago in my blog, I was hoping when we arrived at this point that we could have moved on to some kind of normality and whilst things are better, we are still living in a difficult time, which will probably only change once a vaccination has arrived. As a professional corporate and event photographer working in Edinburgh and around Scotland, the events industry is only slowly starting again and mostly at limited capacity, often without the need for conference and event photographers. However, as with every difficult situation there are always positives and things we can learn. I thought it would be a good idea to list a few of the lessons learned and these are indicated below:
1. We have all learned that nothing can be taken for granted. Nothing is exempt from this kind of emergency. Some of the sports photography and cultural events have experienced cancellation or postponement for the first time since the second world war.
2. There are always options to diversify. I have spent more time learning new skills and improving areas that I haven't worked in for a while.
3. Photographers have had more time to explore their creative side. I have done a lot of infrared photography during this period and the time has been beneficial from a fine art photography point of view..
4. You can explore where you live from a photographic point of view. I admit this is probably a bit easier if you live in a lovely scenic place like my home town of Dunbar, but I imagine there are opportunities wherever you live.
5. communication with our peers and clients has been vital and we have all had the opportunity to explore this more during the lockdown and immediately after. I certainly have tried to be more focussed on social media and communicating with my fellow photographers.
6. This may sound strange but I have also used this time to explore all aspects of my camera and software. I have tried to use the free time to ensure I know my software and equipment inside out.
7. This period has been a valuable to time to think your financial and photographic strategy for the future. We should all be doing this anyway and as a newspaper photographer in the past I had to do a big re-think of my photographic priorities and strategy when this aspect of the market diminished somewhat. This is one area that we all tend to ignore when things are busy, but it is good practice to continually evaluate your strategy.
Anyway, more on this soon. I will leave you with an infrared photo I took recently.
Until next time.
Kind Regards
Colin
Colin Wright Photography
www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk
www.edinburghphotographer.com