For this week’s Friday image, it’s a shot from my recent trip to Cornwall. I took this whilst walking the coast path. It’s probably about a mile outside Fowey.
At the time, the light was very harsh and the images I was shooting on my standard Olympus EM5 weren’t looking very appealing. As is often the case when the light is harsh in summer, it can be helpful to switch to Infrared.
The image was captured using an infrared converted Olympus EM5 with an Olympus 12-40mm lens. This makes a great pairing although there is a faint hotspot in the centre of the lens. Fortunately, this vanishes once converted to black and white. What surprised me here was the strength of the Infrared effect. The weed in the sea is practically glowing.
The conversion from RAW was performed in Lightroom and then the post production conversion was using On1 Effects.
Have a great weekend.
The Lightweight Photographer 
Hi, I was interested in the conversion of the Olympus OM 5 to infra red. I was contemplating doing the same thing. Can you recommend a good firm which will carry out the work. The one I found won’t do micro four third cameras.
Many thanks
Lyn
No problem. I have had two cameras converted now. Both were Micro 43. The first was a GX1 which was OK. That was a 720nm conversion carried out by a UK company called ACS. They do work for the BBC and whilst they did a good job, it was a really long wait. The EM5 which is a brilliant camera to convert was carried out by a company called Protech (http://www.protechrepairs.co.uk/). One of my friends has also had a few cameras converted by them and their service has been excellent. When I had the EM5 converted it was done using a 665nm filter which I feel is better and more flexible than the 720nm.
Hope this helps.
Hello Robin,
I really like the tonality of this image; very striking contrast in the shadows & midtones. Is the On 1 Effects filter something designed specifically for B&W infared, or could you also have done a comparable job with Silver EfEx Pro? Do you see the On 1 software as a potential replacement for Nik when the latter is no longer compatible with either Adobe or the Mac OS, particularly for B&W? Thanks,
Jed
Part of the appeal of the effect used for this image is the glow effect that was added. That’s not something that can be replicated in Silver Efex Pro. On 1 and Alien Skin Exposure both have this feature and its quite reminiscent of the old Kodak HIE infrared film.
I have been using On 1 for quite a number of years and in fact switched to Nik around 2009 primarily due to the power and ease of Viveza and Silver Efex Pro. My own view is that On 1 has surpassed the Nik Collection but its not as intuitive. It’s also massive and many people find it confusing. This isn’t helped by the regular changing of products. For example, the Black and White converter was once a standalone product. Then a few versions back they ditched this and it’s now a filter within the effects product. Despite this, it’s certainly an excellent contender as a replacement.