More Infrared Photography

I didn’t post anything last week as I was on holiday in the Isle of Wight. Although the weather was mixed, there were a few bright, sunny days. That’s fortunate as I had decided to pack an infrared camera.

It’s an old Olympus EM5 that I had converted around 10 years ago. The company that did the conversion was Protech Photographic, and I’ve used them a few times now. If you want a UK company to do an infrared conversion, I recommend Protech, as I have always had a good experience with them.

The conversion I had done used a 665nm filter. This is a good choice for both the black and white infrared effect and false colour, especially in the UK, where the light often isn’t that strong.

Before this camera, I had one converted with a 720nm filter, as that’s what most people seemed to recommend. While it was a good conversion, I found the filter didn’t perform as well as the 665nm unless the conditions were bright.

I also discovered that the Panasonic 14-140 lens I bought for trekking with my EM5 MKIII performs brilliantly on the infrared EM5. Some lenses are prone to produce hotspots (a bright centre spot) when used with an infrared camera. The Panasonic 14-140 didn’t have a hotspot, and the image quality was good.

Here are some images I shot on the beautiful Isle of Wight.

This was a path in Bembridge while I was on a walk. It’s a handheld shot at 14mm with a 1/40-second exposure at f/7.1 and ISO200.

This next one is of Appuldurcombe House. There’s nothing like an abandoned mansion to make the most of an infrared camera.

This is a pair of exposures at 17mm stitched in Lightroom. Unfortunately, I need to do the stitching again, as Lightroom hasn’t corrected the distortion properly. Both shots were handheld at 1/400 second exposure using f/7.1 and ISO200.

This is the Freemantle Lodge Gateway to Appuldurcombe House. Again, it’s perfect for the infrared treatment.

If you’re wondering how I process my Infrared black-and-white images, I’ve just shared the details in a YouTube video.

I hope you like the photos and have a great weekend.