INFRARED Post Processing TUTORIAL 

Thank you David, I am glad you found it helpful/clear. Out of interest do you shoot IR all year round? I tend to dust off my IR camera in the summer and put it into hibernation during the winter.

You are welcome. I would love to credit the person that showed me but I cannot remember where I heard about it. Enjoy!

Cheers!

You are welcome Johan, glad you enjoyed it. If you have an IR camera, what better time to get out and use it than now! The sun is so bright at this time of year, it’s perfect conditions for IR when traditional landscape photography is 5am sunrise and 8-9pm sunset right now.

No problem. Happy to help, and yes it is a bit of an ‘aha’ moment when you can figure out how to make a tree pink!

Thank you!

Thank you. I take it that you have seen both of my videos on infrared? I made an intro and the follow up post-production tutorial. I am looking forward to the summer coming around so that I can get out with my IR camera!

Your comment gave me hope. Thank you. I also use affinity

You are welcome. A much more pleasing blue for the sky hey!

I take it you like infrared photography then! There aren’t many of us - we have to stick together :-)

Cheers!

Thanks Steve. This post processing video was on my to do list for way too long, and since it is such a niche genre there aren’t that many people explaining it clearly - so I thought I would share what I know.

Thanks Glenn, glad you like my videos. I make a mixture of landscape adventures, tutorials and gear reviews when I find something that interests me. If you have not already seen it, be sure to check out my IR tutorial that accompanies this video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b8N4Xp0s0ZY.html

scotty4418 hello again! This was a follow up to my original tutorial - it is worth checking out if you were going to dabble in infrared. It has its uses for photographing architecture because of the dynamic range.

Wonder why people complicate things

You are welcome Nina!

Thanks Tim. This is the second video I produced on IR, if you haven’t seen it then link below. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b8N4Xp0s0ZY.html

Hi Stephen, I take it that you don’t use lightroom in that case? Does it help if you convert the raw file to DNG at all? I am running a really old version of lightroom, so no doubt if I were to upgrade I would have a similar problem! Feel free to send me a PM :-)

Much appreciated!

@@benharveyphotography I've converted a camera like what you have here and maybe interesting for you to see what is inside.? Have a look my video if you have the time for it. "How to convert your camera to do infrared photography?"

Bonobo is so good for video soundtracks and general background music to work to. Happy that they allow music to be used on RU-vid.

@@benharveyphotography oh they do? Thats amazing. If you get the chance you should go to his concert, he sometimes brings mini orchestras with him :)

That is going to work really well. Small set up, no need for a tripod, the sunnier the better. Just when all of the photographers are putting their cameras down as they sun gets too harsh, bust out the IR camera! If you are new to IR then check out my other tutorials on the topic as there are some quirks regarding compatible lenses (Hotspots) and what subjects work best. Enjoy!

Hi Maggi, nice to see your comment here! I haven’t really used camera raw to even know of you can get the DNG converted to establish the correct white balance in the first place - but if you have that step sorted then, that is the most important step. I have seen your recent post on Flikr and you certainly know what you are doing and prefer colour IR I believe. If I was making an image with blue skies I would simply do the levels swap and hue blending mode that I showed in this video. I rarely make a false colour (such as pink trees) or I convert to black and white and use silver efex to edit the images to my taste.

@@benharveyphotography Thanks Ben 👍 I do use the DNG converter as it’s the same process in Camera Raw and I also use your levels swap and I must admit after posting this I spent a lot of time experimenting and started using the NIK collection to play around with ! I love infrared.!!

Hi Nelson. You are probably thinking of the Harwich Lighthouse. Luckily I made a vlog about it! Do you mean this one? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RgcY8TgNLwU.html

Thank you Barry! I think the colour swap method that I use works really well - I can’t remember where I heard about it, it was literally years ago that I started doing it that way. Hopefully this tutorial made sense to you? It is a pretty straight forward workflow I think. I am looking forward to the summer to get out there some more with the IR camera!

Cheers Mark, I hope that you found it helpful!

Hi. I am using a 720nm converted Canon 550d. All is explained in my original video if you have yet to see that. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b8N4Xp0s0ZY.html

Thomas Heaton just released a video on infrared using a Fuji. I use a cropped sensor and in the up-coming video I will compare cropped sensor versus full frame infrared conversion.

@@benharveyphotography Thanks Ben that’s one to watch for sure, you’re alerts are switched on. 👍 I watched Thomas’s video 🥲, he’s using the XT30 if I remember, IR photography seems to be on the up and up, Thomas is on my watch list too! 👍

Hi, I actually have a friend that works for a Canon repair centre, so he did it for me as a favour. I just had to pay for the filter itself. Where abouts a are you based, there are a few in the UK that I have heard good things about. One is called Protech photographic. The other one is advanced camera services. You will need to send you camera away though.

@@benharveyphotography Protech converted my DSLR, and they also often have ready converted ones to buy too. They are really helpful too.

Hi Kat, I had the 720nm filter before I converted my camera - which allowed me to experiment with the editing a bit before diving in fully. 720 seems to be a sweet spot between getting plenty of infrared but also some colour - therefore allowing you to edit in colour should you wish. I had an 810nm filter and the images were black and white, and although very punchy, I preferred the option of colour.

​@@benharveyphotography Thanks for the info :)

Hi David, it is the first link in the video description. Look for Robert Reiser’s website link.

Hi Troy, is there a tutorial on anywhere on how to do this, taking into consideration that IR white balance is off the slider for Lightroom? A friend of mine has a mac and they have been unable to use the profile that I linked to in the video description and this might help her. To answer your question, I create the custom white balance in camera (it is stored on the camera and protected so that it is never deleted) and when I import the photos into Lightroom it automatically applies the profile for IR. I don’t think I missed anything in this post processing video - I showed my entire workflow.

@@benharveyphotography thanks for the reply. I’ll figure it out! 👍

Hi James, I haven’t converted my camera to full spectrum or used one - so I can’t really comment other than I know that you will still require an infrared filter on the front of your full spectrum camera - so i would want the reassurance that you can still achieve suitable hand-held shutter speeds which is the main benefit of converting your camera to IR versus using IR filters. The decision whether to convert a camera to IR for me was that I had an old camera that I was either going to sell or it was going to collect dust on the shelf.

@@benharveyphotography thanks Ben, I have bought an old nikon d80 to convert hopefully will be sorted in the next 2 weeks, will let you know how I go on.

Hi. Yes that is normal, because infrared is way off the white balance spectrum that your camera of photoshop/Lightroom can handle. This is why you need to create a custom white balance when you have the filter attached. If you watch this video I discuss setting up the camera. It depends which filter you are using also how much colour you will get. 720nm is the typical range, which will let in a bit of natural light (creating colour) whereas true infrared is black and white (or not colour) . ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-b8N4Xp0s0ZY.htmlsi=7imDnkggsJz22B7_

Hi Jason. Thanks for you comment. I hear what you are saying. I could create the same results, albeit it would take a lot longer; if I just used photoshop. But Color Efex is/was free - so it is widely used by photographers. I simply use it to speed up my workflow because I have created custom ‘recipes’ in Color Efex that are very similar to a preset in Adobe Lightroom or an action in photoshop. There are so many ways of creating the same results in photoshop, this is my preferred way.

@@benharveyphotography I tried your technique today and that hue swap is WAY better than channel swap. Thanks! As for custom profiles, you can no longer use Adobe Profile Editor on the new Macs so if those people have access to an old Mac they can create a profile there and bring it over to their new machine and will work with the latest version of Camera Raw (No clue about Lightroom as I never use it). Hold down Option on the Go menu in Finder, then Application Support>Adobe>CameraRaw>CameraProfiles is where to tuck it.

Hi David, could you help me understand you comment a little, as this may be helpful for others (as I know of Mac users that have been struggling with the LR preset). Is DPP4 something in camera or adobe camera raw/Lightroom? Regarding the contrast, I have always been used to having flat-ish looking images with infrared because of the extensive dynamic range that you get, I then (as you saw in the video) tweak that white and black point to create contrast. But if you have alternatives then I am happy to experiment. It is infrared season right now after all!

Hi Ben, sorry I wasn't clear. I am a window user, so I don't know anything about the mac process. I shoot with a Canon 6D converted to 720. I referred to Canon's Digital Photo Professional 4 This is Canons proprietary RAW image software, which can be downloaded from Canon's site and checking there are Mac versions available. ( I understand that Nikon has its own software as well.) Canon asks for the serial number of a Canon product to give you the free download. The software is for Canon RAW images only and has similar basic functions to Lightroom. Adjustments for white balance, contrast, highlights, etc can be made to refine the image. I use Canon lenses for infrared so DPP4 adjusts to those lenses as well. Lightroom has to hack RAW images in order to process them (Canon holds that info as proprietary). By using DPP4 you gain full access to the RAW image, hence the results I find are better. I first adjust white balance (using the eyedropper to click on something white, like a cloud), lens correction and any further edit of the image in DPP4 then convert and save as a Tiff file. Then I can load that file into Lightroom or Photoshop to continue my workflow. I use your workflow as set out in the video, awesome by the way...I continue to learn every time I pick up my camera. Hope this clarifies what I was trying to say

One other note, I do not use a custom white balance in-camera, I set to AWB and let the DPP4 software do the work in adjusting white balance.

Thanks for the thorough response. Very interesting - I had no idea this existed!

@@davidswainson5798 Hello David, i like to use DPP as well, but i only use it for the shadows and highlights, that i use the settings for.... could you tell me how you use it for yourself, i am sure i should do more with it.. Kind Regards Carol Brewerton

Hi Ed, I have tried a variety of photo editing software over the years but I have settled on photoshop and lightroom because of the fencing kitty they offer me. It depends perhaps if you are trying to edit raws or just JPEG’s. I use Snapseed on my iPhone and iPad. I don’t think silver efex is a standalone app, it’s a plug-in - otherwise I would recommend this. I haven’t used elements for at least ten years, so I don’t know if that will offer raw editing. But essentially you need brightness control, contrast and ideally RGB Chanel editing so that you can manipulate the individual colours (for black and white conversion). I know that there are other stand-alone pieces of software that you can buy outright rather than a monthly subscription - but I haven’t used them. Therefore I can’t really recommend them. I hope you find something.

Hi Christian, I have not had this happen to me, but I have not updated my photoshop in a while. Is it because of an update? If you have the DNG converter file you might be able to reinstall it..

Ben was using a modified camera for take IR photographies. Isn't just a white balance problem that you are having.

Linda, sorry I didn’t see your question sooner. The photos will come out red, so you need to do two things. Create a custom white balance (photograph grass) and therefore the images you see on the back of your camera will not be red. When you import the raws into lightroom you need to install the DNG converter profile that I linked to in the description. That is because the colour temperature is off the scale of the usual visual spectrum that lightroom is designed for. I hope this helps! Ben.

Hi Victor, I really have no idea about Luminar sorry. If you are working with a raw file though, you will need a camera profile to get the ‘correct’ white balance in order to do the channel swap. Worst case scenario you could edit the JPEGs.

@@benharveyphotography Thanks for your reply. will check to see if possible to add a camera profile in it. Thanks again.

Hi Michael, I only have experience with a cropped sensor Canon (550d) and a full frame Canon converged 5dmk2, and the dynamic range was even better on the full frame. Things I would consider is screen size, because it will be sunny in most instances get a camera with a big enough screen. You will also want a camera that has interchangeable lenses as some lenses simply don’t work for Infrared. To get value for money I would be looking at a camera that is a few years old, anything newer and you will be paying a premium for the camera and the conversion costs on top. It depends how much you intend on using it also. Idealistically something like a Sony a7r2, but if you could get a Canon 5d2 or 3 they would be amazing cameras. Lower down on the budget I would look at a Canon 600d onwards (or whichever has a flip out screen for max flexibility). I hope this ramble makes some sense!

Have look my how to convert video and maybe you can do it your own.? You don't have to spend a fortune. "How to convert your camera to do infrared photography?"

Hi Robbie, I got mine converted by a friend who works for Canon at cost (about £80 for the IR filter over the sensor if I recall) but that was in 2014, so it would be different now! I would recommend contacting Protech Cameras, link below. They are a reputable company that specialise in IR conversions. www.protechrepairs.co.uk

He loves it :-)

Hi Jay, do you mean custom white balance on your camera? The answer is different for each camera brand, but On a canon you take a close up photograph of grass in sunlight, then go into the menus and look for custom white balance, then it will ask you to select a photograph as a reference. Select the grass photo and to be extra cautious you can protect your reference photo to make sure that it isn’t deleted. Hopefully that was the question!

@@benharveyphotography that was my question, but i phrased it poorly. You nailed what i was trying to figure out though, i do appreciate you taking the time to answer and help me out

Hi Thanha, there is a company called Protech Photographic in Crowborough (UK) that are well known for their Infrared conversions.

Thanks Don Dan, I did create a photoshop action that automatically creates the channel swap, but I prefer the results I get with the Hue and levels adjustment that I demonstrated in this video, I just prefer the tone of blue that you get for the skies - I always found the channel swap to be a bit spearminty-blue. That could be set as an action as well.

@@benharveyphotography hmm, I think i can make a lightroom profile from that as well. On my cheap point and shoot if I white ballance on a grey card the sky is automatically blue and the plants red / pink. Might save you some time in editing. Anyway, thanks for the video, it was really interesting to learn new techniques :)

Hi Geoff. The hot spot is not obvious on the high resolution file, it may be youtube compression doing something funky. I have tried a whole load of lenses and the Canon 10-18 is pretty good for IR. I have plenty of prime lenses but none of them are wide enough for look that I want with IR.

Hi Martin, some cameras are more sensitive to IR straight out of the box. It is all to do with the filters that the manufacturer puts over the sensor to block IR at the outset. The Hoya filter will still work, but it might take a longer exposure to let enough IR through to the sensor. There is nothing you can do about it other than converting your camera or perhaps experimenting with different wavelength filters - but that is going to be an expensive experiment!

@@benharveyphotography Thank you a lot for the answer! I'll try to experiment again, maybe with longer exposure though I don't really need it with my lens. Appreciated your quick reply :-)

Hi Adolfo - you can create long exposures in infrared one of two ways. Just use an infrared filter on a non-converted camera (the way that I used to do it), or you buy a filter that has a higher frequency cut off than the conversion of your camera. For example my camera is 720nm, if you were to put an 810nm filter on my camera it would require a longer exposure.

Hi Manos, thanks for the comment and Link. Educate me on what the chrome filter does please?

@@benharveyphotography hey Ben, you're most welcome. The IR Chrome filter practically allows both the infrared and certain parts of visible light to come through. It's a digital remake of the Kodak Aerochrome infrared film. Trees appear red-ish out of camera while retaining other colors all around your image. I'm in no way affiliated with them but those are the guys that made it and the article behind it. kolarivision.com/the-irchrome-infrared-photography-filter-our-digital-version-of-kodak-aerochrome/ I hope it interests you! Cheers!