I have posted quite a few of my infrared pictures here on this blog. Infrared photography, or more specifically, false color infrared photography, is very difficult to master. A lot of my early work didn’t turn out well. It truly was a matter of trial and error for me. So today, I will show you exactly how I do it.

It is important to first know a little bit about infrared light. Infrared refers to the spectrum of light that is beyond the visible light spectrum (”invisible light”) that we normally see. In order to get this infrared light into a photo, you must use a special lens filter that filters out almost all of the “visible” light.

This is the Hoya R72 IR filter that I used with my old Nikon D50 DSLR. As you can see, the filter glass is black and lets very little light through.

Now that you have the camera, lens and filter, you will also need a tripod. As for software, you will need Photoshop, this False Colors Photoshop Action and Bibble Lite 4.9, available from Bibble Labs. I found the false colors action online last year but was not able to locate it now, so credit is given to the original creator.

Now, you must wait for just the right time of year. The best time of the year to shoot IR photos is in the dead of summer on a bright, sunny day in order to soak up the most IR rays. Camera settings will make or break your infrared photos. Again, most of this was trial and error on my part, and may or may not work for you and your camera.

First, you will need to set a custom white balance. Attach the IR filter, then do a custom white balance sample while pointing the camera at a section of green grass.

Now, you need to find a subject for your photo. Trees, grass and the sky are the best candidates for infrared. The chlorophyll in the green leaves and grass really makes images “pop” and the sky (big puffy clouds are a plus) gives a nice deep contrast to the bright whites we are hoping to achieve.

Once you have selected a subject, you need to get the camera set up on the tripod. Some people compose the picture before adding the IR filter; not me. I just aim and shoot, and so far it has worked well for me.

This is the sample photo that we will be working with today. This picture was taken at .6 second shutter speed, f/8 aperture, 200 ISO at 18mm focal length in RAW mode. The original picture will turn out with a heavy reddish tint. This is perfectly normal.

Next, you will want to open the file in Bibble Lite 4.9. Make sure everything on the right side is “off”, then adjust the “New WB” to Incandescent. Now, save the photo as a .jpg and open it with Photoshop.

Once in Photoshop, select Layer - New Adjustment Layer - Levels. Click OK then click the Auto button, which will give you something like you see above. Now, run the false colors action.

If your original IR image was taken at just the right settings, you should get something like you see above.

Now, just tweak the colors to your linking using the Selective Color option.

Another popular option with infrared images is black and white. B&W IR images look great as well, but personally I like the colored version more.

With the right equipment and a bit of trial and error, you should be well on your way to shooting some great infrared images of your own!

This is the crowd that was on hand for local Memphis rapper Project Pat’s performance on Sunday of the Beale Street Music Fest. In case you can’t tell, that is A LOT of people!

Kiwi gave me the heads-up that there were a ton of pictures from the three day music event posted at the official Memphis in May Website. I just checked through some looking for some shots of yours truly, but so far I have come up empty-handed. Check em’ out if you are interested

The FuelMyBlog photo contest will be over in just a few hours. As of writing, I am three votes behind the first place picture! Soooo, if ya haven’t already voted, please Do So Now!

To vote, simply scroll to the bottom, click “post comment” then fill out your name (anonymous votes don’t count) and say you wanna vote for Shawn-Knight

I just got word that my entry into the Fuel My Blog Photo Contest made it to the Final Six! As of writing, my photo is currently being beaten by a kid looking at a gorilla (because of the “cute” factor). Soooo, if I have any chance of winning this (I never win anything hah), please head over and cast your vote for my entry! There is only one day to vote, so yeah, thanks in advance!

Just a quick post here to submit my entry into FuelMyBlog’s Photo Contest entry. The theme is “View From My Window”… the rules suggest you can interpret this however you see fit, so I decided to enter my header picture Wish me luck!

I purchased a photo tent from Ebay last week and it arrived today. My friend Bob purchased a similar photo tent not too long ago and after seeing some of the pictures he took with the tent, I decided to order one also. Bob ordered the Super Size tent, which is 48″ x 48″ x 48. I knew that would be too large for me, so I decided on the 36″ x 36″ x 36″ tent.

Uhm, yeah, I knew the tent would be a 3′ cube but I didn’t envision it being THIS large. Geez, it doesn’t even fully fit on my table! I haven’t tested it out yet because the backdrop that came with it is very wrinkled. My friend Sarah is coming over later with her iron, so hopefully I can get some test pictures in later tonight.

At any rate, the tent is far too large to use at my new apartment, so I will more than likely pass it along to one of my staff writers and order a smaller one. Yey, nothing like wasting money

Last week I posted my first photography tutorial covering camera Aperture (F-stop). This week I will be taking a look at camera ISO (formerly ASA). ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization which is somewhat irrelevant for what we will be covering today. Anyway, simply put, ISO represents the camera’s sensitivity to light. A lower ISO number is less sensitive, while a higher ISO number is more sensitive. If you use your digital camera in “auto” mode, you will never need to change the ISO, as the camera does so on-the-fly as it tries to compensate for a number of variables in your shot (lighting, shutter speed, aperture, etc.). If you set your camera to “manual” mode, you gain a magnitude of power and control over your camera. For today’s experiment, I set my camera shutter speed to 1/6 and aperture to f-5.6 and adjusted the ISO after each shot.

Here you can see how the increase in ISO results in a brighter picture (ISO H1.0 = ISO 3200). So when should you use a lower ISO and a higher ISO? Lower ISO numbers between 100-320 are best used under very bright outdoor conditions. A mid-range ISO number of 400-800 is best used indoors where light is not as bright as outdoors. Usage of anything over 800 is not recommended unless absolute necessary to achieve the photograph. You see, the lower the ISO number the better quality your photo will be. Pictures with a high ISO number produce a lot of “noise”, meaning they come out very grainy.

Here is a close-up shot at ISO 800. For the most part, the photo has decent quality.

With the ISO at 3200 you can clearly see the noise in this picture.

So in closing, just remember that a lower ISO number is better for bright lighting and larger ISO numbers should be used under poor lighting conditions. Also, a lower ISO number will produce a better quality photo.

I recently enrolled in my first digital photography class and am already learning a great deal about the features on my digital camera.  I plan to do several of these quick tutorials over the next few months to show you guys some of the neat things I am learning.

Today I will give you a quick explanation on aperture, also known as F-stop.   Simply put, aperture is the diameter of your camera’s lens opening when it snaps a photo.  Most point-and-shoot cameras will have a fixed aperture but if your camera has a manual mode, you will have control over this feature.  Aperture is measured in F-stops, or steps.  My Nikon D80 starts at f/3.5 and goes up to f/22 (@ 18mm).  I could easily spend an hour or more going into full detail about aperture, but the easiest way to describe it is to show you an example of it in action.

First up, I have taken a photo at an aperture of f/3.5

The focus was set on the far can.  Notice how the can closest to the lens is out of focus.  Now, look what happens when I change the F-stop to f/22

Notice how all cans now have a very sharp focus!

So when would you want to use a low-number F-stop and when would you use a higher number one?  Low number F-stops are best for portraits.  You will be able to put a hard focus on your subject, while everything in the background will be blurred, giving a nice effect.  Want less background blur?  Use a higher F-stop number.  Higher F-stop numbers are great for landscape photos, where you want everything in the screen to be in focus.

There are a few things to keep in mind when manipulating F-stop numbers.  Lower numbers mean larger lens openings, thus letting in more light.  This is usually not a big deal to compensate for, using your camera’s other features like ISO and shutter speed.  Higher F-stop numbers mean that the lens opening is much smaller and in turn, lets in less light.  You will need to adjust your ISO and more importantly, reduce the shutter speed in order to get enough light in the camera to product a good photo.  Depending on the setting, it may be necessary to use a tripod with high F-stop numbers to prevent blurring because of the slow shutter speed.

I hope this quick tutorial has given you a bit of insight into your camera’s aperture features and settings!  Please feel free to comment if you have any questions.

I want to make one thing clear from the start: I am far from what you would consider a “professional” photographer. My goal here is to simply offer some insight as to how I snap photos of the items I review and offer some useful tips to others like me. This is simply some things I have learned over time by doing these “photo shoots”.

1. While having a “high end” camera is nice, it is not necessary. I used a Nikon CoolPix 4 MP camera for a few years and produced some great results. Silenze, one of my reviewers, uses an older Canon point-and-shoot camera for his review photos. I must say, I am still taken back at the image quality he is able to achieve out of the aging camera. Sure, a dSLR will give you much greater flexibility when shooting but like I said, it is not necessary to get good results.

2. Perhaps one of the most important elements when shooting photos is to have a backdrop. Nobody wants to see your living room or kitchen floor. A simple white bed sheet like the one shown below works wonders!

If you have the room, setting up a photo area like this is a great idea. If not, you can always throw the sheet over the edge of a couch or chair. Either way, you will get the same results, but having a dedicated photo area will save you some time and hassle.

3. When photographing a box or package, try to avoid head-on shots. I see this time and time again on review sites across the net. Notice the ugly flash glare in the picture below.

So how do you fix this? Very simple, just move slightly to the right or left or move the product you are shooting.

This slight angle will eliminate the flash glare and also help to hide some scratches or other debris which may be on the box.

4. When working with products that have a shiny finish, such as the exterior of a case or a high-gloss keyboard, always be aware of fingerprints. Nothing will ruin a shot faster than unsightly smudge marks. There are a few options you have here. The first being to simply try not to touch the area you want to photograph. This is not always possible but luckily you still have a few options. Wearing latex gloves will prevent these fingerprints but can be a hassle at times. The method I use most is to use a simple micro-fiber cloth to clean the surfaces before shooting.

The cloth pictured above was given to me by SilverStone during CES but you can get similar cloths at places like Wal-Mart. 3M makes a great washable cloth that cost only a dollar or so.

5. The last thing I want to cover concerns taking photos in low light and/or photos without using the flash. I see this problem more often than I do any other issue mentioned thus far. Besides proper lighting and camera settings, the key to making a great photo in low light is to use a tripod. Regardless of how steady you think you can hold the camera, you are no match for a tripod.

The picture above is of the reflection of my monitor off a keyboard. I took this photo without a tripod, trying my best to hold the camera steady. Even with my camera lens’ VR (Vibration Reduction) feature turned on, the picture is not near as sharp as it could be. I tried again below, this time using a tripod…

Notice how much sharper the reflected image is. If you don’t have a tripod, no worries. Try bracing the camera against something, such as a stack of books or the corner of a wall… anything solid that will reduce vibration should work fine.

Anyway, I hope some of these tips can be of use to you guys