Process infrared images
Infrared is an ideal technique to try during the summer months, but careful editing is required.
Probably even more so than standard colour files, infrared images need to be processed to achieve their full potential. When they are first opened in the raw converter, they are quite a long way from the finished article, usually lacking in contrast and being almost sepia in appearance. In this tutorial we’re going to look at monochrome infrared, re-creating the look of black and white infrared film.
01
IMPORT THE FILE. Import the file into Lightroom and open it up into the Develop module. The histogram has space either side of the tones, indicating that it is somewhat lacking in contrast, and it has a somewhat sepia cast – normal for infrared files.
02
BASIC BLACK & WHITE CONVERSION. In the Treatment bar, click on Black & White, to render the image in monochrome. In the Tone Panel and adjust brightness with the Exposure slider and contrast, using the Blacks, Whites, Shadows, Highlights and Contrast Sliders.
03
BLACK AND WHITE MIX. Scroll down to the Black and White Mix to fine tune individual tones. These are colour sliders, which may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s like using colour filters with black and white film; for example, you can darken the sky with the Reds slider.
04
LOCAL ADJUSTMENTS. You may need to make local adjustments to the image. In this case, the grass was still a little light after the global adjustments and needs more contrast – so the grad filter was used on the foreground to darken it and increase contrast.
05
ADD THE FILM LOOK. Infrared film has a distinctive glow, especially in the highlights and is known for being grainy. To simulate this look, you can add film grain in the effects panel. Large, coarse grain works well. In the presence panel, reduce Clarity for the glow.
06
CLEAN UP THE IMAGE. Add the final touches to the image by cropping, correcting distortion and removing dust spots. In this case, the image was shot with an old, IR-converted camera with no automatic dust removal feature so dust-spotting was necessary.