I acquired my Canon 6D again in 2013, and whereas it served me nicely for years, it will definitely acquired changed with a Canon 5D Mk IV and extra not too long ago the Canon R5. However fairly than let that out of date outdated 6D rot away on a shelf, I made a decision to offer it a complete new lease on life, changing it to shoot infrared photographs and getting some really superior pictures in consequence.
Learn extra: Greatest digital camera to purchase in 2023
Changing a digital camera to shoot infrared means the sensor is altered to be delicate solely to infrared mild. Whereas it is attainable to do that your self, in case you’re particularly good with electronics, I opted to make use of a service within the UK known as Professional Tech Photographic, who transformed my out of date full-frame 6D to shoot 720nm infrared for £320 (round $398). Within the US, Kolari Imaginative and prescient affords an identical service, and whereas the corporate’s critiques are good, I have never used the corporate myself.
A ‘”false coloration” panorama picture, taken with an infrared transformed digital camera and processed in Adobe Photoshop.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Infrared mild is invisible to the bare human eye, however by the digital camera it may end up in some extraordinary results. Most notably any inexperienced grass or foliage will look particularly vibrant — nearly white — because the chlorophyll in greenery displays numerous infrared mild again to the digital camera. Sometimes you may see two sorts of infrared images. The primary is named false coloration (seen above), the place the uncooked infrared file is processed in Photoshop utilizing channels to create a coloration picture with dramatic blue skies and infrequently white foliage. It is a surreal look, and a few of my false coloration photographs look OK.
However the true pleasure for me is in taking black-and-white infrared photographs. Infrared images appears to work finest underneath harsh daylight — usually in the midst of the day when the solar is casting sturdy shadows. These are circumstances that photographers usually keep away from, particularly for landscapes, however infrared thrives right here, delivering contrasty photographs with blue skies that turn out to be nearly black, emphasizing any fluffy clouds within the sky.
A black-and-white panorama picture, taken with an infrared transformed digital camera
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Changing these photographs to black and white creates dramatic photographs with punchy distinction that I completely love. I took the digital camera on a current journey to the Isle of Skye in Scotland and I am so happy with the panorama photographs I acquired (seen all through this text and in my YouTube video seen above), preferring them over the colour variations I took on my far more costly Canon R5.
Learn extra: Greatest presents for critical photographers
And certain, I can convert these coloration photographs to common black and white, however they will not look the identical as black-and-white photographs taken in infrared and can lack the ethereal look that IR can obtain.
Strictly talking, it’s attainable to attain the identical impact utilizing infrared filters that connect to the entrance of your lens. Nonetheless, these work by blocking all mild besides infrared, which means little or no mild is allowed by the lens. Consequently, it’s essential to use lengthy exposures — usually a number of seconds — to get sufficient mild for photograph. With filters, you may additionally want to make use of a tripod, or any motion within the scene (equivalent to bushes blowing within the breeze) shall be blurry.
A black-andwhite panorama picture, taken with an infrared transformed digital camera
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
I have been totally having fun with my experiments with infrared images to this point and I am actually wanting ahead to doing extra over the summer season. Should you’ve by no means tried it however are into your black-and-white imagery, I positively advocate contemplating a conversion. It isn’t tremendous low cost, however it’s an effective way of placing that in any other case out of date digital camera to new use and having fun with the inventive thrill of taking pictures in a model new manner.