EXCERPT page containing first few paragraphs. 2024-05-10 13:19:30
UA_SEARCH_BOT_compatible_botmozilla/5.0 applewebkit/537.36 (khtml, like gecko; compatible; claudebot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com) @ 3.145.16.90
For full access, subscribe here. Or click title to login. 
Setting Expectations
Digital infrared is more technically challenging in a number of ways than normal color photography. There are additional challenges with exposure, optical performance and focusing. Working with RAW files and Photoshop is a prerequisite for optimizing images. By comparison, color images can often be shot with very satisfying results as JPEG files straight from the camera. That is not to say that good images cannot be produced as JPEG files straight from the camera—but optimal images often require shooting RAW, and performing later work in an imaging editor on the computer.
Infrared might or might not be for you. For me, an infrared image often matches my unconscious sense of the subject better than a color image does. With experience, I’ve learned to bring that sense forward into conscious thought to make better images more often. Still, if I knew how to make a perfect composition, I’d make one every shot!
Article continues for subscribers...
Diglloyd Monochrome is by yearly subscription. Subscribe now for about 8 cents a day.
BEST DEAL: get full access to ALL 8 PUBLICATIONS for only 68 cents a day ($249.95)!
Diglloyd Infrared Photography covers cameras and lenses for infrared photography.
The coverage explains all the issues involved in shooting for monochrome and in infrared. It is not a review of any particular camera or lens, though many examples are included.
- Monochrome vs color cameras.
- Post processing for monochrome.
- Guidance on workflow for infrared, including black and white and channel swapping for false-color images.
- How infrared renders, and why certain spectral cutoffs matter: false color vs black and white.
- Image quality issues to be on the lookout for in infrared.
- Numerous lens evaluations in infrared.
View an overview of infrared as well as filter spectral transmission plus examples from an optimal lens.