7 Days of IR: 590nm (2/7)

Today, I'm shooting in 590nm, also called "Super Color". It's trickier than shooting in black and white like I did yesterday. I had to continually work at adjusting the white balance manually within the camera, but the results look pretty cool! These photos take longer to edit, since you have to use software like Photoshop to swap the red and blue color channels, but what you get is pretty awesome. While this may not be the most inspiring set of subjects, I decided to go to the park because there were lots of plants and greenery to play around with.

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For this set of infrared photos, I took an early morning walk at Chatuchak Park in Bangkok. 

Photos taken on Kolari Pocket with 590nm filter.

Photos taken in 590nm infrared don't always look good right out of the camera; the sky tends towards an ugly Venus-like yellow, and the rest of the image looks to be in various shades of dull grey. Still, sometimes these images can look interesting even without a channel swap.

This was the only image I was really happy with right out of the camera. When I tried to channel swap it to make the sky blue, the rest of the image looked far too dark with a blue tint.

Here's my canal shot in 590. The water is dark and reflective, and the trees have shifted to shades of orange and gold.

a motorbike waiting outside of 7-Eleven for its rider to take it on delivery runs to nearby neighborhoods

I really like this picture. It looks like it was shot on some old film. Maybe it's the new style of Bangkok taxi (lower left) that is designed to be a throwback to a classic London cab, or maybe it's just the color tones in general, but I get a '60s photographic film vibe from this image.

Parks in Bangkok have only just reopened, and I'm thrilled! I've missed being able to get some fresh air during the past few months. COVID has made it difficult to travel, and I have missed getting out of the city. Bangkok's beautiful city parks are my only escape from the city right now.

IR photos tend to be a bit grainy, but I like that. It only adds to the classic film look (even though the images themselves are digital).

a city truck waters the plants and flowers alongside the road in the park

a closeup of the water truck with more vibrant colors

This image was too dark. I tried to salvage as much of the color as I could, and I ended up in this blue/pink image. I almost didn't post this one, but there's something I like about it. I think it looks like an old colorized black and white picture rather than one that was shot in (infrared) color.

a park maintenance worker rides her bike in Chatuchak Park

Plaza America Latina, a monument to Latin American-Thai friendship in Chatuchak Park

Chatuchak Park office and headquarters. The Thai flag got channel swapped as well. Now it's the Costa Rica flag. Oh well.

spirit house in the park

a pond in the sprawling Chatuchak Park

I think that images that only show plant life are boring in infrared. I'm starting to realize that the most interesting ones are pictures with architecture alongside plants and greenery.

Chatuchak Park is surrounded by tall office and apartment towers.

tropical vibes

I was really excited about shooting in 590, and these pictures were exactly as weird as I hoped that they would be! Now, I'm getting even more excited about my 550nm day. These vibrant colored infrared images need to be shot somewhere with a lot of interesting plants for the IR light to reflect off of. The park was a good idea for today, but I'll have to think of somewhere else to go for my "ultra color" infrared day.

I am learning to develop my infrared style. I am definitely discovering some of the challenges and surprises that come along with this super fun and fairly unpredictable style of photography. IR is best shot in bright, harsh sunlight (when there are plenty of infrared rays). I started this photo walk a little too early in the morning (around 8:30 am), and there wasn't enough bright light yet. You can see that the colors and contrast improved as it got a bit later in the morning.