Digital IR

**Audii-Dudii** · 3-Sep-2021, 19:10

Originally Posted by sanking

Interesting point, and with very low signal strength I am sure you are right. I have from time to time experienced a condition in photographing in nature in areas where there was no artificial light late in the evening when the gain in IR sensitivity around the time of sunset went from fair to non-existent in an instant.

As it happens, I do quite a lot of IR photography at night -- the photo below is a typical example -- and you are correct: Without the sun visible in the sky, there is next to no natural IR light available, only artificial light and not always a lot of that.

Balancing exposures in these conditions is tricky, because too much exposure blows out the highlights and not enough exposure makes it difficult to tease any detail from the shadow areas. This is where the median-blending technique I discussed above pays huge dividends, because it allows one to lift the shadows several stops without sacrificing the highlights or the final, finished photo looking completely unnatural, which (IMO) often happens when HDR techniques are used.

**tuco** · 3-Sep-2021, 22:43

Chippewa by tuco, on Flickr

M9, Zeiss 35mm, R72

**jon.oman** · 4-Sep-2021, 06:34

Nice one Tuco!

**tuco** · 4-Sep-2021, 09:09

Originally Posted by jon.oman

Nice one Tuco!

Thanks Jon. I'm thinking I should have taken the filter off and compared converting color to BW with the R72 filter version in a picture like this with no foliage.

**jon.oman** · 4-Sep-2021, 10:55

Okay, my first median-blending. This was with the 950nm filter. The tripod was used. I used 'continuous release' low, with the maximum shots allowed set to nine. Everything was done using 'live view' mode.

Photoshop: You can also combine images using a script (File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack).

Turns out the base ISO for the Nikon D810 is 64. I really should have read the manual!

The first shot in this series you have seen before. I have never been happy with what I have gotten before. Now, I can say I am happy!

2021:09:04 12:04:25 : NIKON D810 : 48mm : 64 ISO : F7.1 : 1 sec : 5/3 EV

2021:09:04 12:17:35 : NIKON D810 : 70mm : 64 ISO : F7.1 : 5 sec : 5/3 EV

2021:09:04 12:10:57 : NIKON D810 : 38mm : 64 ISO : F7.1 : 2 sec : 5/3 EV

For the swing image, I still have not allowed for the wind. I'll work on that next time.

**Peter De Smidt** · 4-Sep-2021, 11:14

Good work, Jon!

And now back to class work...

**jon.oman** · 5-Sep-2021, 10:59

2021:09:05 12:12:46 : NIKON D810 : 32mm : 64 ISO : F7.1 : 2.5 sec : 5/3 EV

2021:09:05 12:10:33 : NIKON D810 : 38mm : 64 ISO : F7.1 : 4 sec : 5/3 EV

**alan_b** · 5-Sep-2021, 12:28

Nice images Jon, Tuco and Audii-Dudii!

**Tin Can** · 6-Sep-2021, 03:28

I have noticed my iPhone front camera can focus in the dark

Man Shares How to Spot Hidden Cameras in Airbnbs in Viral Video

..."To detect night-vision cameras, Hutchins recommends turning off the lights and using the front-facing camera on a smartphone to identify infrared LEDs. ..."