I’ve been really struggling with my IR B&W work.It’s an area that is fraught with frustration.
For a while I thought I’d chace the HIE tail and see where that lead me. I developed what I think is a pretty good preset, suitable for Asian climes whre skies tend to be more whitish than blue. This is sort of what I was having to deal with, Asian Skies, Kodak HIE_0029 by Heronop, and part of my quest was for a low grain/noise look with smooth graduations in the mid-grey tones. While I thought I’d succeded somewhat with that, I wasn’t satisfied. I didn’t realise until just recently that HIE could be somewhat grainy in appearance, until I found this, Fraser (Kodak HIE) by I am Martin but, the black sky kept bugging me, especially in light of such images, Untitled and Just follow the path by Xprocessed. Similarly, trying to eliminate as much noise as possible to have rich smooth black tones, EPSN1252 BN-Kodak HIE by Claudio Tizzani, as well as gorgeous mid-grey graduations, like in .life.is.but.a.dream. by Cassandi.
Looking back on it all now, it’s a bit much to expect from a single preset as each of these situations have very clear and distinct features not typical of the other pictures.
One of the reasons for this is the type of filter used. Another is the quality of the optics, and a third is they way in which the film was developed and then printed.
I moved from using overexposed, developed, colour print film to using a peice of floppy disk. There were several reasons for this,
1) finger prints and dust
2) scratches -from in-camera movement
3) uneven emulsion effects (Check out the following image)
The plus side of film was that it produced monotone images.
With the floppy disk I started getting some wierd colour effects. Ice would turn an orange colour, certain dark/black clothing was rendered as a kinda lilac colour and the rest of the image had a pale magenta-like cast. With the floppy disk, the camera is also noticiably much slower.
Another point which was starting to dawn on me, was that even though I could use my camera in manual, and set some exposure compensation, It didn’t seem that I was getting similar exposure lattitude. Perhaps it’s the camera/filter combination, perhaps it’s an artifact of the environment here in Hanoi, and perhaps it’s me, but it’s like trying to compare fresh baked bread with three day old fish. The whole thing was starting to get right up my nose.
So, back to the drawing board. Now, before getting to the board, I thought I’d go over several other presets and have a look if anyone had done something that might just work for me USING a digital IR image as the source image for conversion, as opposed to trying to emulate the look by starting out with a colour pic.
So, here it is:
The original image straight from the camera [all images square cropped]
I then applied LR’s greyscale conversion to it.
Ok, something new, alright, auto WB + auto tone
Hmmm, Someone once suggested shifting the colour temp to around 2000K for correct WB. In LR that’s equivalent to a Temp shift to -100
Well, it looks really blue. (There’s an idea for a cyanotype emulation…)
To do a reasonably fair comparison of the various presets, I settled on the following baseline for all processes, Square crop, auto wb, auto tone then temp to -100. A preset was applied to the image, the image exported, 600 px, 80%, 72 ppi, no sharpening. After this the image was reverted to the base line and the next preset was applied, and so on and so forth.
Now, I’m not actually gonna comment on these because I din’t actually dialogue this with myself but went more for the intuitive feel. Look at each of these and make your own minds up.
01. Colour IR - COL Colour Infrared
02. Colour R72 IR - IR-Colour 1
03. Colour R72 IR - IR-Colour 2
04. GAntico - GA-B&W infrared 01
05. Infrared - B&W IR1
06. MikeyG’s Kodak HIE - Kodak HIE
07. MikeyG’s Kodak HIE - Kodak HIE Auto
08. MikeyG’s Kodak HIE - Kodak HIE Curve
09. MikeyG’s Konica IR - Konica IR
10. MikeyG’s Konica IR - Konica IR Auto
11. MikeyG’s Konica IR - Konica IR Curve
12. Seim Free B&W - Seim Infrared Warm II
13. Tsc Tempest Z700 IR - Tsc’s Kodak HIE Auto (This one’s mine)
14. x=Brandon+Oelling - x=infra+ready
Now here’s the problem that I have. As far as I understand it, all of these presets, bar one, were designed to work with full colour images. The difficulty with doing that is that the most successful emulators work in Photoshop Swapping and blending RGB channels with a greyscale, “K” channel yet Lightroom doesn’t have that capability So channel swapping is out of the question. Yet there may seem to be some interesting avenues worthy of further exploration in the HSL/Color/Grayscale panel.
Ok, so I can’t channel swap, well… I don’t really need to, do I? All my images that I wish to process this way are IR source images in the first place.Do I want to still struggle and try to emulate the HIE look? Well, I’m no longer sure about that, particularly for the following reasons: noise free blacks, smooth greys, good contrast, low grain in low contrast shots, clean and crisp white foliage. This is what I’m aiming for. Is that the HIE look? Well, yes and no. It depends on how it was handled, shot, developed and printed.
Back to the drawingboard. What I want is to first and foremost, get good shots out of my camera. Now, most would say, replace the camera. I’m a firm believer of working with what you’ve got, until your skill level clearly excedes the capacity of the equipment to deliver on what you want to achieve.
So here’s the drawingboard with the changes, from scratch that I made, working on the same original image as above.
ISO 400 6mm
Greyscale
Temp +100
Tint -5
Exposure +0.86
Recovery 74
Fill Light 13
Blacks 24
Brightness +61
Contrast 0
Clarity -21
Greyscale Mix Auto + Blue & Aqua -100
Lens Correction +100
Midpoint 73
Postcrop amount +64
Midpoint 50
roundness -64
Feather 100
Profile Embeded
Shadows 0
Red Primary Hue/Saturation +100
Green Primary Hue/Saturation +100
Blue Primary Hue +100 Saturation -100
Here’s the result.
I’m still not happy with the level of grain, but it’s certainly within the ballpark now, if we compare with “I am Martin’s” image (above). There’s still room for improvement in this I think, but I’m too tired to pursue it further today. Anyway, that’s all for now.
Professional Photographic Services and Pricing - Cost vs Value
When I meet a potential new client, one of the first things that come up is, ‘How much for a picture of….?” The trouble is the question presupposes that photographs are a commodity, much like anything else on a supermarket shelf. Thus it then comes down to size and number of images. This is a common misconception. The reason for this is that the client is not just buying an “of the shelf” image, they are contracting or commissioning a project, one in which there are many variables that need to be established before the photographer even picks up the camera to shoot.
The Plumber
Now there are a number of analogies that might help to communicate this idea. One story I read somewhere was about a plumber who was hired to replace a tap washer. When the client reeled back at the $100.00 saying, “Come on that only took five minutes and I know that washer doesn’t cost that much!” The plumber responded with, “$1.50 for the washer, $23.50 for the time it took, and $75.00 for having the tools and knowing how to use them to get the job done and do it right the first time.”
Money Up Front
Another analogy is to look at your lawyer, accountant, financial advisor, or even doctor. When you walk into their office, does it look like a supermarket, with aisles and shelves and their various products with set prices on display?
The reason for this is that each client has a different need, while the generic process might be similar from client to client, the actual details are vastly different, thus in order to provide their services, the service has to be tailored, to the best of their skill and ability, to the needs of the client. This requires, more often than not, an initial consultation to examine the basics and to rough out an estimation of cost. For many of these professionals, even the initial consultation has a fee. More often than not, you may not get to see them until you’ve paid, money up front.
Photography
When you commission a professional photographer to take photos for you, the process is very similar. You may find that the photographer may be a ‘Jack of all trades’ and shoot more or less any project that comes through the door; or, they may specialise in one or a few similarly related areas.
Also, like with lawyers, doctors and accountants, you may be instructed to accept certain restrictions as part of the provision of their service, photography is no different. How you intend to use a particular image is an integral element to establishing the overall cost of your particular project.
A professional photographer, may in the end, spend perhaps five or less minutes taking just one shot, but that’s only one small part of the entire process. Let’s consider the following comparison.
A Visit to the Doctor
The initial consultation could be considered to be a bit like a visit to your doctor. You make an appointment, you talk to the doctor, who asks a bunch of questions and may do a brief examination. Let’s say you have an ingrown wart that needs cutting out. His advice is to come back next week, when there’s an anaesthetist and a nurse present, and on the specific day, not to eat or anything for several hours beforehand. On the day, the nurse checks you out, asks a few questions and takes you to the surgery room. The anaesthetist asks a few questions and then jabs the wart with a local watches for a moment then disappears.
The doctor or a surgeon comes in cuts out the wart and then frosts the area with some liquid nitrogen, and walks away. The nurse finishes up, and you’re out the door. Total spent by the doctor doing surgery, perhaps five minutes. Coordinating the shebang, knowing what to do and how to do it, that’s what you paid for the assurance that they would help you with your problem in an effective and professional manner.
The cost to you, was perhaps a non-negotiable price that had to be paid up front, a few days of discomfort and pain, and some minor scaring; yet the value to you? Many years pain free, perhaps the ability to walk or run comfortably, or use your hands comfortably, etc, value that you may not immediately recognise, but later come to realise as time goes by.
Now, the Photographer
With photography you approach a photographer about a shoot you would like to commission. The photographer asks you various questions to ascertain what you wish to achieve with the shoot and how you’d like to use the images. The photographer may give you an estimate then and there; get back to you at some specified date; or suggest that you may need a second consultation in order to better assess the details of the shoot. Either way, from here on in, the photographer is, ‘on the clock’ if the project proceeds.
The photographer will research and plan an approach to your particular shoot, asses what specialised support may be needed, contact and book them for your project, organise equipment, and supplementary equipment hire, scout locations, assure studio availability or location access and transport for the equipment and crew. Coordinate the setup of the shoot, check the models, or product, or subject, as well as the current lighting situation, perhaps take some test shots to check everything is doing what the photographer expects, and, then do the actual shoot.
After shooting the photographer will ensure all film stock or digital media is secured and safe, arrange for the breakdown of the set, and start processing the images. When proofs are available the photographer will liaise with the client to check the proofs, make final image selections and then produce the end images that the client will receive.
The cost to you may be the exchange of an agreed amount for labour, equipment, ancillaries and usage rights. The value lies in how well those images communicate and deliver you intended to achieve.
Commissioning Someone Creative
The last point I’d like to make is that commissioning a photographer to create images for you is like commissioning an architect, web designer, image consultant, engineer, or artist. You may have a few ideas about your project, but in the end, you want someone with sufficient talent, knowledge, skill and experience, to help you realise your goal. You want them to use their intelligence and creativity to make your goal a reality. You are asking them to give life, energy and substance to your ideas, goals or project.
These are not commodities that you can buy of the shelf, they are not the kind of things that carry a set price tag, and they are not the things that can be delivered with a simple one time point and snap. If your ideas, goals, dreams or project can be satisfied in such a way, you don’t need a professional photographer; you need more fundamental input and communications support.