Infrared Photography: Filter Emulation

Infrared photography creates certain very distinct effects that make them attractive to the aesthetics. The most striking distinction is the “Oak Effect,” an effect in which leaves absorb light to give them a brilliant white look. This influence is named after Robert W. Wood, the photographer who is considered the founder of infrarot photography. This effect is used for photography of landscapes where it can be used to create realistic colour scenes or high contrast B+W images.

Infrared imaging has a powerful appeal for images in fine art. This seems very dark and otherworldly, with trees of a vivid white or yellow hue, and a red or blue hue of sky. Leaves look frozen over and landscapes in both black and white as well as colour images take on vivid colours.

Aerochrome 1443 Film was a long extinct colour Infrared product made and marketed by Kodak. This is well known for its appearance; the leaves are light red and magenta, and the sky has a deep Blue contrast. In the 1940s, it was used by the military to identify camouflaged areas per aircraft. Then in the 1960s capturing the psychedelic feel of the times became very popular.

First get the fundamentals out of the way; change the contrast, highlight, shadow, colours and turn the Red and Blue channels. Now we are going to continue changing the shades of colour. Now let’s focus on making the bright Red colour like an Aerochrome. We’ll use the Hue / Saturation sliders once more, this time choosing the Red and moving the lever to the left. You will see the red tones become more prominent. Finally, using Color Panel we can further change the Colour. Now our picture begins looking more like an Infrared Areochrome.

Experimenting with Infrared Film Emulation Filter

Reference: Plaza.ufl.edu. 2020. Infrared Photography: A Simple Guide — About Infrared. [online] Available at: <http://plaza.ufl.edu/jenj/about.html&gt;

The Darkroom Photo Lab. 2020. Infrared Film Photography – IR Film How To, Tips & Filters – The Darkroom. [online] Available at: <https://thedarkroom.com/infrared-film-photography/&gt;