Featured IR Photographer Showcase - Ronald Suello

Hello again IR Shooters. It's been quite awhile since I've had anyone contact me to have their work Showcased on the IR Buzz. I'm very pleased that talented IR Photographer, Ronald Suello sent me an email offering to let us all see his fine IR work. Ronnie lives in Cebu, Philippines, and it is very apparent that he has some first-rate IR scenes to choose from. He does a very good job of capturing these scenes from his world in Infrared. Ronnie, (as he will tell you in his Bio.,) uses two Nikon cameras (un-modded) for his IR work. Welcome to the IR Buzz Ronald Suello!

Bio: I live here in Cebu, Philippines and I work in the automotive electronics industry. I'm married and our first child will be coming very soon this summer. I started messing around with photography since 1990 using my father's camera, but because of film processing inconveniences, I forgot all about it. Also, it didn't help that my first film camera was stolen back in 1998. In 2002, I bought my first digital camera, a 2-megapixel FujiFilm 2600Z. Since then, shooting never stops, especially landscapes and events.

When digital SLRs became affordable, I got myself a Nikon D40 back in 2006. Looking at online galleries, I noticed that images from infrared photography are very magnetic and unique. Images that are truly unseen by the naked eye. I fell in love with it! So in summer of 2007, I started shooting landscapes in infrared and never looked back since then.

Tips: Any place is good for infrared photography as long as it has plenty of sunshine. Here in Cebu, the rural countryside offers lots of interesting subjects. Bits of cloud are desirable to avoid negative space in the skies, and I always keep an eye on old trees, bodies of water, interesting structures, and shadow direction. In the field, pre-visualization is very important - you may find a good subject or interesting composition but once the image is post-processed, you may be disappointed by the effects of the previously unseen infrared reflections. Sometimes, these reflections can be overwhelming and thus ruin your image. So "chimping" (reviewing your shots on the LCD as you take them) is encouraged in this type of photography. Don't forget the histogram. It can be your best friend.

Infrared Equipment and Post-Processing Work Flow: Most of my IR images were made using Hoya R72 IR filters with the Nikkor 18-55 kit lens. Lately, I have been using an ultrawide-angle lens - the Tokina 11-16. If I need a fast shutter speed, I use a Nikon D40 body, and if I need to capture sense of movement or longer shutter speed, I use a Nikon D90. Perhaps someday, instead of just using Hoya R72 filters, I'll be using a converted camera. I always shoot in RAW. Inside Photoshop, my "bread and butter" steps are red-blue swap in the channel mixer layer and color shifts in the color balance layer. I always aim for white leaves and blue skies but composition is still the key.

Other interests: If you check out my Flickr page, you may notice that I love almost all genres of photography. I call myself a "weekend shooter". so I just try to take advantage of what's in front of me. Aside from photography, I'm also into video gaming and fiction novels.

Some of my favorite IR shots:

Ronald's IR Gallery

Copyright Statement: All images and materials displayed and showcased here, are copyrighted and are the exclusive property of the artist. Images and material may not be reproduced or used in any way without the written consent of the artist.

Please Comment Freely to this Post.

Let Ronald know how much you enjoy and appreciate his wonderful IR Photography!

-=- Jerry -=-