Featured IR Photographer Showcase - Michael Keesling

Hello loyal IR Buzz Readers, it has been quite some time since anyone contacted me to be Featured here on the Buzz.  Recently I heard from Michael Keesling asking to join the ranks here.  As you will learn from reading Michaels Bio., He has a wide range of experiences in photography, as well as offering Canon A480 P&S IR converted cameras for sale on his web site.  Be sure to take a good look around on the web site as it contains a lot of good information about Infrared Photography.  Opticsgeek  Lets give Michael a warm welcome and many thanks for allowing us to see his wonderful IR work.

Bio:  My first experiences with photography actually started out with holography. Back in 1979, I set up a holography lab in my bedroom at my parents house, and also transitioned into taking and processing B&W images as well. Since then, I have spent most of my life working in the entertainment business, building devices for cinematographers to make compelling images in-camera. In 2002 I received and Emmy for my work, and having achieved that goal, have turned my attention to taking more photos, and relaxing more. I Have a Nikon D40 and a Nikon D300 but I don't like carrying around that much weight in the field. I wanted to get into infrared, so I converted a Canon A480 to IR, and started taking images. I started getting requests from friends to make them cameras, and I finally decided to start selling them online. My goal is to produce full featured, quality IR cameras at a reasonable cost.

Here are a few of my favorite IR Photos.

My IR Gallery Of Customers Photos

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. 

Please let Michael know how much you enjoy his IR Photography!

-=- Jerry -=- 

Featured IR Photographer Showcase - Peter Talke

Hello IR Shooters. I am very pleased to present talented IR Photographer, Peter Talke from New Jersey , and the chance to view his extensive IR work. Peter travels the world and brings back stunning IR Photography from the places that he is so fortunate to be able to visit. Peter is also beginning to use HDR with his IR work.  Be sure to check out some of his High Definition images in his Gallery.  HDR is a photography technique that obviously has a lot of potential for IR images.  You will probably want to give it a try after seeing Peter's work.  Here on The Buzz, Peter offers links to his fantastic IR Photography. Let us give a warm IR Buzz welcome to Peter Talke!

Bio:  My name is Peter Talke I was born in Central New Jersey.  Photography has been a favorite of mine for many years.  I have always had a camera ready to take photos at family functions or with friends.  As soon as the digital camera age started in 2000, I began to take more landscape shots and enjoyed this style very much.   Then I purchased a Nikon D70S and this began my love for digital photography.  I added lenses to my collection and moved up to a Nikon D300 a year or so later and my D70S went into the drawer for safe keeping.

For my job I am lucky enough to travel the world.  I get a chance to see many wonderful places and take photos in my free time.   I then decided to start Talke Photography and a travel photo blog called Places 2 Explore to share my stories and pictures to my readers.  I wanted to post 6 days a week (Sundays off) and everyday I get excited to post a new photo.  I shoot in various styles (standard, HDR and IR)  My blog is now one of the fastest growing travel photo blogs in the world!!  Since 2009 I have now been published in magazines, books and advertisements.  Recently I began to supply some of my photographs to Getty Images. 

During my continual learning process I purchased books on varied subjects.  One was Digital Infrared Pro Secrets (by David Busch).  I witnessed great photographs in IR.  I immediately went out and purchased a Hoya R72 filter.  The learning process was slow.  I didn't like the fact I could not see my photo in the viewfinder after taking a picture.  My results were just ok.  I bumped into a web site online by a company called LifePixel.  I read that they could take an old camera and convert it to IR.  It was a bit expensive ($400), so I saved and waited.  Then early 2009 I sent my old Nikon D70S (was just collecting dust) in for conversion.  2-3 weeks later I was shooting IR!   A learning curve was needed and in about 1 month, my IR photos were taking shape.  I enjoyed that my converted camera would show me the pics in the viewfinder and I could now use interchangeable lenses for any IR shot I wanted! 

Processing IR is extremely fun.  I could write a tutorial but there are so many ways to process an IR image.  You can make it colorful or black & white.  The fun of IR photography is that it is up to your interpretation.  Some of my processed IR shots were made by having fun and fooling around in Photoshop!

Now whenever I travel I always bring 2 cameras.  My standard and my converted IR camera.  Great IR shots are everywhere.  I try to look for trees, blue sky with some clouds, grass, lakes (with reflections if possible) - these are some items that make a solid IR shot.  Light levels are also important.   Shoot IR when the sun is at its brightest and it will make your subjects pop (early morning or late afternoon)!  But with IR you do not always have to shoot during the day.  Night shots are possible as well!  Even recently as my enjoyment with shooting HDR has grown, I have begun shooting IR-HDR's!  Shooting in IR is fun...so just go out and shoot anything you like!  Options are endless in IR! 

As I always say...when your are about to press down the shutter...don't just take a picture, make a picture!


Some favorites of my own IR images:

Link to My IR Gallery

Infrared Photos

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. 

Please let Peter know how much you enjoy his stunning IR Photography!

-=- Jerry -=-

Featured IR Photographer Showcase - Francisco

Greetings IR Shooters. Once again, it's been quite some time since anyone has contacted me to have their work Showcased on the IR Buzz. I don't think that it says anything about a general lack of interest in IR Photography, but rather reflects how busy and diverse our lives are these days.  In any case,  I am very pleased that talented IR Photographer, Francisco Jose Marin Fatuarte sent me an email offering to let us all view his extensive IR work. Francisco lives in Sevilla, Spain, and it is very apparent that he has some first-rate IR locations to choose from. Francisco has developed and specializes in Panoramic Infrared Photography.  Let us give a warm welcome to Francisco to The IR Buzz!

 Bio:  It is always difficult to write about yourself and especially if you are using a foreign language. You are supposed to give personal data and details of your photographic techniques.

 

  But that information is probably boring for most readers. I prefer to talk about my experience and my personal view of life. 

 
  I was born in Sevilla (Spain), where my home has always been; although I love traveling I believe my homeland is second to none. My character is away from being like a standard Andalusian. I like feast and sleeping siesta but keep my feelings deep inside even with my close friends. Since I became my own boss three years ago, my life is involved in a more creative and artistic world, leaving a stressful engineering job behind. 

 
  From my first pencil drawings and oil painting when I was a teenager, the attraction for artistic expression has always pushed me in the same direction. I started in photography as many others with an old manual reflex camera (in this case it was a Fujica), and soon started processing my own films and prints. My first enlarger was made of balsa wood and black card box, which didn’t last very long, but helped me to obtain enough self-confidence to start many other projects.

 
  I am reaching a half of a century in less than a couple of years and have plenty of experience in photography with an extensive collection of cameras and other photo related pieces of equipment.  Panoramics, pinhole, fish-eye lenses, cross processing, and many other techniques are behind my fondness for artistic expression.  I have always being amazed by Surrealism, and even though photography is intended for recording the "real" world I try to use it for extreme deformation and abnormal appearance.

  The beginning of my IR experience was in 1999 using a Kodak 1.5 MPX camera but I soon discovered that tripod, long exposure, and soft images were not the way to go for me.  Some time later I discovered HIE film and Infradol developer allowing me to use my panoramic cameras hand-held. I always have my equipment ready for a new infrared experience since then.

Some favorites of my own IR images:

 

 

 

 

 

Francisco's Images can be view at his Photo Galleries

IR Gallery with Zoomify

Seville Holy Week

Gallery of IR Panoramas 

Gallery - Summer of 2007 

Panoramics in WPS 

Panoramics in PI 

Read more about Francisco 

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. 

Please let Francisco know how much you enjoy and appreciate his fantastic IR Photography!

-=- Jerry -=-

Book Review: Digital Infrared Photography - Photo Workshop

Here's something new and different for the Buzz. I found a book dedicated to IR Photography, and decided to do a Book Review on it. The book is titled Digital Infrared Photography - Photo Workshop - develop your digital photography talent, and is authored by Deborah Sandidge. One thing I particularly like about this book is the way Deborah continuously urges the reader to develop good photographic skills while learning to photograph in Infrared. "Seeing" the photo, being creative, and scene composition are equally important in all photography, not just in conventional color photography. Talent needs to be encouraged and cultivated to produce good IR images. More about the book later, but first lets meet the author.

Bio: Deborah Sandidge. Photography has been part of award-winning professional photographer, author, and instructor, Deborah Sandidge's life since she picked up her first camera. It has evolved into her passion. Deborah is the author of Digital Infrared Photography PhotoWorkshop, Wiley Publishing. She is an instructor at BetterPhoto.com, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with infrared photographers in online classes. She is the cofounder and Creative Director of the League of Creative Infrared Photographers (www.irleague.com), which was established to promote the excitement, and creativity of infrared photography.

Deborah’s favorite photography subjects include Florida’s birds and wildlife, as well as its landscapes. Her travels have not been limited to Florida’s fascinating beauty; they have taken her from border to border of America and beyond to yield photography that stretches the imagination. She has had the joy and privilege of photographing areas ranging from Namibia, Africa, with its stunning dunes, primitive tribal villages, beautiful people, and sweeping coastlines, to the cities and towns of Switzerland, Germany, and France with their rich history, majestic mountains, tiny churches, soaring cathedrals, and captivating night scenes. Recently, Deborah traveled to Cuba, a photographer’s dream location.

Deborah’s passion is not only capturing images of people, places, and things with her digital cameras, but also in the enhancing the creative work she does in the digital darkroom.

Deborah's Web Site

In this Book, Deborah really covers all of the bases, giving anyone just starting a good foundation in photography as well as the nuts and bolts of Infrared Photography. I think you can get an idea of what to expect from the following list of book chapters.

Chapter 1: What Exactly Is IR Light. An easy to understand discussion on the properties of light and where IR lies in the spectrum. Also the use of IR Filters, and IR-converted Cameras.

Chapter 2: Visualizing and Capturing IR Images. RAW and JPG, Setting White Balance, Exposure, Using Flash, and many more relevant topics.

Chapter 3: Essentials of IR Composition. Composition elements related to IR results, Lens Choice, and Personal IR Style.

Chapter 4: Capturing Specific Subjects. Architecture. Landscapes, People, and other subjects.

Chapter 5: Special Effects for Creative In-Camera Images. Long Exposures, Reflections, Textures, Zooming, Overlays, Filters, and Painting with Light.

Chapter 6: Planning Ahead for High Dynamic Range and Photomerge. HDR is a good tool for creative IR images. Software, Shooting for HDR, Post Processing, and even Panoramas.

Chapter 7: Processing IR Images in Photoshop. Always a subject that generates many questions. Many good Post Processing techniques explained in detail.

Chapter 8: Working Creatively in Photoshop. Ideas for using the power of Photoshop to take your IR images in new and tasteful directions.

Chapter 9: Transform Color to IR Effect in Photoshop. Not always appreciated fully by the IR purist, but a number of ways are explained if you want to know how to do it.

Chapter 10: Be Inspired. Deborah wisely includes the work of nine well known and respected IR Photographers to provide creative inspiration.

Appendix: A:

Glossary - A comprehensive list of terms encountered by the IR Photographer.

Resources - An equally comprehensive listing of Resources of interest to the IR Photographer, including contact information and URL Links. Included are:

IR Filters
Camera Conversion Companies
Image Editing Software
Noise Reduction Software
HDR Software and Plug-ins
Photoshop Plug-ins
Other Assessories
Photographers
Magazines
Online Communities
Events

Summary: This book is profusely illustrated, with many excellent images. Each image is annotated to provide an example or an explaination of the subject being discussed. At the end of chapters, an Assignment challenge is given to encourage hands-on experience using the knowledge imparted in the chapter. An online link is provided to share your own newly learned results. The book does an admirable job of informing any photographer just getting started in IR, as well as providing very good topical information to those with greater levels of IR Photography experience.

And Finally, the book is available for purchase on Amazon.com