My First Actual IR.

[dorts]

Finally got some time to officially try out IR photography. Not really successful, because I forgot to do custom WB! So turned out pretty reddish. But used Auto Levels, Auto Colour and adjusted the colour balance a little. I didn't use the Channel Mixer because it turned out pretty blue.

Do advice on what I can do to enhance the picture. I guess I need more sunlight too.

SBG

[tomcat]

Would make no difference that you didn't do CWB as it is not possible to successfully CWB on Olympus DSLRs. Just setting the WB to 2000K is the best that could be done under such circumstances.

[dorts]

Originally Posted by tomcat Would make no difference that you didn't do CWB as it is not possible to successfully CWB on Olympus DSLRs. Just setting the WB to 2000K is the best that could be done under such circumstances.

So it's not possible to get shots like what the others have? Maybe only black and white?

Would a filter that lets in more visible light help in any case?

[teerex]

Originally Posted by dorts So it's not possible to get shots like what the others have? Maybe only black and white?

Not true. As tomcat pointed out, for Olympus use 2000K for your WB.
If white foliage and blue sky is what you are trying to achieve, your posted pic with channel swapping and some fine tuning with H/S you are able to get that result.

Here's my try with your pic. Pardon the bad results, working with a small sized uploaded pic.

Originally Posted by dorts Would a filter that lets in more visible light help in any case?

Which filter are you currently using? Different filters give different results. A filter with lower cut off, allows more visible light to pass through resulting in more saturated colors.

[dorts]

Originally Posted by teerex Not true. As tomcat pointed out, for Olympus use 2000K for your WB. If white foliage and blue sky is what you are trying to achieve, your posted pic with channel swapping and some fine tuning with H/S you are able to get that result. Here's my try with your pic. Which filter are you currently using? Different filters give different results. A filter with lower cut off, allows more visible light to pass through resulting in more saturated colors.

Thanks for the help. I'll give it a try in channel mixer.

I'm using a Hoya R72.

[teerex]

The R72 gives nice blues and whites with the correct CWB.

[dorts]

Originally Posted by teerex The R72 gives nice blues and whites with the correct CWB.

But my Olympus can't give me the correct WB right? Thanks for the help.

[teerex]

Originally Posted by dorts But my Olympus can't give me the correct WB right? Thanks for the help.

I'm not sure what's available in the menu of the Olympus for CWB. If color temperature of 2000K is available, use that temperature.

Else shoot RAW and adjust CWB in your editing software.

What you have as posted is quite close, so just need a bit of trying out and adjustments.

[dorts]

Originally Posted by teerex I'm not sure what's available in the menu of the Olympus for CWB. If color temperature of 2000K is available, use that temperature. Else shoot RAW and adjust CWB in your editing software. What you have as posted is quite close, so just need a bit of trying out and adjustments.

Lowest colour temperature I can use is 2000K. If it's possible to use 2000K, why do people still do custom white balance?

I'll try out more and experiment.

[teerex]

Originally Posted by dorts Lowest colour temperature I can use is 2000K. If it's possible to use 2000K, why do people still do custom white balance? I'll try out more and experiment.

CWB is more accurate in the shooting environment/location.

[tomcat]

Originally Posted by dorts So it's not possible to get shots like what the others have? Maybe only black and white? Would a filter that lets in more visible light help in any case?

I can get just as 'colourful' IR pics setting the WB to 2000K with my E-300 and Hoya R72 filter.
http://www.pbase.com/pschia/olympus_300&page=1

It would be best if CWB could be carried out with the IR filter on, but some cameras (not just Olympus DSLRs) can't do it.

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by dorts So it's not possible to get shots like what the others have? Maybe only black and white? Would a filter that lets in more visible light help in any case?

if you post up the original "autowb" pic i have had er, perhaps too much experience in editing ir photographs without proper cwb.. from the time with shooting ir with h2.. cos i didn't really know how to do it properly.

funny thing is, how come your picture after auto levels , color aside, looks a tad soft, also looks like there is hot spotting, but i couldn't be sure. the middle has this funny spot.