What exactly is IR?

[narcolepticmind]

Hey you guys,
I have been interested in IR for a while and so far all I know is that you need a filter? People I talk to say the filter is out of stock in Singapore and I can't understand a single thing they say about IR. I have been wondering about IR and HDR so can someone enlighten me?

[night86mare]

hi..

it's a little hard to explain what ir exactly is without being overly technical, but if you've seen most of the photos here i think you'll see what makes ir different from normal photography - the tones are different, and more uniform depending on the filter you use, and you get glowing foliage, and extremely contrasted skies. if you want a writeup in more detail you could look here at the relevant wikipedia article. wikipedia is actually pretty well-written when it comes to photography.

as to how to do ir photography, once again, i refer you to the sticky in this section written by some of the ir regulars - sticky here. this will give a very basic idea of what ir photography involves.. and allow you to understand what the filter is for.

right now the ir filter seems to be in shortage, based on the feedback from the singapore shops. hdr is an entirely different ball game, once again, read the wikipedia writeup on "high dynamic range" and you'll understand better.

if you want hands-on experience, join the next ir outing when they organise it, and you can even borrow some of the regulars' hoya r72 filters - that's the most commonly used filter in ir photography. they are a very friendly and helpful and patient bunch, and i'm sure you c an only benefit. cheers!

one piece of advice, and i hope i don't sound condescending.. i think when it comes to photography basics, it is not wrong to ask when you really do not understand; but if there has been no attempt to digest information in the first place, generally asking for spoon-feeding here is frowned upon, for very valid reasons. one of them would be that most articles and guides out there on the internet would be a lot more well-written and targeted at new people rather than the overly technical replies that you can get here sometimes which will further confuse you. also, information which you have sat down to read and digest.. is self-assimilated. this is going to benefit you much more than information simply thrown wholesale to you. this doesn't mean that i think you didn't bother to find out this time, but as a rule of thumb it is true for most people asking questions here. if you want to be taken seriously and get genuine sincere replies.. then some display of having put in the effort is preferred.

[teerex]

Thanks night86mare