About the Image(s)
Last summer I attended a workshop on Madeline Island, off the coast of Wisconsin. One of our adventures included experimenting with infrared using our iPhones. A few years back I had my little Sony converted to a Full Spectrum camera, meaning I could change the front filters for infrared or normal shooting. I like some things shot with infrared but I’m not sure I like it as a steady source. It’s fun to experiment. Using the iPhone is much simpler to convert the raw image using a preset in mobile LR than having to adjust the red and blue channels in PS for one shot with a camera. Actually, I never tried converting my camera infrared image using that same preset in mobile LR. Unfortunately, I created the preset at the workshop and don’t have the settings to tell you. If you follow Rad Drew, he was the instructor and if interested, try to catch one of his webinars. As you can see, the image comes originally as a vivid pink and must be converted. My camera has different filters for differing amounts of color. This preset only converts the image to a 720nm, which is essentially differing whites to blacks. The image was captured at Big Bay State Park. If you look closely, you should see the kayaker coming towards us on the stream. Comments always welcome.
Martin Newland
Karen, you are adventurous delving into the world of infrared photography!
I had to Google "720nm" and came across a whole field of photography that I have never ventured into.
Your final result is a nicely composed image with the river leading the eye into the centre of the image from the lower left corner. I like how the foliage frames the image.
This is a lovely creative image.
Did you take any "non infrared" images of this scene? It would be interesting to compare the two.
Posted: 08/02/2026 00:42:11
Karen Botvin
Thanks for googling 720nm. I have a love/hate relationship with infrared. The trick is to have a lot of contrast in your image to get a good result in infrared. Before I sent the images to you, I looked to see if I had a non infrared image and unfortunately I do not. Note to self, I need to capture both in the future. I'm doing another workshop at the end of this month at the "famous" Longwood Gardens outside of Philadelphia where another great infrared photographer, Tony Sweet, will be one of the instructors. I will try again, and this time capture both. Posted: 08/02/2026 13:07:08
Shirley Pohlman
Funny I had plans to submit an infrared image this month after getting the lens for my phone and watching Rad's video. However, when transferring it to the computer after editing, I found it was too pixelated. Had switched from Raw to Jpeg accidentally. Maybe next month.
Having just taken a similar shot, I am very impressed with yours. Your image itself is beautiful with the leading lines of the water and bank and framed by the tree. I think for those who do not care for infrared, this is a happy one that would please anyone! Well done! Posted: 08/03/2026 18:32:16
Karen Botvin
Thanks so much for your comments, Shirley! It's really serendipitous that we were both on the same wavelength. As I told Martin, I've played around with infrared for a few years with my converted camera, but using the iPhone is so much easier. Posted: 08/03/2026 20:23:55
Piers Blackett
The foreground midground and distant background are beautifully contrasted and placed and nice to have an incidental Kayaker! As I understand it you cut off visible colors below 720 nm and converted to monochrome? After the conversion your tonal range throughout the image appears perfect. Did you adjust after the conversion or am I way off?
It so happens I am also fascinated with IR, and bought a Hoya R72 to go on the front of the lens and did some experimenting before the trees lost foliage last fall.
Posted: 08/04/2026 16:25:11
Karen Botvin
Thanks for commenting, Piers. Wow! Who knew that this image would be interesting to everyone. I even asked Martin to let me know if it was unacceptable for our group. As for the filter you bought, I'm not sure how it works on a camera that's not been converted as you still have the hot mirror in your camera. I have no need to convert my images to monochrome in post as a converted camera doesn't pickup color in that way. I am no expert by any means but two great resources for a better understanding are Kolari Vision and LifePixel.com. They go into detail about all the filters and color one can capture from 590 to 850nm. Or catch one of Rad Drew's zoom classes for iPhone IR. He is really knowledgeable. I'm attaching an image that shows the interworkings. Hope this helps you.
Posted: 08/05/2026 12:06:29
Piers Blackett
Thanks! Also IR may represent a core factor in defining what photography is as part of a quest to represent the unseen or what you can uniquely "see" and show the world. Posted: 08/06/2026 15:15:36
Jim Wulpi
Hi Karen,
I, too, have experimented with IR with my big camera, but by placing a 720nm filter in front of the lens, the image takes a very long time to expose properly. Since foliage is a large part of IR photography, any wind movement creates motion blur. I am familiar with Rad Drew and have heard him speak before. He's from Indianapolis. I know he's an advocate for IR IPhone photography so, I'm glad you had a chance to learn from one of the best with Iphones. I've just not entered that realm yet.
I like your image a lot. Great composition with the overhanging branch.
Posted: 08/17/2026 21:28:17
Karen Botvin
Yeah, I'm not familiar with just putting a 720nm filter on the front of a camera that hasn't been converted. Sounds like the result you're getting is much like using an ND filter. I had my camera converted to full spectrum back in 2019. I just never really warmed up to it as a steady diet. Using the iPhone is certainly an easier way to go, edit wise and with the new camera's 48mp, it's hard to beat. However, to get a really good IR image, the scene needs a good amount of high contrast areas. Thanks for commenting, Jim Posted: 08/17/2026 21:45:16
