infrared – Jennifer Sawicky Photography

January 28, 2024January 28, 2024

2024-01-28: Infrared Landscapes

Now that I have moved my editing back to Lightroom, I’ve rediscovered quite a few images that I had flagged in my quick collection as ones I wanted to edit, from my trip to South Africa in 2019. The first four images are from that trip, and the last three from my recent trip to Zimbabwe in 2022.

While a lot of time has passed since 2019, I didn’t spend much of it on photography during the Covid years, as I was otherwise occupied in graduate school (during my free time from work) and when I did have time for photos, I was exploring using Capture One during that time period.

Coming back to Lightroom feels both familiar and very different at the same time, and I definitely need to spend some time relearning the familiar tools, and learning about all that has been added in the intervening time. I felt a sense of accomplishment working through these images and only completing the edits within Lightroom, not moving on to familiar plugins available in Photoshop.

All of these images were shot as long exposures around midday or early afternoon, using an infrared filter and then converted to black and white. It is something I want to work on more as I really enjoy the look of the shockingly bright foliage and inky skies.

Lion Sands Tinga Lodge. South Africa, May 2019.

I recall exactly where I took this image, on an elevated walkway path between my room and the next over, while staying at Tinga Lodge. While its just some random trees and bushes, it showcases what I really love about the long exposure infrared images, with the bright fluffy grasses and leaves, and the deep black of the tree trunks and inky sky. Tinga Lodge, South Africa. May, 2019.

The Sand River from the deck of Tinga Lodge. South Africa, May, 2019.

These bright clear skies around lunchtime were long gone by dinner. Hwange, Zimbabwe. November 2022.

Clouds building. Hwange. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

Those clouds were part of a huge storm the ripped through Hwange. We had to abandon our afternoon game drive and barely got back to the lodge before the skies opened up. Zimbabwe, November, 2022.

July 9, 2023July 9, 2023

2023-07–9: Infrared Landscapes

These infrared landscape images I took in Zimbabwe caught my eye as I completed the process of moving back to Lightroom and reorganizing the images that I have left to edit. They look rather strange scrolling past unedited, as they are almost a neon red/orange tone, but once converted to black and white, offer a different look than a typical monochrome landscape.

These were both shot near mid day, and the infrared filter requires a long exposure, providing some nice movement in the foliage, like this palm tree.

A lone palm on the banks of the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe, November 2022.

This second image was shot by the waterhole at the camp we stayed at in Hwange. The pair of marabou storks were almost motionless with their wings outstretched, making them look almost fake in the long exposure image. The sky looks extra dramatic in black and white, and later in the day, we had a spectacular thunderstorm with torrential rains.

Marabou storks with wings outstretched. Hwange, Zimbabwe. November, 2022.

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020

2020-12-28: Monochrome Monday

I’ve had a lovely five days off of work (and school) which has given me a great opportunity to dig into a bit of editing. I found a few images that I had shot with my infrared filter to work on, which has been a lot of fun. These were taken on different days, and I didn’t try to make things consistent between the images, but instead just edit them how they felt right to me.

October 26, 2020October 26, 2020

2020-10-26: Monochrome Monday

This image was shot with an infrared filter as a long exposure while staying at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge in South Africa last year. I hadn’t experimented with the filter too much before that, and it was a fun project to do during the middle of the day. I personally love how the fluffy clouds pop against the inky sky.

July 22, 2019July 14, 2019

2019-07-22: Monochrome Monday

I spent a bit of time playing with my infrared filter while traveling, and while it is a style I definitely need to explore and practice more, I am quite pleased with how these images turned out.

I actually remembered to do the custom white balance before taking these images, which made editing them a more straightforward process once I got home. I’m actually considering having one of my cameras converted to infrared sometime in the future, to make it a bit easier to explore this genre of photography.

DSCF2905 — This beautiful tree is at the edge of the river, seen from the main deck at Lion Sands River Lodge.

DSCF3350 — This is the river view from the main deck at Lion Sands Tinga Lodge. The long exposures that are necessary when using a traditional camera with IR filter showcase the movement of the water, and the breeze playing with the leaves and the grasses.

DSCF3358 — Another river view from Lion Sands Tinga Lodge.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my selections of the day.

Wishing everyone a great week ahead!

June 3, 2019June 2, 2019

2019-06-03: Monochrome Monday

I’ve just got a single image today as I try to ease my way back into editing, posting etc. etc. after holidays.

I took along my tripod and my new infrared filter, and played around a bit during the down time in the middle of the day. This was taken from the back deck of my room at Lion Sands River Lodge. There were often nyalas grazing in the tall grass, but here, just a few trees and the river in the background.

Have a great week everyone!

March 4, 2019

2019-03-04: Monochrome Monday

This is one of a few images that I took while playing around with an infrared filter that I bought during my trip to California last October. I only spent a brief amount of time reading about shooting with one of these filters before getting out and trying it, and as such, forgot about a few things, such as setting a custom white balance before starting shooting. Even though I didn’t follow through with all the steps that you should be doing, I am still happy with the results; editing just took a bit longer than it would have otherwise.

I am excited for spring to arrive and have the chance to get the filter out and work with it some more. I don’t think infrared images of snowy fields and trees would have much impact!

Wishing everyone a great week ahead.

Some of the beautiful boulders in Joshua Tree National Park. California, October 2018.

January 7, 2019

2019-01-07: Monochrome Monday

Good Morning everyone! I just have a single image to share today for monochrome Monday, as trying to export this one was an immensely frustrating process. I’ve been working with the new On1 Photo Raw 2019, and there are some serious export issues with the program. In reading some online forums, it seems to be an issue that a lot of people are having.

It took me 5 tries to export this image and have it resemble the image on my screen. The first was incredibly dark, a second version very light, one version everything was tinted red. I wish I would have saved all these junk exports to share, but I deleted them in frustration.

At this stage, I am actually contemplating switching up my workflow again and going back to Lightroom, as I really don’t like wasting a bunch of time doing things over and over again. So far there have not been any updates to the program that have addressed these issues.

This image was shot at Joshua Tree National Park in California, back in October. I was playing around with an infrared filter that I had purchased. I have much to learn about properly shooting with this filter, but I am happy with the result I got.

Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead.

November 5, 2018November 4, 2018

2018-11-05: Monochrome Monday

For this week I worked on a few images from my time in California. Compared to my trips to Africa, I took relatively few photos, but I have a good number that I am interested in playing around with to see what happens.

DSCF1473 — I spent a lot of time outside relaxing with my camera nearby in case any interesting birds popped into the yard, but found myself also being drawn to the beautiful shapes of the palm fronds.

One of the things I picked up while away was an infrared filter for my camera, and I took it out and started playing around in Joshua Tree when my photo workshop was over. I have so much to learn about all the nuances of infrared photography, but even without doing the proper things, like setting a custom white balance, I am still happy with what I was able to come up with when converting the images to black and white.

DSCF1799 — I wish I would have written down which of the stops through the park this was; I was drawn to the wonderful boulders and all the desert plants and cacti that surrounded them.

DSCF1800