Infrared Photography in Singapore

This is a long due post and I was only recently when I was able to get the unprocessed infrared shots from my friend Carlos who had his CF Card inserted within the IR camera back then. What I can just say with my photos is that they are lazy processed ones since I still haven’t read a book on processing infrared shots from a converted IR camera, so just bear with the weird colors I’ve been experimenting at.  I also had difficulty in getting sharp images at times , I don’t know whether my lens needs a recalibration now or the DSLR body has a problem.

Most of the images I shot looked like this first one. The skies look dead yellowish gray and the foliage had a blue cast. The picture will most likely look good on black and white because the leaves of the trees just glow unlike normal DSLR cameras capture. I took it while I was walking randomly in Singapore.

This next one was shot in Singapore’s Chinatown Complex. I got fond with the symmetrical architecture of the Pagoda..if only there were more trees near the landmark. What I also liked about the photo reason why I kept it was how random people were going their way in Singapore. Unlike here in the Philippines where people can be too conscious when there’s a photographer with a bulky camera around, people in Singapore just go their own way. It would be interesting to come back to Singapore and do some street photography.

A photo I took of our tour bus under the trees is so far my favorite among the others. It reminded me much of how Singapore was really covered with trees despite the existence of so many skyscrapers within the city. The trees just glow under infrared, a sign that the foliage in Singapore is in good condition.

Cars in Singapore are in right hand drive orientations, well-maintained and it’s mandatory that they always look clean. A dirty car driven on Singapore roads get a 100SGD fine. Whoah…now that’s just how cleanliness and discipline is implemented back there.

Just like my Infrared Photography in Cebu City post, I made another flare shot. Hehehe…

As for Infrared Portraiture and the like, I also had my moments camwhoring and getting group shots infrared style. What I have been experimenting lately is how to make the color of the eyes pop. When I shoot faces within infrared mode, the skin always comes out white as milk and silky. On the other hand the eyes look dead dark, so I just do some tweaking to make the eyes pop and change the colors. Most of us look like Anime characters.

As for some experimentation, I used one of my friend Hannah’s self-portraits shots from the camera and processed it by tweaking with her eyes, a little dodging and burning and tinting her lips. She looks gorgeous (as always haha!) and she reminds me of the eyes of the Navi people in the movie Avatar by James Cameron.

I’m enjoying doing this..I should really get a book soon.