Basic Infrared (IR) Processing

Amy Nelson

Well-Known Member
Looks like your surely on the right track.

Here are some steps to take to get you image to the creative processing in Photoshop:

1. Critical to get a proper white balance in camera. Do this by setting your custom white balance and using a gray paper (use one that is the same tone as the middle of the grayscale). Set this up in the lighting conditions that you intend on shooting in. (minimum 2600K) You can tweak the WB afterwards in Camera Raw by selecting the WB eye dropper and click from the upper top corner to the opposite bottom corner.
Test-Sample-1.jpg


2. You need to set up a DNG profile creation (for RAW editing)
  • Go to Adobe and download the DNG Profile Editor
  • For Windows use this Link - https://supportdownloads.adobe.com/thankyou.jsp?ftpID=5494&fileID=5490
  • Have to create it specific to the camera your using.
  • Open an image and just go to Save Option and save to what ever is easiest for you to find. Call it “IR Conversion a6300” or what ever the model of your camera is and save it as a .DNG file format (the rest of the screen should be standard ie. Format “Digital Negative”.
  • Open DNG Profile Editor -> then open your DNG image that you saved.
  • Go to Color Matrices and drop the White Balance Calibration all the way down to -100
  • Go to Tone Curve and put a point at the center and in the input box type 126 and in the output box type 116. The will help keep you image at proper exposure even after the Color Matrices have been changed.
  • Go to Color Tables and make sure your Base Profile is set to Adobe Standard (*Camera Make* ILCE-*Model*, example Adobe Standard (Sony ILCE-6300).
  • Go to File --> Export Sony ILCE-? (6300) Profile – export to C:\YOUR USER NAME HERE\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\CameraRaw\ CameraProfiles (suggest calling the profile Sony a6300 Recipe.dcp) – using your camera model number.
  • If you go to Camera RAW or Light Room under and click on Profile Browser it will show up under “Profiles” ie..IR Conversion Sony a6300. Select the profile and close. Going back to basic development and adjust your image as needed. (at this point your image will go from pink/red to ugly yellow/blue)
Test-Sample-2.jpg

3. Red/Blue Channel Swap (can be done at RAW level with a LUT Profile).
  • Open in Photoshop
  • Go to Channel Mixer and:
  • Red Output Channel: change red to 0% and blue to +100%
  • Blue Output Channel: change red to +100% and blue to 0%
  • This is the traditional Red/Blue Color swap that gives you blue skies and yellowish foreground. ( you can save this in your Channel Mixer Presets)
  • Go to File - Export --> Export Color Look Up Table --> save as “RB Swap 1” (set Grid Points to 32 / Medium and Format check Cube. (save somewhere convenient) this creates a LUT you can use under Adjustments --> LUTS
  • You can create a XMP file to use in LR or ACR. (which is handy in you RAW adjustments)
  • You can do these same steps to make other flavors for Profiles in Raw processing. (I can explain this farther if interested, but just down have the time right now.)
Test-Sample-3.jpg

4. Creative Processing in Photoshop
  • Much like the standard processing as a normal image. (how ever you see the image in you minds eye)
Test-Sample-4.jpg
 
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