Fantasy Farmland

I was on my way to a one-on-one workshop a while back and came across this one barn, barely standing. I made a note to stop on my way home and experiment with infrared photography – this is the result.

This image is a “false-colour infrared” image. The IR spectrum of light has variations in wavelength, but no colours can exist because this is outside of out visual perception. The camera still captures some differences, and I’ve re-mapped the colours to be something more “familiar” than shades of non-existent deep red.

Infrared light behaves differently that regular light, resulting in in “glowing” foliage and deeper skies. Some subjects, like this barn, remain relatively unchanged by the spectrum shift. The surreal surroundings play well with this, and I’m happy with the final product.

The biggest change in shifting the colours around involves swapping the red and blue colour channels in Photoshop, then adjusting the resulting “cyan” sky to become the “blue” you see here. Additional adjustments tweak the colours in the foreground and offer some colour contrast to the scene.

This kind of image can get a “love it or hate it” response. What side are you on?