Black and white photographs taken with infrared film have a distinct character that immediately distinguishes them from regular B&W photographs. With the progressive demise of traditional film (particularly B&W emulsions), it’s good that we can simulate the infrared look in modern editing software.
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Black and white photographs taken with infrared film have a distinct character that immediately distinguishes them from regular B&W photographs. With the progressive demise of traditional film (particularly B&W emulsions), it’s good that we can simulate the infrared look in modern editing software. Success is largely dependent on the types of images you work with – and whether they contain living plants. Because plants emit infrared radiation, they appear much lighter than normal when photographed with infrared film. However, different plants have widely varying infrared reflectivity so it’s best to select images in which the greens are bright and fresh-looking. Shots of grey-green eucalypts won’t produce such dramatic results. Blue skies appear much darker in infrared photographs, making white clouds stand out as dramatically as they do when you shoot through a deep red filter. Scenes with blue skies and interesting clouds usually produce worthwhile infrared simulations. Be very cautious with portraits because infrared simulation can produce blotchy-looking skin and alter the tonal balance of eyes and lips. You can adjust some of these problems out, although some adjustments produce very unnatural-looking tonal balances. While scenic shots are the best to start with, don’t be afraid to experiment with other types of shots because the method outlined below provides an easy way to manipulate tonal balances. You never know what can evolve out of a relatively undramatic shot. Step 1: Open the image in Photoshop and select Layer>New Adjustment Layer> Black & White.  Step 1 Step 2: Select this layer in the palette and choose Infrared (circled) from the drop-down menu below.  Step 2 The default setting may be too strong, with unsuitable tonal rendition so you will probably have to make some changes using the sliders in the dialog box above the Layers palette. The illustration below shows the default setting for the image we have selected.  Step 3: Start making adjustments by observing the changes in the image as you move each slider from the left to the right. Some of these changes will be subtle; others will be dramatic. It all depends on the colours in your original image. Some examples are shown below.  Step 3  Moving the green slider to the left darkens the greens in the grass and trees as well as the green panels on the balloon. Moving it to the right lightens the same areas. Note that the greens on the balloon are more strongly affected because they are ‘purer’ colours.   Moving the blue slider to the left darkens the trees and the areas of water in the foreground but has little effect on the tone of the grass. Moving it to the right lightens the entire image dramatically – but particularly the areas of water and the blue panels on the balloon as well as the roofs of the buildings.   Moving the magenta slider to the left has little effect on the trees and grass but dramatically darkens the red panels on the balloon. Moving it to the right lightens these panels dramatically. A different image with a blue sky and clouds plus a grassy lawn in the foreground provides a result that is closer to film-based infrared photography.  The image above represents a straight black and white conversion.  Selecting Infrared from the drop-down menu produces this result, which looks a lot like a standard B&W infrared photo. However, we can make it much better with some small adjustments.  Pushing the blue slider all the way to the left darkens the sky, emphasising the clouds.  Now we fine-tune tones with the cyan and yellow sliders. The same tools can be used to emphasise contrasts in monochrome conversions – particularly where the tonal differences in the original colour image are limited.  The original image in which only the difference in hue highlights the two flowering trees in the centre of the frame.  The flowering trees merge into the background with the default Infrared setting.  Moving the yellow slider to the left and the magenta slider to the right and tweaking the red, green, cyan and blue sliders slightly produces a more dramatic result.  The monochrome copy of the coloured original – after adjustment in infrared mode.
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