Infrared Photography Feature: Tony Sweet

My Life in Infrared   As a child, before knowing what photography was, I saw an infrared cover image on an old Life magazine. I don’t recall the image, but do recall and never forgot the indelible mark it made on my imagination. I was just blown away and that was about the end of it for a while. Fast forward 25 years. I became an aspiring photographer (film) and began teaching location workshops. On one of the workshops, I was teaching with my mentor, Pat Ohara. Pat shot film infrared with hand coloring. It was an incredible look. I asked Pat about infrared. All that I remember is that Pat said that it was a lot of bracketing because the process using film was a bit unpredictable. The process of film infrared was quite laborious and highly sensitive to any light, meaning that even the darkroom light would expose the film. What was needed was a changing bag, where we would put our hands into a dark bag and thread film onto a spool and into a light tight processing tank, all done blind. That went on for a few years until the advent of digital photography. When I migrated from film to digital, infrared conversions didn’t exist. As soon as I could, I had my D200 converted to 720nm. Digital infrared was instantly easier than film, more predictable, no light leak issues, and able to further be altered and interpreted in software. Kolarivision is highly recommended for infrared conversions. Today, I carry a color and an infrared converted camera, and shoot 50% IR and 50% color, depending on the location. For example, when we are In Charleston in the spring, I’ll shoot 90% infrared. The early spring greens are a prime infrared subject. Ansel Adams said, “Color is about color. B&W is about everything else.” To paraphrase Ansel Adams, “If the subject is not about color, I’ll shoot infrared.”     D200, 720nm conversion Great Smoky Mountains, TN Low side light w/ light fog   D800, 720nm conversion Great Smoky Mountains, TN Bright overcast. Glow added to highlights.   D800, 720nm conversion Whidbey Island, WA Front light, wispy clouds     D800, 720nm conversion Badlands, SD Enhanced cloud detail in infrared   D300, 590nm conversion Badlands, SD Use of digital grads and radial filters   D300, 590nm conversion Badlands, SD Enhanced cloud detail in infrared   D200, 720nm conversion Great Sand Dunes, CO After a very wet spring. Angular light   D800, 720nm conversion Maryland horse country Waiting for the right spacing in the shadow lines Low angle sun   D300, 590nm conversion Cape Cod, MA Moderate overcast     D800, 720nm conversion Botany Bay, SC 2 minute exposure   D800, 720nm conversion East Bay Street Spring in Charleston = outstanding infrared   D800, 720nm, infrared conversion Abandoned farm Blue sky + white puffy clouds = Great for infrared   D800, 720nm conversion Angel Oak Charleston, SC   D800, 720nm conversion Tracks Alternating dark/ light tonalities   D800, 720nm conversion Colfax, WA Low angle light   Website:  http://tonysweet.com Facebook business: https://www.facebook.com/tony.sweet Facebook personal: https://www.facebook.com/tonysweetphoto Twitter: https://twitter.com/ttsweet Google+: https://plus.google.com/114553764127573871154