Now for something completely different . . .

Several months ago I finally admitted to myself that I had a serious glut of digital cameras: I owned a Canon 5D (my everyday camera), a Canon 20D (my backup), and a Canon 10D (my backup backup). I considered selling the Canon 10D, but they really aren't worth that much. And then I started reading about a company, LifePixel, that converts digital cameras into infrared only cameras. So I sent my Canon 10D to them and they converted it into a digital black and white infrared camera. While I was on my trip around the Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park, I had one day of particularly bright sun so I had a chance to shoot my converted digital infrared 10D.

To shoot digital infrared, you really need bright sun because the camera is only recording infrared light. The first shot on the left was taken at Kalaloch Beach, where there's the beautiful Kalaloch Lodge.

When you shoot infrared, skies tend to turn dark and dramatic and green foliage turns white. The second shot is of a clear cut (I hate clear cuts) north of Lake Quinault with foxgloves and stumps in the foreground, and beautiful, uncut trees and dramatic sky at the back of the frame. By shooting this in infrared, it really brought the sky to life.
The next photo of the logs and sky was taken at Ruby Beach. This shot wouldn't have worked with a regular camera: far too much contrast and parts of the photo would have been either too dark or too light. Because the lighting conditions were perfect for infrared, the Ruby Beach shot looks a lot like a traditional black and white print.

The last photo is of the trail leading down to Ruby Beach. I just love the effect infrared has on trees, turning the leaves very light and the branches very dark. It's another photograph, because of the high contrast in the scene, that just wouldn't have worked with a regular camera.

If you have any interest in shooting infrared, I highly recommend contacting Lifepixel. Also, unlike the rest of the photos in this blog so far, none of these were shot wide open, so today's entry really is something different!