Infrared is an ideal technique to try
during the summer months, but
careful editing is required
Process
infrared images
Probablyevenmoreso than standard colour
files,infraredimagesneed to be processed to
achievetheirfullpotential. When they are first
openedintherawconverter, they are quite
alongwayfromthefinished article, usually
lackingincontrastand being almost sepia in
appearance.Inthistutorial we’re going to look
atmonochromeinfrared, re-creating the look
ofblackandwhiteinfraredfilm.1
ImportthefileImport the file into Lightroom
andopenitupinto the Develop module.
Thehistogramhasspace either side of the
tones,indicatingthatit is somewhat lacking in
contrast,andithasasomewhat sepia cast –
normalforinfraredfiles.2
BasicblackandwhiteconversionIn the
Treatmentbar,click on Black & White, to
rendertheimageinmonochrome. In the Tone
Panelandadjustbrightness with the Exposure
sliderandcontrast,using the Blacks, Whites,
Shadows,Highlightsand Contrast Sliders.3
BlackandwhitemixScroll down to the Black
and White Mix to fine tune individual tones.
These are colour sliders, which may seem
counter-intuitive, but it’s like using colour
filters with black and white film; for example,
you can darken the sky with the Reds slider.4
LocaladjustmentsYou may need to make
local adjustments to the image. In this
case, the grass was still a little light after the
global adjustments and needs more contrast –
so the grad filter was used on the foreground
to darken it and increase contrast.5
AddthefilmlookInfrared film has a
distinctive glow, especially in the highlights
and is known for being grainy. To simulate
this look, you can add film grain in the effects
panel. Large, coarse grain works well. In the
presencepanel,reduceClarityfortheglow.6
CleanuptheimageAdd the final touches
to the image by cropping, correcting
distortion and removing dust spots. In
this case, the image was shot with an old,
IR-converted camera with no automatic
dust removal feature so dust-spotting
was necessary.Techniques