Hello Grumpy31 or can I call you just grumpy? (pun intended, don't take offense please),

What I remember from either a question on this forum or in Shutterbug, David Brooks could figure out your age, because he understood the secret to the name Grumpy31, but I don't get it. I think you are well on your way with the Hoya R72 filter. I use the same filter on my Nikon D70 and I get great results. Much will depend on how sensitive your camera is to infrared, something you will find out soon enough. Most digital cameras have a hot mirror filter to block infrared because infrared blurs normal images to some extent, but this mild blurring is one of the charms of IR. You probably want to keep the ISO at its lowest setting because otherwise noise becomes apparent in the form of what looks like grain on film. I don't think you need to set the camera to B&W, it may even make things worse, try it out. You can always convert your images to B&W in your editing program. You more than likely will need to put your camera on a tripod, because exposure times will be in the 0.1 sec or so and up area, depending on your sensor's infrared sensitivity and aperture setting. If you have autofocus, leave it on; it probably works better, but again try it out. You can also probably leave auto white balance on. Your lenses should be fine, they are normally not a limiting factor. I can't say how sensitive your camera's sensor is going to be to infrared, because I have no experience with it. Here is what I do with my infrared images:
- set camera to auto white balance, auto focus, auto exposure
- set camera to aperture priority
- change aperture to get a good aperture/exposure time combo
- if you have a through-the-lens viewing system like a dSLR, compose without the filter (the filter blocks most visible light)
- once happy with the composition, screw on filter being careful not to change focus
- if your camera is a dSLR, cover the viewfinder, otherwise stray light will cause severe underexposure
- take the picture using remote control or cable release
- you may have to compensate exposure to get a decent exposure
In your editing program:
- desaturate to get a black and white image, but stay in RGB mode
- adjust levels to stretch the histogram over the full tonal range
- make further adjustments in curves or whatever your editing program offers to adjust brightness
- make adjustments to contrast as needed or desired
- you could increase the halation effect (in Photoshop use Filter/Distort/Diffuse Glow)
- you could increase noise/grain (Photoshop Filter/Artistic/Film Grain)
- if you print your images, try printing in sepia and see if you like it (I use the sepia setting in my Epson printer driver)

What I like about IR is its otherworldly effect, the whitening of vegetation and leaves and the stark contrast. I use it a lot and the results are quite striking. Oh, don't use infrared in the shade; it works, but the results are disappointing; the lighting becomes very flat and most detail is lost; it definitely doesn't do it for me.

Let me know how you are doing and don't hesitate to ask me more questions. I love my photography hobby and IR is a big part of it.

Frans Waterlander
frans2001@netzero.net

I did a bit of experimanting with my Minolta Dimage 5, which is similar, as far as IR is concerned, to your 7. I have had the best luck in the BW mode rather than converting later. I also use ISO 400 or higher which will add to the "grainy look" of IR. The later Minolta cameras
have the IR cut off filter and don't do as well as yours or mine will.

Bracket quite a bit until you get the hang of the metering-experiment.

Frans,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. The 31 after grumpy31 is the year 1931 which I was born.

This week, I will be receiving the Hoya R72 filter which I had ordered, and will be taking my first infrared shots with it on the Minolta Dimage 7.

My question is: My computer is an Apple Mac G4, and I'm using Photoshop Elements 3. Will PE3 be sufficient to do the proper image adjusting, etc...

Again, each time I look at an upscale IR picture, I find myself "staring" into it, as if it were beckoning to me something from another most wonderful, perfect, and dreamlike world.

And, what I don't understand is, how come this most amazing IR thing hasn't caught on with most camera people? And, how come most of the new digital cameras don't have IR capability?

Is a puzzlement?...

Again, thank you so much for your quick response and for the exceptional
IR info.

Hello Grumpy31,

I don't have experience with Apple Macs or Photoshop elements, sorry. It's a mystery to me too why IR hasn't caught on.
As for IR sensitivity, most newer digital cameras have a filter or, if they had one in the past, a more effective filter, a so-called hot mirror, to reduce the IR that reaches the sensor. Problem with IR in normal, visible-light photography is that it causes some bleeding or blooming, making the image somewhat blurry. This effect is not desirable for normal photography, but is one of the charms of IR photography. There are some websites that report on the sensitivity of several digital cameras.
Happy hunting!

Frans Waterlander
frans2001@netzero.net

Check out www.irdigital.net He has a Canon D60 converted that takes IR pictures without any filters. 90 day warrantee on used camera and one year on the conversion. 900 + shipping. He also converts Nikon D100,D70 and the Rebel. He says the D60 has the best image quality on the used market. If I ever do IR photography I think a conversion is the way to go. Only problem once done that is all it will do. Good Luck.
Monte Johnson,