How to shoot infrared photography with a Digital SLR

If you’re a photographer, you’ve encountered infrared photography at some point. In the days of film, IR was done using specialty film and a filter. These days, most of us don’t use our film cameras much, if we still have them. The digital SLR has replaced them, for ease of use and generally improved clarity. But what if you want to shoot IR on your digital SLR?

What’s so special about IR? At first glance, a picture taken in infrared may look similar to any other black and white photograph. When you start looking closer, you start noticing the differences, however. Objects which are bright in visible light (like sky) look dark in IR, while some which are normally dark (like green leaves and grass) take on a ghostly glow.

For this to work, you need a digital SLR that is not overly sensitive to IR. That is, one that won’t block infrared light. Unfortunately for us, most SLR’s these days have an IR filter in place over the actual CCD sensor to phase out infrared light, since IR can adversely effect the clarity of images under normal circumstances.

Some older model SLRs are less obstructive, and you can test to see what kind of results you get with your own… but if you’re serious about your IR, you will mostly want to take this filter out of the camera by force. Taking out your IR filter means that your camera will, in essence, become an IR camera… so be sure you want to do this. It’s likely a good idea to only do this on a backup or older second camera if you have one.

Be advised that these modifications are not manufacturer recommended and can void your warranty (if one exists) should something go wrong. While these are excellent DIY tutorials (mostly provided by LifePixel.com), use them at your own risk. If you’re not comfortable doing this yourself, LifePixel also offers a service to convert for you, for a fee.

Nikon

D70/D70s
D50
D100
D1X

Canon

5D
10D
20D
Rebel XT
Rebel

A few other models and brands can be found here.

After this is done, you’ll need a filter on the camera that can filter out the visible red light. Tiffen, B&W, and Hoya all make filters for the above digital SLR’s. Hoya tends to be the preferred Nikon brand, as they make filters in thread sizes that fit most Nikkor lenses. You’ll need something deep red. The Hoya 72 filter is widely acknowledged as one of the best filters for IR photography. For smaller cameras (like Nikon Coolpix cameras) you’ll want a Wratten or Harrison & Harrison filter. Check your filter size in your camera literature.

1) You will need a Tripod. Because of the lack of visible light, the shutter speeds you’re going to get will be longer than usual (in the seconds range).
2) Because the filter is so dense, you’ll likely need to focus first, then carefully (as not to move the camera) attach the filter.
3) You’ll also want to set a medium high ISO on the camera (400 or 800). 4) Lastly, you’ll need to set the exposure. Typically, you’ll do this in a manual mode. Try to keep your shutter speeds below 5 seconds (to minimize ISO generated noise) and then adjust your aperture as needed.

Though it’s not necessary (since you can convert later), if you have a black and white shooting mode on the camera, use it! It will help you to evaluate the exposure while shooting.

If you want to see some examples of fine Infrared photography, check the Flickr Infrared Group, which has some excellent pictures.