Wicken Fen Infrared

I have been interested in Infrared Photography for a number of years. I started with using the 720nm IR filter on my cameras and was very pleased with the results all be it always having to shoot on a tripod as the shutter speed is very long.

I then purchased a converted Canon 20D from a friend in the camera club and found the freedom of not having to use a tripod all the time really good. The results where excellent.

Mid last year I purchased a Canon 5Dmkiv and rather than selling the Canon 5Dmiii I decided to have it converted. This decision was made on the basis that the 5D's are full frame cameras rather than a crop sensor and that they offer live view where the older 20D does not. ISO performance has also improved over the years too.

So off the camera went to Advance Camera Systems for a 720nm conversion. It came back about a week ago. I had a free hour this afternoon and decided to take the new converted camera to Wicken Fen and photograph the Wind Pump. It was a sunny day with goo cloud detail.

Not all lenses are suitable for infrared photography, some give a 'hot spot' in the middle and mean that they cannot be used for 'false-colour' easily. So I decided to take most of my Canon Lenses to give them a go. Well, I am extremely please to report that ALL the lenses worked well without any sign of the dreaded hot spot. Whoop Whoop.

I also played with 'Multiple Exposures in Infrared too. Very Pleased with the results too. Infrared Images convert to monochrome extremely well. As far as false-colour is concerned the colour out of the camera with the supplied custom profile gives a 'relish' tinge. There is a Photoshop Technique called Channel Swapping which turns the 'red' sky to blue. Hence the different colours seen here.

Flowing Water, Gibson Mill at Hardcastle Crags

Spent a weekend in Yorkshire on a Landscape Workshop back in October 2017 with my friend Ken. We visited Gibson Mill at Hardcastle Crags. There was this beautiful street nearby and I spent a while just photographing the flowing water. Beautiful colours.

British Library, London

The British Library is a lovely place to visit and to take photos. Such a peaceful atmosphere. The British Library is the largest Library by catalogued items in the world. It was started in 1753. Prior to 1973 it was part of the British Museum. In 1997 it moved to its own building in Euston Road.

The Euston Road building is classified as a Grade I listed building "of exceptional interest" for its architecture and history ref Wikipedia, more information here

St Pancras Old Church and Graveyard

Phil and I decided to find a cup of coffee and wandered out of Coal Drops Yard, with its many cafes and went in hunt of something different. On our car we wandered into a delightful graveyard. Full or atmosphere.

In the centre of this graveyard stands 'The Hardy Tree'. In the mid 1800's London's rail system was expanding and the price of the expansion was the redevelopment of part of this historic graveyard. The Job of exhuming the boys and relocating them fell to Thomas Hardy (Far from the Maddening Crowd and other Novels in later years). After the bodies where moved there remained the question of what to do with the headstones. Hardy had them arranged around an Ash Tree as a memorial to the past. You can read more about the Hardy Tree here