Colour IR with Hoya R72 filter - A tutorial

							  Colour IR with Hoya R72 filter
            A tutorial
                   By Ralph A. Croning.




First steps.

-A preset white balance reading must be taken and
set through the R72. A sunlit patch of grass is ideal.
-For all IR shots this white balance pre-setting must
be used.
-Shoot with the camera in manual mode. Keep the
f/stop at f/8 and start with a 1 second shutter speed.
-Then take several shots at 1.3, 1.6, 2 and 3
seconds.
-Take longer exposures if you want as overexposed
shots can be corrected (more on this later).
-For obvious reasons, a tripod is necessary.
-After shooting in IR make sure to set your WB to
auto or whatever setting you normally shoot at.
-IMPORTANT – always make backup copies of all
your original files, just in case!!!

Manipulations in Photoshop.

-All colour IR shots will have a reddish brown hue
to them. This is normal.
-To color correct (read as “make pleasing to the
eye”) do the following:
    -Image > Adjustments > Channel mixer
    -In RED channel: red = 0% and blue = 100%
    -In BLUE channel: red = 100% and blue = 0%
    -Click OK

     -Image > Adjustments > Hue and Saturation
     -From the drop down menu choose Reds and
desaturate to minus 100
     -From the drop down menu choose Magentas
and desaturate to minus 100
     -If the pic is dark choose Blues from the drop
down menu and adjust lightness to plus 70 or to
your taste
     -If your photograph is overexposed all the
overexposed areas will show up as yellow.
      In this case you will then also choose Yellows
from the drop down menu and desaturate
      to minus 100 or according to your taste
     -While in yellow also adjust the lightness
slider to the positive side till you achieve the
desired brightness
     -When done click OK

    -Finally, go to Image > Adjustments >
Brightness and Contrast
    -Adjust brightness to plus 20 (or to your taste)
    -Adjust contrast to plus 15 (or to your taste)
    -When done click OK

Finally SAVE or SAVE AS.
Additional info from BBR:
I use Sharpening +1, Color mode is sRGB, Saturation is
Normal, and Hue is 0.I use preset WB(Meaning I have to
take a test shot first and have the camera analyze it to set
the WB.I do it with the filter on, and at the sky)

Ralph’s notes: If there are too many clouds in the sky
WB preset may be slightly off. So either read the whole
scene or do a sunlit patch of green grass.
Experimentation will get the results you want.