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False color is what brought me to infrared photography in the first place, but there is more to explore in both black and white and color monochromatic images. The amount of variation in tones is seemingly infinite, so deciding what looks best is often difficult. The above image of the trees with the bench is a case in point. Image number one has deeper tones for a more dramatic look,  number two has an airy feel with the textures of the branches and leaves more readable, that was my preferred version. The photograph of the fronds below, if that’s the right word, take on a distinctive look in this monochrome, more interesting that they would be in natural green and backlighting adds a luminous quality to the image.

 I found this next image to be particularly interesting. I once again was working with backlight, which while throwing interesting light splashes on the ground, could make shadows block up, which I want to avoid. While changing the original infrared to black and white, color channels are adjusted for the final rendering. The dialog box from Photoshop is shown with the default settings for black and white conversion. Each color slider to used to emphasize or mute different tones for the final image. 

Not everyone who reads this blog is interested in process. Learning it is tough enough, writing about it is certainly less interesting than showing the photographs. So, this will be the last posting about technique. From now on it’s photos only. 

Thanks for reading.