#PHOTO PALETTE SWAP SERIES#

I use a 720nm IR-filter and the visible spectrum extends until approximately 700nm, so a small amount of visible light will inherently ‘leak’ through the filter and into my final images. Why is it then (you may ponder), are my IR shots (as well as so many others) rendered with such vibrant (albeit slightly abnormal) color? The Answer Lies In The Near-Infrared Spectrum… As a result, true infrared can only be measured in terms of tonality (darkness/brightness), which is essentially, but not exactly, black and white. ‘Color’ is a perception that results from the way our brain processes wavelengths of visible light. Īs I stated in my previous article, A Quintessential Guide To The World In Infrared: Color Processing, *technically* there is no such thing as ‘color’ in infrared – only light being reflected and absorbed. Automated digital image processing is so inherently fundamental to DSLR operating systems circa ‘14 that most people are not even aware that it happens. Luckily for all the aspiring photographers who don’t know what their bayer array does, this complex process has been streamlined into the very structure of programs like Adobe Photoshop & Lightroom.

#PHOTO PALETTE SWAP SERIES#

For digital photography, it’s a series of electronic demosaicing algorithms, white balance adjustments and brightness/contrast/noise filters. In the case of 35mm negative film, this entails vats of chemical cocktails (such as the C-41 process) and a complete color/tone inversion. Before we can ‘cast’ this slice of time into a glossy 6×4 or an 18 megapixel Facebook profile picture, a significant amount of post-processing must first be performed before the photo will resemble what we see with our eyes.

The sky isn’t red, the ocean isn’t purple and clouds aren’t black. But Does Film Truly Represent Reality?Īs you can see from this developed 35mm Fujifilm Superia negative, it doesn’t. Much more than a digital rendering of 0’s and 1’s on an LCD screen, the strip of plastic you hold in your hand contains a ‘mold’ of visible reality. The photographer (in the least involved part of the photographic process) simply holds the camera still while the sun, brandishing a metaphorical paintbrush, makes an imprint of the scene into the film not really any different than a cat leaves paw prints in wet cement. While purists and transitionaries will indefinitely clutter internet forums with their heated debates of whether photographic film is truly an analog technique or not, one thing remains certain: changes recorded by silver halide crystals suspended within photographic emulsion during a split-second exposure creates the most tangible rendition of light possible at that moment. Before I begin, I would like to ask everyone a vaguely related question: How much post-processing is TOO much post-processing? To even attempt an answer for that, let’s look at what may be considered one of the most virginal forms of photography: Film.

Photo palette swap