Photo

    15. “Cloister bath-house” from the photonovel about Raif cloister. P mode, exposure correction +1. Exposure 1/15 sec. IR-filter and polarization device.
Telling about merits of Sony IR-modes I can’t set aside the fact that it produces colour pictures in P mode. Green colour prevails in these pictures, like in night vision equipment, with an evident touch of lilac hues of different depth. At first it is conceived as a hindering drawback. But in the course of time you begin to apprehend that this drawback can be easily turned into one’s favour. The Eiffel Tower looked almost the same in the camera monitor. I only corrected the light slightly by means of Photoshop (See photo 16).
 

    16. “The Eiffel Tower”. IR-file looks exactly like this picture in the camera monitor display. After shooting you have only to correct slightly the light to your liking. P mode, exposure correction -2. IR-filter and polarization device.

    I had some trouble over night shooting of Sainte Chapelle castle. I shot it late at night in Cite island in the center of city. I put my tripod in five meters from the Court Place and it took me much time to align the shot since the castle outline almost merged with the sky. On the other hand the fence of the castle looked remarkably. Two guards with machine carbines, who where guarding the fence, in my Moscow notion were to become interested in my person and at least drive me away. This is how it would happen here in Moscow. But these two were watching at me for a long time, then one of them walked to me deliberately and asked what I was shooting. I showed him the screen of my dark monitor with shining green fence on it.
- Fine! – warbled the armed cap-a-pie guard and returned to his post. In Moscow I’ve got an idea to colour the picture in order it looked like the view which I had seen with my own eyes (See photo 17).

    17. “Sainte Chapelle”. Paris. Gilt parts of the fence were green in the original file. I had to edit their colour and imbue the sky at the same time. P mode, exposure correction -2. IR-filter.

    Photoshop is a great power!
    I heard native melody of Ukrainian songs in one of the long passages of Paris Metro. Musicians from Kiev came there to make a pretty penny out. They sang marvelously. People bought their CDs fast. My Sony camera managed to capture this quite realistically. Probably, luminous lighting with dominant green spectrum is most appropriate for its matrix (see photo 18).
 

    18. “Our people in Paris”. Local intensification or reduction of colour strength. For example, I had to intensify the colour of contrabass and deprive of colour the face on the right in the foreground. It was brilliant green. P mode. IR-filter.

    Macro mode in IR-range also looks amusingly. The fish lived in a tubby round jar which stood on windowsill in the lunchroom of a car wash. While my car was being washed I scrutinized the fish on the screen of my Sony camera. I liked how the turbid dredge looked in water in IR-mode. It resembled a starry heaven with the Milky Way in a warm summer night. The fish appeared to be restless and chased after the lens of my camera all the time. As a result I got a photo with blurred background and feeling that the fish was flying in outer space (See photo 19).
 

    19. “Fish”. Automatic mode. IR-filter.

    IR-files are grainy and low in contrast as a rule; thus they are no class without special adaptation. The process of adapting of these files can’t be automatized. It is always individual but can be reduced to the following operations:
1. Open the file with Photoshop.
2. Make the double-layer.
3. Make the grain of the upper layer more sharply defined with the help of some program. I use program called Grain Surgery 2.
4. Make the mask in the upper layer and rub holes in it so that the small parts necessary for the picture perception save maximum detailing.
5. Bring the layers together.
6. Discolour the picture.
7. Normalize histogram by means of tool called levels.
8. Retouch some details (lighten, darken, deprive of colour, etc.).
9. Work over colour correction and colour depth if the photograph is suggested to save its colour.