҉PR⊕SCЯI̼BɆD̵̡͈̩̫̀ DꍟLI̼ǤĦT҉

After the first experiment I have not been able to leave this IR stuff alone. I've been thinking about it constantly, dreaming of it even. With the same set up as last time I got to work on photographing my chest, opting for a higher ISO in the hopes that a faster shutter and larger f-stop would help minimise blur.

The results were giving Placebo album cover which was awesome, but the amount of noise from the ISO was proving to be an absolute bitch in post. Various blogs on landscapes had mentioned the need for strong UV, so i decided to shoot in indirect sunlight (too much would overpower any IR thrown from my veins). The UV gave off a soft glow which I love. Some raw vs edited pics below:

Lessons learnt:

> For certain body parts, sunlight works better than infrared bulb

> Too much sunlight will produce a glare and wipe out any vein detail

IR photography has peaked my interest for a long while now. Being that IR captures energy, I've always wondered about its applications in occult or paranormal settings…. Could it be used to capture the essence of people, for instance?

Online guidance centres around IR use in landscape photography, the little discourse I could find on portraiture was mostly complaints of dead eyes and highly visible veins… this struck a chord with me.... veins supplying blood, blood supplying energy, energy signatures, essence - I liked the implications and the thought of seeing beneath the skin, beneath the shell. Peeling back the layers of personhood.

I came across this blog which advised use of a diffuse light source, low ISO and long shutter speed; I drew my blackout curtains and switched on my desk lamp. Though I was able to to compose shots of myself in the viewfinder, once the filter was on the lens I couldn't see ANYTHINGGGG!

I wasn't in half the frames as I was shooting blind. Otherwise, I had limited success getting my veins to show; the low f-stop and delayed shutter was producing significant blur. I switched to an infrared bulb and used a tourniquet to really make my veins pop. Once I got the angles right arms were easy to shoot, but the shadows thrown by the tendons in my hands obscured most of my veins. I converted the images to B&W in lightroom and played around with the settings until they produced nice contrast.

I'm pretty pleased with these, especially for a first attempt. I'd like to really nail hand shots though. I'll continue to mess about with light sources and different body parts. Once I get the veins to show consistently I'll move on to film.

All imaged taken on Nikon D5500 + Hoya R72 filter + infrared lamp.