Infrared photography imaging comes to my rescue once again. It helped make for a nice resulting image at a time of day with the sun high in the sky.

Scouting locations

I was out scouting a location for making Milky Way photos. Many times I’ll be looking for new image places when it’s not technically a good time for making regular images. We all know that the landscape seems to come to life with more depth and dimension when the sun is low or below the horizon. That makes 10 a.m.–3 p.m. a wonderful time of day to use the PhotoPills app.

By the way, if you are a landscape and nature photographer, I can’t recommend PhotoPills enough for planning your shoots taking into account the sun, moon and other astronomical events. More about that real soon as we move into Milky Way hunting season.

Infrared photography to the rescue

infrared photography image
Infrared photography makes a tough time of day one that works.

I wasn’t planning on making photos due to the time of day. I found this little arch and explored the way it framed the infamous Cathedral Rock and had to make a photo. My Lumix GH4 camera, which was converted to IR by LifePixel Infrared. worked to give me a look that pleased me at this high-contrast time of day. If you have a camera languishing on the shelf converting it to IR can give it a new life.

Getting low with a Platypod Ultra

platypod camera support
The Platypod makes it easy to go low. I used a 20-inch Westcott 5-in-1 Reflector to shield the lens to prevent camera flair. The pad is for these old knees and butt when shooting in nature.

A piece of kit that was also helpful in making this image was my Platypod. I keep it handily hanging from my camera bag. This camera support allowed me to easily adjust the camera with a very low angle allowing the junipers to frame the scene.

Many of today’s cameras having a flip screen makes this setup a no-brainer. I remember days gone past if your wanted a low angle such as this you would need to be down in the dirt on your belly to see the viewfinder!

You can see some of my other infrared photography results here. Check this article to see how toning infrared images can give them a different feel.

Yours in Creative Photography,        Bob