I haven’t spent much time out in the cold this past week. I was planning a drive to Vernon, but the cold days changed my mind.
The last time I visited downtown Vernon I had my IR converted camera on a pleasant September day. So, I thought (hopefully without boring readers) that my memory of that comfortably warm day last September would be welcome on this cold winter day.
Vernon is an easy two-hour drive from my home in Pritchard and after dropping my boots off at Cobbler’s Rack Shoes and Repair I decided to spend some time in Polson Park.
Polson Park is located in downtown Vernon and is a 13-hectare park– or 32 acres for old guys like me – with plenty of green space, flowers, ponds, a wonderful stream with lots of big trees. It’s a worthwhile stop.
On this warm day I wasn’t in a hurry and grabbed my IR camera as I left my home. The day was mostly sunny and perfect for a photo-wander around the park.
With regards to shooting infrared I’ll quote scenic photographer Nathan Wirth, “I wanted something different to experiment with, and I saw the potential to experiment with those infrared whites that come from the greens and the infrared blacks that come from the blues…and manipulate them until I found the stark contrasts that I was interested in.”
That park is an excellent place to photograph and there are all sorts of colours that a photographer can make pleasing pictures with. I have stopped with all sorts of different cameras to photograph at that place many times since moving to British Columbia some 40-plus years ago. However, this was my first time using infrared and I was really looking forward to photographing the park.
Infrared is a different way to visually discuss a subject, whether staying with the false colour my converted camera produces or converting to plain black and white, the images that show the world in a very different way. Black and White can be dramatic or subtle depending on how the light is recorded and the false colour is always unworldly. (Anyway, that’s my word for it.)
I wanted to see how the different tree tones would look with the water. There are neat ponds and so much different coloured vegetation. I wandered and wondered and tried different angles.
This time there was some kind of event happening with many armoured police and military vehicles parked on the green. A big helicopter flew off as I arrived and lots of children were loading on busses. I guessed that some kind of show-and-tell must have happened, but the park emptied out just as I arrived, and I had the ponds and stream to myself. No people to interfere with my pictures and no parked cars blocking my wide shots.
Infrared allows photographers to stretch their creativity and show our world in different terms. All I had to do was choose subjects that I thought would make good compositions in IR.
I have a book by William Reedy titled, “Impact: Photography for Advertising”. It begins with the words, “To stop the eye…To set the mood...To start the sale…”
Those are great words for any photographer wanting to create visual impact with his or her photography. To me there is no doubt that those words ring true when I look at the surreal effect of an infrared photograph. Shooting infrared is always an exploration and discovery that moves a photographer far from the usual.
Stay safe and be creative. These are my thoughts for this week. Contact me at www.enmanscamera.com or emcam@telus.net.
