This past year I began experimenting with infrared (IR) photography using a converted Canon EOS 5D dSLR camera. One of the things I found was that IR photography worked well in environment with leafy hardwood trees and lush foliage. Unfortunately, Montana doesn't have many leafy trees. So I would see how IR worked on a ranch around people. I was quite happy with the black & white results.
For those who don't know, IR photography requires removing certain filters from digital cameras that block out the IR wavelength of light. They are then enhanced with filters to capture the IR wavelength exclusively. So when you look at a photograph below, you aren't actually seeing the object itself because humans can't naturally see the IR wavelength of light. It's one reason some objects look a bit more odd than they might in real life.
The west just begs to be photographed in black and white and I'm searching for a method that best captures the west in black and white. Experimenting with IR photography is one of my attempts to find a look I like.
Here is a sampling of just some of those photographs. This spring I will make even more IR photographs when the green grass and the work of cowboys returns to the Montana plains.
