Infrared Photography resembles the image in my mind’s eye.

I always preferred shooting black and white film before I moved to digital, I even usually prefer seeing other art formats in B&W. I didn’t even make the jump to digital until around 2007/08 because of the desire to continue working with b&w film and prints in the darkroom. The primary reasons for the switch were the hassle of disposing of chemicals in a rural environment and the Polaroid effect of seeing instant results.

I loved the manipulation process in the darkroom to create the image I liked, I can’t say I really enjoy doing the same on a computer.

Over these digital years I have attended some fantastic workshops on how to process digital black and white, much the same as one would create a b&w image from a color negative. One of he best was at Shooting the West with Mark Citret, learning how to adjust curves, contrast and hue/saturation to try and achieve detail in each zone of grey from white to black.

Still often I would find myself shooting in color. If the zones of grey were off a bit or the detail wasn’t fine enough in a particular zone, color would often mask what my mind’s eye thought should be there.

This last year I decided to try infrared photography again and had a Pentax K-01 converted to full spectrum using r72 and #87 filters on the lens.

What a joy! To work in almost pure black and white again has been extremely satisfying.

I’ve realized that even though my eyes do see color, (I can distinguish red from blue and yellow or green, etc.,) they are always bland.

In my mind’s eye I see in light or lack of, resulting in shape, form and texture.

Now the challenge will be going back to color:)