I skipped Sunday’s post. I just couldn’t find an art project that would bring me peace. The stalkers have been near my home for the past two weekends which is disrupting my entire day and night.
As I moved through this week I realized that drawing or painting would not pull me into my creative zone. So, I dug out my favorite camera and decided to spend time taking some infrared photos.
If you like taking photos, you’ll be hooked on infrared photography. You can be as creative as you want with an infrared photo or you can just process them as a black and white photo. Let me show you.
Something as simple as a palm reflecting sunlight produces a beautiful black and white photo. Notice how the leaves turn white in an infrared photo while the background turns black. Suddenly a simple green palm becomes an incredible black and white photo.
If you want to get really creative, you can edit an infrared photo using a single tone within the entire picture. I have this photo mounted on a 36 x 24 flush mount and it is breathtaking on the wall.
Or you can get very dramatic! If you allow the sun to backlight a tree the leaves turn white while the sunlight forms a halo within the tree and the branches turn black. Infrared photography can be challenging at times, but once you understand how an infrared sensor reads the colors in nature you can produce incredible photos. I once spent hours in the woods looking for just the right colors and sunlight for an infrared photo. This photo really helped me this week as I moved around the entire tree until I found the perfect sunlight for this infrared photo while getting in the zone and forgetting about the weekend stalkers.
Let me share some resources with you so you can explore infrared photography:
This is a free book that was used as the textbook in the course I took about infrared photography just before I had my old digital camera converted to an infrared camera:
Here’s the instructor who is a professional photographer who does an excellent job explaining infrared photography.
Here’s a few more infrared photos I have taken. The sunlight was bright, thus the infrared camera turned the leaves white while the tree trunks turned brown. Nice contrast as the infrared transformed a jungle green location into a beautiful photo.
This next photo was taken a few years ago. This is a full spectrum infrared photo which allows me to tickle different colors out for the sky, pine trees, water, and the grasslands. You can have so much fun taking infrared photos, then process them in so many different ways. Some are really eye-catching and will get you likes on Instagram with questions asking, “How did you do that?”
I’ll end this blog post with an infrared photo I converted to black and white of a beach that just brings me peace each time I visit it. I haven’t been able to travel lately, but this photo takes me right back to this location when I took this picture. I hope this picture brings you peace today and thank you for sharing this infrared art therapy moment with me.
Please share this activity and your completed eco-art picture via your social media. Help spread the word about eco-art to everyone. And please reach out to those who are being stalked and may need eco-art therapy to help them deal with their anxiety and stress. Take them on a hike, share time with them doing some eco-art, and bring them an art kit. They will be forever grateful to you
Disclaimer
I am not a therapist, nor do I claim to be trained in eco-art therapy. This blog provides information, research, and a view of applied eco-art therapy or art therapy applied to my personal situation. This is not a substitute for professional counseling services.