Photoshop trick Faux infrared
Infrared light is not possible to see with the human eye, but in photography, it can be captured in a few ways. The first is to attach an IR filter to your lens; the second is to use a converted infrared camera; and the third (and easiest) is to fake the effect using Photoshop!
In this project, we’re going to show you how to do the latter, so you can turn your bright colorful landscapes into surreal Alice in Wonderland-type scenes. We’ll be using a mixture of tools including the Channel Mixer and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers. When it comes to selecting a good starting image, the same rules apply as if you were shooting an infrared image. For example, green foliage and bright blue skies work best once converted. The blue sky is especially important: if you have thick grey clouds, your image will appear black and white, which in this instance isn’t the desired effect.
Step 1
Open the start file we’ve provided. Add an Invert adjustment layer and change the Blend mode to Color. Next, add a Channel Mixer adjustment layer. Under the Output Channel, select Red and swap the Blue and Red channels – in other words, change Red to 0 and Blue to 100. Then change the Output channel to Blue and alter Blue to 0 and Red to 100. You’ve now got a surreal-looking landscape, but there’s plenty more to do…
Step 2
Next, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Under the dropdown menu, change Master to Reds. In our image, we adjusted Saturation to -23 and Lightness to -84. However, this type of creative decision is up to you, as are the rest of the color adjustments. In our image, we altered the Yellows (-29 Saturation, -47 Lightness); Greens (-29 Saturation, -58 Lightness); and Magenta (-100 for both settings).
Step 3
Finally, add a Color Balance adjustment layer and change the Tone setting to Shadows. Adjust the Reds (+12) and Blues (+7), then under Tone, select Highlights and change the Yellows to -12 (a). Finally, make the foreground lighter using Curves and mask the top of the layer mask to keep the sky dark (b).
In this project, we’re going to show you how to do the latter, so you can turn your bright colorful landscapes into surreal Alice in Wonderland-type scenes. We’ll be using a mixture of tools including the Channel Mixer and Hue/Saturation adjustment layers. When it comes to selecting a good starting image, the same rules apply as if you were shooting an infrared image. For example, green foliage and bright blue skies work best once converted. The blue sky is especially important: if you have thick grey clouds, your image will appear black and white, which in this instance isn’t the desired effect.
Step 1
Open the start file we’ve provided. Add an Invert adjustment layer and change the Blend mode to Color. Next, add a Channel Mixer adjustment layer. Under the Output Channel, select Red and swap the Blue and Red channels – in other words, change Red to 0 and Blue to 100. Then change the Output channel to Blue and alter Blue to 0 and Red to 100. You’ve now got a surreal-looking landscape, but there’s plenty more to do…
Step 2
Next, add a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer. Under the dropdown menu, change Master to Reds. In our image, we adjusted Saturation to -23 and Lightness to -84. However, this type of creative decision is up to you, as are the rest of the color adjustments. In our image, we altered the Yellows (-29 Saturation, -47 Lightness); Greens (-29 Saturation, -58 Lightness); and Magenta (-100 for both settings).
Step 3
Finally, add a Color Balance adjustment layer and change the Tone setting to Shadows. Adjust the Reds (+12) and Blues (+7), then under Tone, select Highlights and change the Yellows to -12 (a). Finally, make the foreground lighter using Curves and mask the top of the layer mask to keep the sky dark (b).
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