Newhaven Harbour in Infrared

I have continued to explore my local area in Infrared over the last week. Over the weekend, I revised my Infrared workflow based on Rob Shea's excellent work, enabling me to develop my colours better.

As is usual for a Friday evening, my daughter has a swimming lesson, and I used this time to explore Newhaven Harbour. Fortunately, it was not a long walk, as I was suffering from fatigue.

I got a few shots of the old University Technical College (UTC@Harbourside) building, which opened in 2015 but closed four years later. I used one of Rob's creative profiles to create a slightly more natural-looking image with a considerable dynamic range; I then shifted the colours to get that amber and cyan look you see in the movies.

The UTC@Harbourside campus offered industry-lead training, which in theory, is a great idea. Giving adults and young people an education driven by industry has the potential to bridge a gap. There is now a plan to re-develop the site for other uses. Hopefully, these will better serve the community.

Newhaven is a working dock; frequent barges with aggregate come in and offload. The French Government owns the port itself; it seems they did not want to lose the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry crossing between the UK and France - a crossing we have taken advantage of many times.

I particularly liked how the light hits the crane and dockside in stark contrast to the infrared shiloette of the crane. Also, it's interesting how the crane absorbs almost all infrared while the weights and dockside are IR reflective.

I believe these cormorant sculptures were by a local artist, Christian Funnell. Several scattered around the quayside in Newhaven and even one on a post in the river. They are beautiful, even more so in Infrared, as the contrast between sky and metal is enormous. In this case, we have a reasonably simple channel swap to get more realistic-looking skies.

I liked the look of these disused docks with a warehouse behind them; the infrared gave a deep blue sky and navy water with the same creative profile as the pictures of UTC@Harbourside. The shot was interesting in natural light, but the relatively high sun cast a flat light in the visible light spectrum.

Finally, some more traditional shots of solitary trees in infra-red, using a creative profile from Rob Shea's library to get a pleasing sky colour to contrast the lack of green in the leaves.

One of the things you must contend with infrared photography is the extreme lens flare - I would say worthy of a JJ Abrams film.

I hope you enjoyed my facts and photos; all work and views are my own. I greatly appreciate it if I have earned your vote, subscription, or follow.