infrared help needed

[rdking647]

I went to a local cemetary to take some IR photos. Om very new at IR and need some help

heres what I have

straight from the camera


P1020095 by rdking647, on Flickr


red/blue channels swapped in GIMP


P1020095channel swap by rdking647, on Flickr


photo 2 straight from the camera

P1020096 by rdking647, on Flickr

red/blue swapped


P1020096color swapped by rdking647, on Flickr


red blue swapped but some red added in


P1020096color swapped2 by rdking647, on Flickr


what Im looking for is a very dramatic effect (very dark skys). Im not sure how to proceed. I dont have photoshop (except for elements). I used GIMP to swap the channels but im very unfamilar with GIMP as a whole. I primarily use aperture for editing and also use the Nix software complete collections.

any and all suggestions are welcome

[Casper]

I like my near IR converted to B&W. I make adjustments in exposure, contrast, etc. with Lightroom.

I usually get a dark sky by increasing the black (check the histogram). I think you could do the same by adjusting the luminance value of your sky darker.

The biggest thing I had to learn when I started with near IR was to change the way I see. I had to learn how the camera would record the scene.

Steve

[goshields]

Jeff:

I'm not real sure exactly what you're looking for.

This is a straight conversion of your "straight from camera" to B&W. I also added a black control point on the dark tomb stone just to the right of the big tree.

This gives the dark sky you say you are wanting, but of course, also makes everything B&W.

Grady

[groovyone]

I used to get hung up on the channel swap, but don't feel like you have to. Try setting your gray or white point to the leaves on the trees to start.