My current processing workflow for black-and-white infrared photography

I now have a standard protocol (workflow) for producing black-and-white images from my infrared-converted cameras. It is very simple and allows adjustments and corrections at all stages.

In Lightroom Classic, in Basic, I select Black & White then Auto Tone. Then I take the image to Silver EfexPro2. I usually use the preset High Structure Smooth or High Structure Harsh. Then, after making adjustments, I go back to Lightroom to make further general or local adjustments to finish the job, usually leaving noise reduction and sharpening until the end.

Those simple steps suit Raw images from my converted Nikon D80 with a 590 nm filter and my Nikon D7100 with 720 nm filter, or either camera with an 850 nm filter over the lens.

Here, as they say, is one I made earlier:

Infrared Processing in Macphun (Skylum) Luminar 2018

For those photographers not locked into/who don't like the business model/who can't afford the Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop environment, choices for processing images taken with an infrared converted camera have been limited. However, I saw that Macphun's (now Skylum) Luminar 2018 has a Channel Mixer and have been trying it out.

I should also point out that another rival system out there, DXO Photolab also has what they call a channel mixer in its optional extra, FilmPack 5. However, this is for changing the amount of the various channels in a conversion to black-and-white. It cannot be used for faux colour infrared conversion.

The Luminar Channel Mixer 'Filter'

In Luminar, the Channel Mixer works fine and in the same manner to that in Photoshop. For a newcomer to infrared, there is the added advantage that everything can be done to complete the image in this one app. The same cannot be said for Lightroom where a trip to Photoshop (or indeed to Luminar as a plug-in) is required.

A set of presets (which includes a channel mixer stage for faux colours and various black-and-white options) has recently been made available by Laurie Klein Photography for $9.95. I have tried them and they might produce a reasonable starting point for some people but I would find it just as easy to build my own presets using settings for Photoshop devised by Bob Vishneski (see my post of 12 June 2017). The problem with somebody else's presets for infrared is that what you get depends on the filter/sensor combination is in the converted camera.

One slight criticism of Luminar is that when things start getting complicated with lots of filters applied, there is a really noticeable lag from moving a slider to seeing the result appear on screen. That may be a property of my now old Mac but I do not have that problem in Lightroom and/or Photoshop.

For those looking for a different or much cheaper option for faux colour infrared images, Luminar 2018 has a lot to offer.