At the end of October, I had the great pleasure to participate in an Infrared Workshop in Bandon, Oregon. This workshop was organized and held by Penelope Taylor, a true Infrared lover. The trip to Bandon included a flight to Chicago, another one from there to Portland. And a 5-hour car drive to Bandon, interrupted halfway by an overnight stay in Eugene. As a side note, at this point I would like to mention that the second part of this drive led through the beautiful Oregon countryside which in itself is worth an extended visit.
The workshop was all that I expected and then some, it even allowed me to briefly forget that I had to wear a mask in company of others, including my seven fellow participants. Although I have been taking Infrared photos since about 10 years, there was still something for me to learn, for example that there is a period in the morning, prior to the blue hour, in which the landscape is lit by infrared light. This light is invisible to the eye, but can be made observable when captured with an internal or external camera filter for Infrared, allowing to shoot in the otherwise dark night. Photos of this phenomenon can be viewed in my Oregon Section.
As I can’t sleep all that well, I had the pleasure of often being the very first person on the Bandon beach, around 4 AM, and choose my shooting locations without having to worry of being in someone’s field of vision or having someone in mine. Furthermore, the workshop scheduling allowed for enough time to shoot “regular” photos as well. The results from both, Infrared and Visible Light, have me conclude that this trip was well worth it.
Ingo
