VSCO – ACR/Lightroom Infrared Profiles

The first filter is built for landscape images to ensure that plants whose color so often spills past green into yellow still turn to red and pink with the filter. However, people may turn odd colors in some situations with this look, and for that reason, we’ve created a second filter that is similar to the first but with more consideration for skin tones remaining natural colors. While real infrared photography can render people in unnatural colors at times, the look of bubblegum pink plants behind a portrait is so interesting (such as those by Richard Mosse), we made this alternate version to enable this expression.

Note in both images how the landscape version affects the skin but the portrait version does not. Images by Killivvn and Nikki Recicki

Note how the portrait version doesn’t turn all the grass red but the landscape version does. Image by Joel Flory

With both of these filters, the strength slider presented an interesting challenge during development. Halfway between green plants and pink plants is an unattractive dull orange that is neither natural nor infrared. We needed something else to do with that slider.

Dull orange color between green and magenta. Image by Zach Hodges.

During our research, we had noticed that many infrared images feature either red plants or pink plants, and we learned that this was due to color filters that photographers place over their lens to change the infrared effect. This was the perfect solution to our problem, so we designed the strength slider to move between pink greens and red greens to capture the full look of infrared photography.

IR1 & IR2 color changes with slider. Images by Zach Hodges & Lafir Mager.

Lastly, we created a black and white infrared look. We haven’t discussed B&W infrared here, but it’s even older than color infrared and renders plants and trees into a ghostly white while darkening skies for tremendously dramatic landscape images. The strength slider here adjusts the brightness of the infrared look on plants.