photographic @ge - Infrared photography, like standard Black & White photography, is a very popular medium.

Capturing unseen light

Infrared photography, like standard Black & White photography, is a very popular medium. The iridescent glow from trees is probably what it is best known for and draws rave reviews from viewers.

I have always appreciated the mysterious look of prints from infrared film but have never actually shot a roll of it. That does seem a bit odd since I have shot almost every other type of film available or once available. From the likes of Panatomic-X, Seattle Filmworks, Anscochrome, Photomicrography, Ortho, and the list goes on and on. But never any film such as Kodak High Speed Infrared Film, Konica IR, Macophot, IR or Ilford SFX. The Konica and Ilford films are not quite as sensitive to infrared light as is the Kodak, but still supposedly yield similar results.

When I began investigating the possibility of shooting a roll of IR film I ran into two major stumbling blocks. Besides the price of fourteen dollars a roll, IR film actually has no effective film speed to go by. And upon researching the use of IR film I found so many different ways it was being shot, processed and printed. And as is to be expected, all of them were producing great IR images.

Black & White Showcase

To go along with this new "shades of grey" segment of photographic age, we are adding a new feature beginning with this issue. This will be known as our Black & White Showcase and in this issue our showcase features the infrared photography of Steve Shames.

Loading The Camera

There was one constant among all the users of IR film and that it must be handled in total darkness. Even according to Kodak's specifications, they recommend that you even use the changing bag in a darkened room. Since the eye is not sensitive to infrared light, we would not be able to tell if the film would get fogged. The felt along the edge of the casette is not enough to keep out light from the infrared spectrum, so handling the film in daylight would cause it to fog.

And just like loading the camera, you will also need to use the same safety precautions when taking the film out of the camera.

I decided to set my camera meter at an effective ISO of 100 and would shoot two stops under and two stops over. That's going against the recommendations on Kodak's data sheet that comes with the film. They suggest that you bracket exposures by five stops.

You will also need to shoot through a Red filter #25 to block out Ultra Violet and Blue light rays. Again this is going to cause you some speed loss of about two stops.

What Is A Good ISO?

If you try to research what film speed to use with the Kodak High Speed Infrared Film you will become even more confused. I found photographers who were shooting it at ISO 200 and some that were shooting it at ISO 25.

For those that shoot at the same time of the day or the same type of subject matter then I guess you could figure out an ISO that works overall. But, fact of the matter is camera meters do not read the wavelength of infrared light and can't accurately give you an exposure to go with.

Shooting in a room lit with an incandescent bulb, you could probably rate the film at ISO 400 but in the early morning light of a typical scenic shot, you would most likly find that ISO 25 is correct. And even as Kodak recommends, I can say the same... experiment and bracket your exposures.

Even the development times for Kodak High Speed Infrared film is extremely variable. And again on the Kodak data sheet, they state that the times shown for development are a good starting point, and not cut in stone to be true.

Subject Matters?

My first misconception about great infrared subjects was that it was good for just shooting tree scenes. But after looking at many works on the Internet, I discovered that just about any scenic you would shoot with normal film would work with infrared. While not all scenes will have white eerie glowing trees or other objects, there would still be some sort of uniquesness to the image in spots.

As you can see in the pop up window at the beginning of this article, my first shot of the train trestle was rated at ISO 50 while the second image in that window was rated at ISO 100. And unlike the first image, the trees and shrubbery in the second image did not turn out as white.

My next step would obviously expose another roll and try to expand my knowledge of infrared film. I also will rate this film at about 75 as a reference ISO and bracket it four stops. Two stops over and one stop under should give me a more complete overview of the film characteristics. I will also use long exposure times to see if the extra exposure creates a more dramatic effect.

Practice Makes Perfect

I put in another roll of Kodak High Speed Infrared film and this time set the ISO dial to 75. With the red #25 filter on the lens, I made an exposure at the meter reading and then three more frames of overexposure of 1 stop for each subsequent exposure.

Most of the exposures were at one fourth of a second and below as I had planned. But after I took the negatives from the drying rack I saw that on many of the long exposures of one to two seconds actually were fogging so much that it even fogged down into the sprocket holes.

I had purposely set out to shoot scenes with a lot of trees in them so I could get that white eerie tree effect. But as you can see from the image in this pop up window, I guess palm trees just don't put off that much infrared light since in none of the images I have taken so far all the palms are still not coming out white.

While all the vegetation and grass turned out white I was still getting normal looking trees. I had seen so many great IR images on the web with all those eerie white trees and I wanted to achieve that effect so badly.

Oh well, I guess I will just have to wait till I go on a trip further north to capture those radiant trees. Unfortunately for me I was just not able to capture that great IR image I wanted to so I will have to scout out some areas for the next roll whenever I shoot it. For now be sure to check out our Black & White Showcase for this issue. See some IR imagery of photographer Steve Shames... yes, as he puts me to shame in comparison to my IR attempts.

Often during the production of this magazine we run into circumstances or results that we feel may not be the same for everyone. We welcome you to use the "quick takes" form to give us your side of the story.

Readers Input

All Answers Are Optional
Name:	E-Mail:
Your Preferred B&W Film: Technical Pan T-Max 100 T-Max 400 T-Max 3200	Ektapan Plus-X Pan Tri-X Pan Verichrome Pan Other
Your Preferred Film Developer: Technidol T-Max T-Max RS D-76 HC-110 Microdol-X	Xtol DK-50 D-19 D-11 D-8 Other
How Do You Print B&W?: Traditional Darkroom	Digital Darkroom
If You Have A Traditional Darkroom Is It: A designated permanent room. A bathroom or closet temporarily used as a darkroom.
Do You Consider Converting Color Images to Grayscale And Printing Them As Black & White Photography?: Yes..... No
Do You Consider Shooting With A C-41 B&W Film As Black & White Photography?: Yes..... No
Do You Print On RC Or Fiber Based Papers?: RC..... Fiber..... Both
Do You Also Print Color In A Traditional Darkroom?: Yes..... No
Do You Use Plastic Or Stainless Steel Tanks?: Plastic..... Stainless Steel

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