IR Photography

[colonga]

Whats up? I'm intrigued by IR photography. I was wondering if there was a way to do it, other than buying a $20 roll of IR film. Or is that pretty much the only way? Cause i seem to ruin the film even while changing it inside a bag.

 

[seanarmenta]

are you changing the film under direct light? even if you're using a changing bag, try to go to a well-shaded area away from heat.


sean

 

[colonga]

So is buying the specialty film the only way?

 

[ksmattfish]

Are you using the IR color slide film?

Most BW IR, while expensive compared to regular BW film, is still less than $10 a roll.

You should look into digital IR. Many folks are doing it with just a filter added to their regular digital cameras.

I know that all advice goes against what I'm about to say, but I've loaded at least a half dozen rolls of Kodak and Konica IR into my camera with no changing bag in the direct, hot (95+) August sun, with only my body as shade, and never had a fogging problem. I don't encourage this kind of sloppy/lazy behavior, but so far I have not been punished by the IR gods for my insolence.

 

[colonga]

The only thing about Digital IR, is that they have IR blocking filters already. (All exept the sonys 707 and 717 and i dont have 1 grand to blow, plus i think you can only use it at night or something like that.) So its not REAL IR photography. Correct me if i'm wrong though, i still am fairly new at photography.

 

[ksmattfish]

You can't do IR photography (film or digital) at night unless you are providing an IR source. For most IR photography I've seen the sun is the source.

Check out this thread for more IR photography info.
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2188

I don't know what you mean by "real IR" photography. Traditional IR photography takes place just on the other side of the visible spectrum. It operates just as regular photography, except theat the film or sensor is IR sensitive. This does not mean that it "sees" heat. That is a whole different ballgame, with completely different equipment. It just records the IR bouncing off a subject as if it was visible light.

 

[terri32 3]

I've shot Kodak HIE with only minor aggravation, and Ilford SF-X, the "pseudo-infrared" film, with no aggravation and to nice effect.

I've heard the color IF film is terribly expensive, but both films I've mentioned above can be had as low as around $6 from sources like B&H. Ugh, I think digital IR can produce nice images but I'm turned off by it, for some reason. Shoot the real stuff - it's challenging but so rewarding!!!